5 Tips to Stay Fit While Working at a Creative Agency

As you know if you’ve been reading my blog for the past few months, it took me a while to get settled into my new routine. My hours are much longer than at any other previous job, and working in a client-facing job is also different from every other in-house job I’ve had before.

I love hearing about how other people manage to fit fitness into their routines, and I remembered that MK, who has a very similar job to me, doing social media at a firm called Turner PR (which has, hands-down, been one of the best firms I’ve dealt with through blogging) ran a half-marathon a few months ago. (In fact, I wrote some tips for their blog a few months back about some pre-half-marathon tips.) I knew that having a client-facing job in social media means that she’s facing some of the same struggles as me, and I wanted to hear how she manages to stay on top of both her work and her workouts.

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Back to back client meetings.

Prepare for a work trip next week.

Deliver status report.

Tweet this event.

Grow Facebook channels by 300 this week.

Online and dialed in 24/7.

Is it really already 5:00? Then you start backtracking all the items left uncrossed on your to-do list for the day. Looks like the workout will have to wait until tomorrow. On your commute home, you think “Does it ever stop?”

Well, the truth is it never really stops it’s just a matter of setting personal fitness boundaries and priorities that provide stability when your days are influx. When it comes to agency life, there is never a dull moment or lack of something to do. In fact, that’s why the multi dimensional and energizing environment of a creative agency attracts active people. Whether you crank out a solid and sweaty workout or land that big client after weeks of pushing through goals and deadlines, there is an addicting adrenaline rush that comes from each.

As a social media community manager at Turner PR, over time, I have come to realize that I love my career because it’s unpredictable. But in order to take on each day with a fresh perspective and creative eye my workout routine needs to be a constant. Especially with clients like, Travaasa , Filson and Park Hyatt Beaver Creek it’s important to live and breathe the active and wellness way of life.

So the question is, where do I find the “me” time? Everyone has a different definition of what “me” time means to them, but for me it’s finding time to be active and workout. It seems that just a quick sweat session can turn a day right side up. This in turn, creates a happiness and ability to run away from the day–literally–and start tomorrow fresh with a new day of deadlines, back to back client meetings and to-do lists.

My five tips for squeezing in workouts and staying fit while working at a creative agency.

1. Make time: If you are like me or any of my colleagues, there is an outlook calendar appointment for everything. We’re talking everything! At times it can get a bit excessive, but my thoughts are this, while you’re scheduling that client meeting you might as well throw in your workout, too. When you see “Long Run 6:45” popping up constantly on your calendar you time chunk and prioritize to make it happen. Don’t push snooze on this one.

2. Capitalize on your lunchtime: I know you are probably thinking, lunchtime? What lunch? Even if you keep it healthy by packing a lunch to work, take a time out from the computer screen even if you can only squeeze in 30 minutes. Walk to the furthest coffee shop down the street. You know those stairs you never take walk or run up them. Finding time to get out during the day and get the blood pumping will help jumpstart your metabolism and hopefully get you motivated for strength training in the evening.

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3. Register for a half marathon: Call me crazy, but the moment I signed up for 13.1 miles I wasn’t choosing the couch over the treadmill or pavement. The date of race day can’t be changed so I altered my lifestyle by prioritizing workouts and runs. When I ran my first half marathon I found time in the morning before work to get out a quick training run.

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[Theodora note: I <3 NYC, but I’m pretty sure I’d be a little more relaxed if I got to see things like this all the time.]

4. Practice your flow: You know those days when you feel like you haven’t taken a breath? I find my breath with yoga. When I am in the yoga studio, nothing else matters. I love the classes like Yoga Sculpt at Corepower Yoga, that have it all incorporating weights, cardio and flow all into one hour.

5. Own the weekends: We all like to sleep in on Saturday especially after those long weeks. I find it most revitalizing to carve out two hours on Saturday and Sunday to put in my longer workouts whether it’s a run and weights or a basketball game at the park. Come Monday, I am ready to put more workouts in my calendar.

10 comments on “5 Tips to Stay Fit While Working at a Creative Agency

  1. Allie

    Great advice all around. Signing up for a race, and taking time on the weekends for lonnnng work-outs make things so much more concrete for me. I want to make the time – I just don’t always, and these MAKE me make the time!

    Reply
  2. Aly

    Great tips! I work at a traditional PR agency and my days are totally unpredictable and generally insane. Working out in the morning is the only time that I can ever fit it in – evening workout plans are always “dismissed” from my Outlook Calendar.

    Reply
  3. Meg

    These are great tips. I especially like the “squeeze in 30 minutes” point, which I am notorious for doing early in the morning or late at night on business trips.

    I also work at a PR agency and always joke that I make a To-Do list every night only to have it change completely by 9 a.m. the next day. Agency life is dynamic, challenging, and fast-paced – characteristics that can also apply to long-distance running and training.

    I’ve found several different ways to maintain my routine:

    1. Create a training plan and workout schedule that includes races, work travel, big client events, and major deadlines.

    2. Try to get in at least 2 morning workouts during the week. I prefer working out in the morning, but know it’s not for everyone. Before I built AM runs into my routine, I forced myself to get out of bed early just twice per week. Eventually, I grew to prefer my morning runs!

    3. When choosing races, be mindful of busy seasons. For example, I know that CES in January and SXSWi in early March are big conferences for my clients so I try to avoid scheduling any major races around those times.

    4. Try to find a running group that meets on your least stressful day. The way my client work ebbs and flows, Mondays are usually a bit less busy than other days so I found a running group that meets Monday nights. I discussed this with my boss and let her know that every Monday I will try to leave at a reasonable time. Of course, there have been nights when that just didn’t work, but that leads me to my next point:

    5. Be flexible! Instead of creating a strict training plan, I try to plot out the type of run or workout I want to do and know that I can move those days around should work get hectic.

    Reply
  4. Shannon

    This is a great post. I work at a social media marketing agency and my days are crazy! It’s not unusual for us to be pulling 11- or 12-hour days.

    I am historically NOT a morning person but I need to suck it up and just do it. (I’ve been saying this for months with zero results. Gah.) Having a race on the calendar is definitely motivating!

    Reply
  5. deb

    This is sooo what i needed to read right now. I have been all about excuses. What started out a health issue (and is healed & cleared for exercise) has turned into weeks of laziness & my favorite excuse of the day – i need to EASE into it. Well, easing implies doing – and I’m just not. SO…thanks for this great blog!

    Reply
  6. abvgroup1@ at home jobs online

    Hi!, thanks for the tips. it is definitely a nice way of staying fit while working. I am the type of person that does not really pay attention to health but as I have read the tips
    I realize that having a busy exercise and be health conscious are keys to improve ones health. thanks for it.

    Reply

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