We Spoke To The Founder Of Stylerunner About Fitting In Workouts When Work Saps Yr Energy

Nowadays the list of things that people need to somehow shove into their day in order to be considered productive humans feels exhaustive. Work, exercise, meal prep, socialising, sleeping at least eight hours, meditating, sucking in oxygen and blowing out carbon dioxide — it’s a lot for my poor little soul to bear.

Add in the fact that I simply must dedicate hours towards binge-watching the whole series of Killing Eve and then meticulously looking up clothing websites for items that Villanelle might wear? It’s a necessity I simply cannot give up, and I frankly should not be expected to.

But finding balance in your life IS super important, so we spoke to someone whose schedule is even more hectic (and filled with just as many premium clothes): Julie Stevanja, founder of activewear empire Stylerunner.

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PEDESTRIAN.TV: What does a normal day look like for you?

Julie Stevanja: I work out six days a week, so firstly I wake up about 5.30am and chuck my Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2 on so it can track my calories and heart rate. Then I work out, grab a coffee on the way home, quickly shower and head up to the office. My day at the office can look different, every day.

From having internal meetings to meeting with PR agencies; meeting with friends to meeting with Jaggad or Nike, and having a look at product. It ranges from the business side of things like crunching Excel spreadsheets through to the creative side of things like looking at swatches and colours, and reviewing in-house design.

P.TV: How do you switch off when you get home from work?

JS: I try to listen to a meditation app. If I’ve had a really crazy day, I do listen to apps on my phone. I love cooking dinner and I also love music, so I connect my Spotify to my speakers at home and listen while I make dinner.

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P.TV: Do you have any tech hacks that help you manage stress?

JS: Sign up to a meditation app on your phone — great ones include Calm, Insight Timer, Smiling Mind and Headspace. You can find meditations as short as a couple of minutes, so there’s no excuse. I also use my Samsung watch to measure my heart rate, and use the breathe app to bring stress levels down in 30 seconds.

P.TV: What are your go-to strategies to manage when work gets too hectic?

JS: One thing I love about my watch is the Breathe function. It has haptic feedback which takes you through a breathing exercise and really calms down your stress levels. It can actually measure your stress levels which is super interesting. I also try to get out and sit in the sunlight, especially on my lunch break. I don’t usually have my full lunch break, so when I’ve got 15-20 minutes to eat my lunch I try to do it outside instead of at my desk.

I really love breaking outside the office. Sometimes I’ll also have meetings at a coffee shop or things like that, because you can easily do that — technology really does allow you to now have an office wherever you are. With a phone like the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ as well, it’s so big and has so much functionality that you can do that even with just your mobile — you don’t even need to take a laptop with you.

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P.TV: How do you use technology to improve and empower your daily life?  

JS: I am constantly switching between my mobile phone and laptop, and need them to integrate seamlessly. I might be creating a powerpoint presentation on my laptop that I’ll review with fresh eyes in an Uber, or needing to review excel reports on the go to see how we are tracking against targets. I love the large screen and stylus on my Note10+ too. It’s large enough to review numbers as well as visuals, and scribble notes on the fly.

P.TVWhat’s one thing you wish you could tell yourself back when you first started up Stylerunner?

JS: As ironic as this is, over the seven years I ran Stylerunner, when I’d get busy one of the first things that would slide would be my commitment to my workouts. I obviously love working out, it has such a positive impact on my psyche and energy levels.

My advice would be to always lock in your workouts and make sure that they are a priority, every single week. You function better, it’s great for your mind and creativity, and you’re happier and healthier. If you lock those in and keep those commitments, you’ll perform better in other areas.

P.TV: What’s your biggest lifesaver when it comes to organisation between work and life?

JS: I put everything into my calendar. So I book in work meetings, but I also book in my workouts the whole week in advance in that calendar so I keep them as if they were meetings. If you do that at the beginning of the week and build your work week around that, I think you’ll end up with a really balanced week where you’re making sure you’re getting your exercise in and performing at your best.

One little tip to make sure you don’t bail on the mornings? Lay your workout gear and get your gym bag ready the night before so first thing in the morning there’s one less excuse. You should have everything laid out so in the morning you wake up and all you have to do is pull on your clothes and get out the door. If a class is too much, a brisk walk is a great way to get in some exercise each day. I love listening to a great Spotify track list on my Samsung Galaxy Buds. But yeah, schedule everything in and see them as a business meeting, they’re as important as a business meeting.

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So there you have it: scheduling in your workouts is definitely something I’m going to be taking on board because let’s be honest: the temptation to bail on the thought of sweating it out at the gym is really high when there are new episodes to watch or updates to read on Twitter.

But it’s important to have that balance, so if it means making yourself more accountable for the things you do (and doing them outside in the sunshine for that little extra boost) then I’m all about it.

Excuse me while I set up my rowing machine in front of the TV so it’s two birds with one stone.

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