Mayo Clinic Employee Experiences: On finding time for fitness in busy lives

By In the Loop • January 21, 2021

Mayo Clinic is a unique place: the culture, the values, the people. "Mayo Clinic Employee Experiences" explores the experiences of Mayo Clinic staff as they navigate life personally and professionally. Sharing these experiences increases understanding of others and ultimately contributes to finding connections, belonging and inclusion at work. 

In this episode of "Mayo Clinic Employee Experiences," you will hear from Ashlie Smith, a Human Resources strategic communications specialist, and Alec Williams, D.N.P., a nurse practitioner, as they discuss how they've found ways to fit fitness into their routines while balancing their work and personal lives. Smith shares how she's found ways to make time for herself while working from home. Williams shares his perspective on how he fits in fitness while working in a patient care setting. 

Listen as they share their experiences and tips: 

Read the transcript, edited for length and clarity:

WILLIAMS: It feels like when I complete a task, it gets replaced by two or three new ones. A lesson I've learned is accepting there is no end to that to-do list, but personal health has to be a priority on that list. 

NARRATOR: In this episode, you will hear Ashlie, a Human Resources strategic communications specialist, and Alec, a nurse practitioner, discuss their journey of fitting in fitness while balancing work and personal life.

WILLIAMS: I wear many hats as a husband, father to two boys, full-time Mayo Clinic employee and adjunct faculty at Winona State University. That being said, my journey in fitness has been a chaotic ebb and flow of personal well-being, based on time. My fitness and well-being can be influenced by the actual time I allow myself, but also my perception of available time. I'll have a mental image of a daily or weekly checklist that always seems to have more urgency than my own self-care. More than a few times, I've felt burnt out and had to shift my view of fitness. 

Self-care doesn't have to take a considerable amount of time, but this can be difficult to notice when juggling multiple responsibilities. On days off, I enjoy participating in the virtual classes. But on days that I work, I make the effort to shift my focus to taking the stairs as much as possible, doing lunges or squats throughout the day, and I really focus on movement.

SMITH: I appreciate that perspective because mine is very different than yours. I feel very fortunate having more of a desk job. I have more of that flexibility. I definitely have days where I'm booked back to back with virtual meetings, but I still am able to — a lot of times — put a workout on my calendar. For the most part, it's respected by others, and they avoid that block of time. I used to work in Rochester at the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center, so of course, I had the workout classes and equipment at my fingertips. Now that I'm at home in Arizona, I am able to get up and walk my dog or do a routine in the garage. Sometimes it is just 15 minutes, but sometimes it's longer. You can tell a difference in my mood. It's also just taking time to be by myself and having just some time for a reflection, or time to just read. It's not always centered on working out, even though that's a priority for me. I also really do need to take time to connect with other people and get my bucket filled in those ways. With the pandemic and everything, it's been even more critical because while we're so lucky to have a home, sometimes it can feel pretty confined. So getting out and doing something is even more important right now. 

WILLIAMS: It's very important. It kind of recenters me and allows me to be more patient. Taking time for myself allows me to disconnect from stresses, obligations of both personal and professional life, and to recharge. It doesn't necessarily mean that I need to be alone to make that time for myself. I really enjoy bringing my kids along for hikes or being outside similar to you. After taking that time, I can reframe some challenges and get a fresh perspective on different tasks or priorities. 

SMITH: That's so true. You have a very demanding position. You have to kind of fit in fitness wherever you can because of how demanding your schedule is. Could you talk a little bit more about the challenges that you face with fitting in that self-care aspect and how you navigate that? 

WILLIAMS: It can be very difficult, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. But acknowledging self-care as a priority and maintaining that accountability, along with various support systems that you have, is very important. It can be a mental hurdle to set aside somebody's to-do list or their work, to take time for self-care. In the spring, as I was wrapping up my doctorate program, I would have to force myself to step away from an assignment or take the weekend off from coursework to ensure that I made time for activity. And holding myself accountable and making the effort to engage in physical activity has really helped how I approach fitness.

SMITH: I see a lot of what you're sharing being very parallel to my husband's experience, and I feel like I get to kind of witness that. You really have to stand back and prioritize, and advocate for yourself, like saying "I need this time to recharge." I admire and respect that, especially for people with your kind of schedule and the demands that you have every day. 

Again, mine is different. The main challenges for me are the prioritization, but also having little ones around. When I can put my 1-year-old down for a nap, I have to choose what I do in that hour and a half. I'll immediately go put my workout clothes on and do a workout just so I know I get that in there. Then the rest of the day, I feel just that much better. And sometimes I don't get that. Sometimes it's going outside as a family and doing something together. 

We do have the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center virtual classes now. I think it's awesome that they're offering the virtual classes with no costs to all employees now. I can sign up for a class, reserve a spot and turn on Zoom on my iPad to follow along with a bunch of other people, including the instructor. For me, those virtual classes have been instrumental in getting back into a routine, especially after having a baby last year. I've really enjoyed that.

WILLIAMS: The virtual classes are amazing, and the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center's recorded videos offer that added flexibility to my schedule. While I may not have enough time to complete a full class, I'm really excited about the new "Get Up and Go" videos for those days when I only have a few minutes to spare. I would much rather be in a live virtual class because they offer such a sense of community. 

SMITH: We have very different positions at Mayo, and I think that we've learned how to fit in what we can when we can. My recommendation for others is to just try it out. Even the instructors, they're very much like, "If you can only stick with us for 20 minutes, great." It's a matter of just checking it out. Try it out, even over a weekend or a day off, and see if you like it. If not, at least you tried. 

WILLIAMS: I agree. Just try it out. When things were open, people took a friend or a colleague. Maybe try and arrange to attend a class at the same time, if you can, to add that little piece of competition.

SMITH: I've actually done that before with a good friend and colleague of mine who's in Rochester. We will plan to go to the same virtual class together. It has been really fun to know that she's in a different part of the country; yet, we're both in the class and doing it together. Afterward, it's always fun to kind of follow up and say: "Are you so sore? I'm so sore today. That was such a good workout." 

It has fostered more of that community and camaraderie. I agree with that sentiment. Even if you can rally with somebody else, or even get co-workers or your team to try it out as a fun challenge or something new to do, and then have something to talk about at a meeting, that's a great way to not only get some fitness in, but also maybe some connections going, too.

WILLIAMS: That shared experience can really help motivate you to continue with fitness within your daily life. 

NARRATOR: Ask a colleague to join you for a virtual class. Use fitness to help build camaraderie within your work unit or as Mayo Clinic colleagues.

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