How to Stay Motivated With a Desk Job

If you're like me, you may follow some fitness influencers on Instagram. A lot of them seem to be full-time bloggers, and you may have thoughts like, "Well, of course they can stay fit! They don't have a desk job!" Well, despair not, because as a part-time blogger and full-time IT developer, I have some tips that can keep you motivated when you have a desk job! Here are things that I personally do to stay motivated:

Set Time to Work Out

This might seem easier said than done, but, seriously! Determine a time of day to work out and get to it. I find it easiest to set a time the day before because if you commit too far ahead, you will feel like you can cancel on it for new plans. Or worse, it's like a little black mar on your schedule that you think about all the time. If I know my plans for the week, I then work backwards to determine when I can actually work out! Mornings are always best, but if I have free time in the evening, then that's when I schedule it. If neither will work, then I take a lunch gym break, and I pack my clothes and makeup for it the night before.

Have a Spare Set of Gym Clothes

Tying in with the above tip, if you have a spare bag of gym clothes in your car or at work, you will always be ready to go! If you have last minute plans that have "ruined" your gym time, at least you still have your clothes on you and can hit the gym before or after your plans. It really cuts back on the time you need to drive back home, pack your clothes, and rush to the gym. Don't forget your shoes!

Set an Alarm to Move

If you've done this before, you know it can be annoying when that alarm goes off. But listen to it, and get moving! Sitting for long periods of time has proven to be bad for you. And worse, exercise cannot offset the damage of being excessively sedentary. "Regardless of how much physical activity someone gets, prolonged sedentary time could negatively impact the health of your heart and blood vessels." - Deborah Rohm Young, Ph.D. So set an alarm to move every hour. There are really nice fitness watches that can remind you to move (like the Polar A300 pictured above), but you can always set an iPhone alarm also. This can also set the tone for the day because it just takes a little bit of movement to feel that motivation for exercise again.

Join a Step Challenge (or ANY Challenge)

At my work, we have step challenges where we can join a team and try to get the most number of steps together. The accountability is very motivating! You can also do step challenges with your friends on FitBit. To be honest, I rotate the following: FitBit challenges, work step challenge, daily activity goal challenge. An example of a daily activity goal challenge is setting a certain amount of movement I want to achieve on my Polar A300, and trying to reach 100% of that or more every day. It's fun to keep things mixed up and feeling fresh!

I hope these tips can help you stay motivated! Don't let a full-time job be an excuse to not develop a healthy habit!