By Rebecca Kerr, OSCPA communications intern

Busy season is in full swing, and we all know what that means – longer hours, heavier workloads and ever-persistent stressors. These circumstances don’t mean you need to neglect your health though; in fact, you need it in tip-top shape more than ever.

In a recent informal poll, we asked our members: “What’s your go-to stress reliever during tax season?” The answer options included were:

• Television
• Exercise
• Meditation
• Spending time with family and friends

Sixty-four percent of respondents chose exercise, 21% chose spending time with family and friends and mediation and television earned 7%, respectively.

Drew Rankin, CWP, wellness consultant at ERChealth, said exercise is a fantastic physical and mental stress reliever. He said living a healthy life is achievable no matter what the season, and the best way to start and stay committed is setting wellness expectations.

“You might not be eating a salad for lunch every day and that’s okay,” Rankin said. He said making plans and setting goals is key to sustaining a healthier lifestyle, and a couple missteps are no reason to throw in the towel for good. Everyone is going to have bad days and Rankin encourages everyone to keep with it regardless of falling short from time to time.

A big part of this, he said, is to have compassion for yourself and use positive self-talk.

“We don’t always talk to ourselves the same way that we talk to our friends. You need to talk to yourself the same way and take care of yourself the same way,” Rankin said.

He also suggested ways to get active from the confines of your work. Whether it’s a 10-minute walk during your lunch break or doing simple bodyweight exercises like stretches or squats, “any movement is better than no movement,” and all can be beneficial:

• Plan your goals and how you will achieve them, in addition to also planning for your failures and having a plan “b” in place.
• Have a pair of walking shoes exclusively at work.
• Bring extra chargers for any devices you like to workout with (i.e. Fitbit or phone) to avoid skipping your workout because of dead devices.
• Figure out your reasonings for your health goals and plan ways to stay motivated accordingly.