Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

Sometimes it’s hard to juggle all the daily responsibilities in life. Balancing work responsibilities can be difficult enough but trying to also maintain a social life at the same time can feel impossible. Being able to manage your time can be invaluable in many ways. There many benefits of having time management skills and having the right strategies can improve your skills. 

To start, time management is a process in which you plan and control the amount of time dedicated to certain tasks. This will in turn boost your efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity during the day. Controlling your time will allow you to become better at organizing and in turn will help you control your time both personally and professionally. Having the necessary skills to manage your time has different benefits for people, including:

• Increased time for self
• Improved feeling of accomplishment
• Improved self esteem
• Increased satisfaction in life

The more you can limit work stress and the more time you spend on yourself, the happier you will be. So how do we improve our time management skills? Here are some strategies you can implement:

1. Know How You Spend Your Time: Making a time log of what you do during a day can help determine how you are already using your time. Over the span of a week or two, record everything you did in a 15-30 minute interval. Evaluate how you used that time. What time of the day are you most motivated? What tasks took the most time? Where do you value your time the most? Reflect on if you’re investing your time wisely, or if you need to reinvest time in other things.
2. Set Priorities: Distinguishing what is urgent and what is important determines whether you’re managing your time effectively. Some of the most important tasks are not the urgent tasks, but that does not mean that you should let the urgent tasks control your life. Determining what tasks must be done can help you gain control of your life while reducing the amount of tasks that may become urgent.
3. Use a Planning Tool: Utilizing a planning tool can increase your productivity. Writing down  tasks, making notes on your schedule, and jotting down items to remember can free up brain space to focus on other, more important tasks. Review your calendar daily, synchronize your apps if you use two different types of planning tools, and always have a backup. Some examples of a planning tool: Time Trackers, Time Savers, Calendars, Task Managers, Habit Developers, etc.  
4. Get Organized: You can’t manage your time if you’re disorganized, and research has shown that clutter has a  negative impact on perceived well-being.
5. Stop Multi-Tasking: Humans in general are not efficient at multi-tasking. Studies show that multi-tasking doesn’t save time or increase efficiency. In fact, it does the opposite. Routine multi-tasking may lead to difficulty concentrating and maintaining focus.

Time management is a skill that can be vital to one’s success. What are some other strategies that you have found to help manage your time?

Our fitness management staff members have some of the best stories around on the impact their fitness programs are having on resident lives in the senior living communities we serve. They hear comments from residents or their family members, they see new faces in classes, and they track the data in programs and services that demonstrate solid engagement. Our staff takes great pride in these affirmations knowing that the work they are so passionately committed to is truly making a difference not just for residents but also for the culture of a community as a whole.

In 2020, NIFS is embarking on a new platform to more effectively bridge the gap from these stories garnered in community fitness centers directly to the marketing and sales teams. We have always partnered with clients on helping them in their marketing and sales messaging, but we are taking this to a new level in 2020 as more clients want to differentiate their communities during prospect tours and via social media in particular. Community fitness centers are becoming more commonplace in the industry. Communities know they need to have the physical space available. However, a truly comprehensive program can be a distinguishing element to showcase through the right storytelling about your resident successes.

How to Capture and Share Your Stories

Here are a few tips to help your community capture and share some of that marketing gold happening in your fitness center!

1. It starts with the data. Having a strong foundation in your fitness program, where you are tracking total members, visits to the fitness center and classes, engagement in various services each month, etc., can help you identify the wins and program successes you want to spread the word about during prospect tours and social media postings. If you don’t have a solid foundation established to track this data with consistency, it’s difficult to substantiate the impact your program has with any bearing. Click here for more insight on the value of strong data.
2. Capture the feedback. With a qualified fitness professional at the helm of your fitness program, you have someone who has a strong relationship with your residents, who is coaching them and guiding them in the fitness center, and who hears directly from your residents about the strides they are making in their fitness, balance, and overall well-being. Having a system in place to share resident success stories can be marketing gold to help your consumers identify how living in your community might positively impact their quality of life as well.
3. Make it visual. On your website and social media channels, avoid use of stock art where possible. If prospects are following you socially, let them genuinely experience your community by seeing your spaces alive with vibrant activity week after week. They’ve likely seen your fitness center, pool, or aerobic studio during a tour, but you can help them truly feel what your residents experience through your images and videos or let your fitness manager go live for an even more engaging experience. Being able to see their friends and acquaintances thriving in a space they once toured can build a much stronger connection than stock art alone.

Let NIFS Help

The era of social media is changing how consumers shop from afar. Don’t miss out on creative opportunities to help your prospects experience your community week after week as they scroll through their Facebook feeds. If you have questions about how to effectively move forward with some of these components or how to have the right structure in place to do so, contact NIFS for more information on our fitness management or consulting services.