I don't know why but I often have trouble sticking to a proper schedule when it comes to taking time out for exercise. I try to set time apart for it but something always comes in the middle and I have to sacrifice my physical health for either academic purposes or some other work.
Do you have any advice I can use to help this situation? I would love to know if you do.

I'm not sure if I do because I don't know what your life is like and it's hard for me to say without not knowing much about you. But.. I guess I would say to try to realize that if you don't take good care of yourself you'll likely regret it later in life. Maybe if you treat it like a sort of life or death situation you'll find more time for it because if you don't take care of your health it will likely decrease your lifespan.

Other than that I would say.. Perhaps try to do excercises while you're doing other things like listening to an audio book, or if you watch any YouTube or TV or stuff maybe you could do it while you're doing something else.

Something I like to do is.. Exercise and then work, and then when I feel like I've been working too much stop and exercise for a bit and keep rotating between work and exercise and breaking them up so you're not just sitting or being one place too long. Another thing I've been doing recently is stretching in bed before I go to sleep, lol... It's tough though cause I'm usually so tired I can't do much before I pass out.

I think more than anything though is just to find the right mental way of looking at things.. TO make it a priority now so it doesn't become a major problem later on in life. We tend to find time for what we think is important, so you have to make it really important to you.

Oftentimes, I'll have a good idea of what I want the article to be like as a whole, but don't know where or how to start. But once I do, it just kinda seems as if the words flow through me, especially when I'm writing about my personal life.

Word! I feel very similar.. It's amazing what we can do when we set our mind to it and get started, and there's plenty of distractions like social media and phones and games and music and so many things to keep us away from it if we let it. I'll check out your link when I get a moment. Might be tomorrow though as I'm trying to get so many things done and still get to bed early, including lifting weights/exercise! Maybe I'll get to it tonight though, we'll see.

Exactly! It's not always about winning, but rather about showing up and participating. I obviously haven't won all the contests that I've entered for but I still love the articles that I wrote for those contests and that's reason enough for me to keep participating even if I don't win.
But I have to admit, it does feel kinda better if you actually do win, haha!

Yeah I agree. A lot of people will let their ego get in the way and if they don't win enough they quit. But maybe if they competed more and practiced more without worrying about winning and losing they would win more in the long run as well. And haha yeah. It does feel good to win. :) But sometimes It can feel just as good but perhaps in a different way to lose and not feel bad about it, to grow and experience and appreciate the process regardless of the results.