Staying Motivated @ Home

Margaret Fury, owner of Orangetheory Fitness Brampton and Orangetheory Fitness Brampton South shares her tips on how she is staying movited during these times.

Life as a small business owner and mother of two young children was very hectic pre Covid-19. Most days were filled to the brim with endless to do lists and activities from dawn to dusk.  Staying motivated was easy back then when there was ample adrenaline to keep you moving forward.  Then Covid-19 hit and for many of us, life as we knew it came to a screeching halt.  Social gatherings, dining out and going into an office all stopped and we were (are) forced to stay at home with our families all the time.  Don’t get me wrong I love my husband and children dearly but all of us under one roof 24/7 was overwhelming at first.  The first few weeks we all ate too much, stopped exercising and binge watched the latest Netflix shows.  I realized that I was exhausted and wondered why? Well you are eating too much, drinking too much wine, not exercising and being restricted to the confines of your home.  As the owner of fitness studios it should have been easy to get myself motivated, but it wasn’t. As was the case for almost every person that I spoke with; friends, neighbors, colleagues, staff members and members of the Orangetheory Fitness Community. It got me thinking about how we can stay motivated during this time? Here are my tips:

Carve out time for yourself everyday

Each day schedule in time just for you, whether it’s to follow along with your favorite at home workout, read a book, go for a walk or a run, listen to your favorite podcast or watch a show, ensure you make time for yourself every day.  Working from home surrounded by your family can become overwhelming and draining. You need to take time each day that is just for you so you can recharge your battery.

Give yourself permission to rest

During the first week of quarantine, I made a huge to-do list that included cleaning  out all of our closets, cupboards, drawers and the dreaded toy room.  In my mind I was going to use every second of quarantine to be productive, then the procrastination set in, followed by guilt for not being productive. Finally I decided to give myself permission to rest ,relax and reset.  Once I removed the to-do list and timelines I became much more productive on my own schedule. To date there are only a few items remaining on what started as a very long list. These are unprecedented times give yourself permission to break the routine whether its eating, sleeping, bed time or exercise routines and be very kind to yourself during this stressful chaotic time. Our bodies, minds and souls need time to adapt to a new “normal” way of life.

Connect with friends and family virtually

I am known very much by everyone as being a ‘people’ person. My energy thrives off the energy from others therefore when we were forced into quarantine I found it very difficult to get and stay motivated.  I quickly upgraded my free zoom account and began scheduling zoom parties with my friends and colleagues, which proved to be a great way to socially interact and I found that it helped motivate me and feed my energy. Having scheduled interactions on zoom forced me to get dressed, wash my hair and put on make up in the same way I would if I was going out to meet with friends.

Change of scenery

Load up the car and go for a drive to a place locally that you haven’t been to in a while or ever before.  Today I met up with some friends and we went to Hamilton for a 10 km run. I know most of you are thinking that doesn’t sound fun but it was amazing. I had seen some posts on Instagram of people running in Hamilton,  so  I  decided to look it up and suggest it as a running outing.  It was absolutely amazing! The trail was along the waterfront in Hamilton and Burlington and it honestly felt as though we were running in Florida with sandy beaches and clear blue skies.  Just the change of scenery alone was so refreshing and uplifting. We have all spent so much time indoors in our houses, that just the act of getting outside with some fresh air and a drive was all I needed to spring me forward again.

Take your celebrations to ZOOM

Social distancing is the new “Normal” and it doesn’t feel like it is going away anytime soon.  The days of large gatherings and big outings are suspended for the foreseeable future.  However, this doesn’t mean that we have to cancel all celebrations, it simply means that we have to limit the number of people that can get together at one time and perhaps get creative with having larger “Virtual” gatherings.  In the midst of being in lockdown, my best friend turned forty and we were supposed to be in New Orleans for the big day. Obviously our flights were cancelled which at first we were all very disappointed with, so instead we had a large ZOOM surprise party for her and it was amazing. We all got dressed up, had wine and chatted for hours.  It was so much fun that we had ZOOM get togethers every Saturday night for two months and even held a ZOOM murder mystery night.  We can all still get together for our wine nights and the beauty of it is that we don’t have to drive or leave or living rooms.  We can make the most of quarantine with a shift in mindset and just looking at things from a different perspective.

I have found through the years, a shift in mindset and perspective has been the very thing that has allowed me to be resilient and tenacious in all that I want for my life.  I feel that especially when times ahead are still somewhat uncertain, taking steps to preserve and enhance your own well being and mind is key and remember we’re all in this together!