OH! Magazine - Australian Version February 2014 (Australian Version) | Page 24

JUSTIN
TAMSETT

EXERCISE
FOR BETTER

WORK/LIFE
BALANCE
Recently, some
interesting research
was released
indicating that people
who workout can
better balance the
demands of their
work and life. Justin
Tamsett explains.

y colleagues and I surveyed a
population of working adults, to
gather input regarding both their exercise
habits and their experience of resolving
work and home demands. Briefly, those
respondents who reported regular
exercise were less likely to experience
conflict between their work and home
roles,’ writes Russell Clayton, Assistant
Professor of Management at Saint Leo
University’s Donald R Tapia School of
Business in Harvard Business Review
Blog Network.
A lack of time is the most common
excuse for people stopping their exercise
routine. So how reducing their available
time to work or spend with family, create
more balance and not increase their
stress levels?
Clayton found that people exercised
as a way to control their stress levels. In

‘M

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ISSUE 6 ( OH! MAGAZINE )

fact, the study revealed that exercise
improved work/life balance for two major
reasons:

1. Stress control
Stress

is

counterproductive

in

the

workplace, while exercise is one of the
most effective ways to reduce stress

in a workout or completing a challenging
workout makes you more self-assured,
both in and outside the gym.
We’ve known it for a long time but it’s
great that finally, a study has confirmed
that exercise is beneficial both physically
and mentally, which contributes to
enhancing your work/life balance.

levels.

2. Improved self-efficacy
‘The term refers to the sense that one is
capable of taking things on and getting
them done – and although self-efficacy
is a matter of self-perception, it has real
impact on reality,’ writes Clayton.
What Clayton is saying is if you feel
like a person who gets things done, then
you’ll become a person who gets things
done. The confidence you gain by fitting

www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Imhg1ohkk

www.justintamsett.com

( Work/Life Balance )