SOUND MIND

sound mind , sound body

Well-being experts tout the importance of self-care for working professionals

IN THIS SEASON of uncertainty, one thing remains indisputably certain: We all need to take care of ourselves.

It’s funny how something so obvious can so easily—and so routinely—get overlooked.

But then again, the world we all knew changed abruptly this spring. Classrooms moved to family rooms, offices transitioned to kitchen tables, and even though we were able to trade pencil skirts for sweatpants most days, as busy professionals we suddenly had more responsibility in a smaller space, all at once.

In these challenging times, wellness exercises—both physical and mental—most likely aren’t top of the to-do list. Getting through another identical day is, however, and intentional wellness practices could help with the at-times crippling monotony.

Melissa Hile, owner of TruHit Fitness in

Paradise Valley, watched as her gym was forced to pivot immediately and her members had to switch up their routines. She loaned her equipment out to her members because, in lockdown, she knew they’d need it. And she launched a live feed on social media to encourage her members to remain engaged with their fitness goals.

“If you’re saying you can’t fit a workout in, it’s just an excuse,” Hile says, noting the positive ripple effect a fitness routine offers. “At the end of the day, someone busier than you is working out.”

Time can get away from you quickly, though, even when being quarantined seems to add hours to the day. That’s why Hile suggests getting a workout in early, before the day gets going. Squeeze it in before kids wake up, before answering Slack notifications and before sitting down to tackle a project.

“I create a date with myself almost,” Hile, a mom to young children, says of the alarm she sets each morning. “Anybody who works out in the morning makes healthier choices throughout the rest of the day.”

It is a balancing act, for sure, adds Chung Trinh, founder and CEO of Lighthouse Psychiatry in Gilbert. While suggesting we all embrace a sense of self-compassion during this time, by keeping expectations realistic, Trinh says our mental well-being benefits from physical activity and outdoor engagement.

“Schedule breaks where you physically step out of the office and immerse yourself in the environment,” he suggests. “Get some fresh air.”

To clear the mind of negativity, Trinh recommends remembering to be grateful for the goodness in our lives, even during a difficult period, and creating a clear separation between work and family. This can be achieved by shutting down and putting work away at a certain time each night, or creating a space exclusively for work and nothing else.

“Create clear boundaries,” he says. “When work is done, put it away so it’s out of sight and out of mind. Then, focus on the home life.”

And when it comes to children, Trinh says parents working from home need to understand that without structure, kids just don’t know what to do. He suggests involving them in developing solutions to challenges and frustrations, and building a structure that benefits their need for order and your need to work.

“Schedule breaks where you physically step out of the office and immerse yourself in the environment. Get some fresh air.” Chung Trinh, Founder and CEO, Lighthouse Psychiatry

Overall, though, he encouraged everyone to look for potential upsides. “Use this as an opportunity. This is a time to break old habits that may not have been healthy,” he says. “It’s almost like making a new playbook for what wellness and positivity can look like from a self-compassion standpoint.”

Lisa Van Loo

LOGISTICALLY, MOVING TO a remote-based operational model as a result of the pandemic was a simple transition for Yung Koprowski, founder and CEO of Y2K Engineering. When she founded the traffic engineering firm in 2017, she made sure the entire operation was cloud-based, making it easy for her 13 staff members to work from anywhere.

“Right now is really no different, aside from the fact that it’s harder to differentiate between when work starts and when it ends,” Koprowski says. “We have good, cloud-based IT infrastructure. We’ve been using it a long time and it works for us. That’s been the biggest compliment I’ve gotten from our team members about how easy the transition has been from home.”

The real challenge, however, came in the juggle the pandemic presented, demanding Koprowski to run a business and a household from the same spot for weeks on end. Millions of Americans can relate.

Koprowski, who was recently appointed to the Gilbert Town Council, admitted that it took a little while for her family to find a system that worked best for them, as she and her husband worked and their two elementary-aged children tried to figure out online classes.

Yung Koprowski, CEO of Y2K Engineering, with her children at their home in Gilbert.

the new normal

Pandemic presents business owners new challenges to work-life balance

“I was looking at my friends and they were creating amazing daily schedules for their kids,” Koprowski says. “I tried so hard at the beginning. It took me a week or two, but I finally realized it was way too much and it didn’t work for me to fit schoolwork in the same days I had actual work.”

So the couple achieved a manageable balance by finding a rhythm that worked for them. A few days a week, she would sit with the kids and work through their meetings and assignments, dedicating fully-focused time to what the kids needed to accomplish, rather than sharing her focus between work and school. “They get lots of free time, but it allows me to be able to work,” Koprowski says, noting that virtual meetings during the pandemic seemed to stack up in the absence of the previously-needed buffer in between meetings for travel time. “I’ve seen them improve on certain skills.” Her daughter has improved on her sight words, and her son has really thrived in math and science. And both have developed a few new life skills. “We’re doing life lessons that weren’t assigned, but I know will be valuable,” she says. Wanting to inspire her staff to find balance in their own lives, Koprowski continued with the company’s annual cycling competition, which they participate in during Valley Bike Month in April. By clocking 400 miles for the month, Koprowski’s husband ended up winning the challenge, which encouraged everyone to take time for themselves outside. “It really helped the first month go by much faster,” Koprowski says. “And it allowed all of us to go out and get fresh air. It helped with our mental health.” Looking ahead, Koprowski says she’s been discussing what work will look like in the months to come with her staff, and it seems they may stick with some type of hybrid operation, allowing team members to work from home or the office depending on needs. As a mom, she knows she’ll be working from home at least through the summer. “Working from home does work,” she says. “Some companies are moving towards work from home indefinitely. We can leave this work-from-home model open for a while.” Lisa Van Loo