Throughout the school semester, I always like to find a way to fit going to the gym. This semester I have a fairly busy schedule. I go to classes in the morning, then I also work two jobs, while still trying to find the time to study and do schoolwork. There are many setbacks that got in the way of me trying to balance everything. There are some aspects that held me back but also aspects that helped me throughout my journey. Eliminating my distractions and focusing on my own journey. This is based on my own experience.
One thing that has been difficult for me is not being so hard on myself. If I planned on going to the gym the night before and even set up my clothes, I would beat myself up if I didn’t wake up in time to go to the gym before my classes. I would then think I “failed” myself when I didn’t go. But something that helped me with overcoming this was adding it to my calendar. I recently had taken my time to plan out my day, month, and even week on a digital calendar. This helped me create an organized schedule and not overwork my schedule. Throughout this journey, it’s still very important to do self-care and take care of myself.
Another setback I had was going to sleep really late. My phone played a huge part in that. When I got back from work at 11 p.m., I liked to wind down. That winding down period includes taking a shower and catching up on my social media. But that isn’t a necessary thing that I needed to do every night before bed. It was getting to a point where I would spend almost an hour and a half scrolling on social media and replying to messages. Sometimes I couldn’t focus in my morning classes. That’s when I knew something had to change. I have an iPhone, and there is something called “Screentime.” This can be set in the settings, and you can put a limit on certain apps for a set duration of time. I had to put a limit for all my social media apps by 12 a.m. Anything that was on social media at 11 p.m. would be there in the morning too. I also took my commute back home to be my social media time. About 40 minutes is plenty of time to scroll on social media and I don’t need any additional time after.
Overall, I am happy I was able to manage exercise in my lifestyle. Since adding these changes it was helped me become more consistent with going to the gym. I want to continue implementing being active in my everyday life. There is always space for me to improve on myself. I’m happy to always try balancing the gym because it will help me grow into healthy habits in my everyday life.