Keeping up with an exercise routine can be difficult in any situation, but especially difficult during graduate school. I often find myself working late and missing the time I wanted to work out. However, taking time to exercise helps me de-stress and is also necessary to stay healthy. Here are some of the things that have helped me maintain a not-so-routine routine.
- Go with a friend, so you feel obligated to leave work at a certain time.
- Create a schedule, but don’t be upset if you don’t stick to it. Just because you miss one day doesn’t mean you should skip the rest of the week.
- Find a type of exercise you enjoy, so you look forward to, rather than dread, exercising.
- Put your desired workout schedule on your calendar.
- Talk with your adviser and explicitly say why you need to leave at a certain time on certain days to exercise. They should be supportive of you living a healthy life style. This may also help motivate you to stick to the times and days you told them.
- Be flexible if possible. Try out different schedules than you normally like. If you usually workout in the evening, see if mornings work better. See if you can do late-night workouts after a snack. Experimenting can help you find something that you never thought you would like, but works perfectly in graduate school.
