Cyber security professional, Tara Whitehead finds balance in her lifestyle with sleep-ins, a love of sport, and making time for herself to rejuvenate. She also encourages women to get into a healthy habit with technology and ensure that apps designed to suck away time aren’t taking over their life.
Whitehead is the Application Security Manager at MYOB, a tech company offering business management solutions to help with accounting, payroll, payments, retail point of sale, CRM and professional tax solutions.
Leading the ongoing development and innovation of the Application Security capability across MYOB, Whitehead fosters positive stakeholder relationships and manages the development of security standards and best practice guidance.
As part of our weekly health series looking at how dynamic women of different career backgrounds maintain their physical and mental health, Whitehead shares more on her daily routine. Read her full ‘how I manage my health’ profile below.
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In the morning, I…
Honestly, I sleep in. I used to think there must be something wrong with me when people told me you get used to it! And I just never did. I spent years trying to get into 6am boot camps, dawn yoga, spin classes before work, or even simply getting into the office super early to impress that one morning person boss – but if there is one thing two years of lockdowns taught me, I am just not wired that way. So instead of starting the day grumpy or unfocused, taking that extra 30 (or 60) mins extra sleep in the morning prepares me more for the day than any swanky workout or breakfast routine.
In saying that, I do typically get out for some fresh air before I sit down for work for the day. And that could simply be cycling to the office or taking the longer way to walk to the coffee shop when working from home. This just helps me wake up a bit more and break up the day.
My exercise routine includes…
At the moment it’s heavily rehab focused! I dislocated my shoulder playing footy earlier this year, so I spend a few nights a week in the gym lifting weights to focus on building my strength back. I have a big plan to try and get out for one more season next year! (Don’t ask how many times I’ve said, “one more season!”)
I also try to add exercise into the more mundane parts of my day – for example, I’ll walk or cycle instead of driving or catching public transport where possible. I also find that it clears my head and gives me time to think through any challenges I might be facing at work or in life.
My favourite workout is…
There is something that feels powerful for a petite blond girl picking up heavy weights. Can’t go past the humble deadlift for that!
I find balance in…
I really enjoy and find balance in the social side of sport. So while footy is out for me at the moment, I’m back into tennis now which I’m really loving. I also find listening to what my body needs is important. So after a few hours of work in the morning, if I’m feeling a bit in a rut, going for a walk at lunch and picking things up again later on in the afternoon really helps. I’m really lucky that my workplace allows us to be very flexible in how we work to allow for this.
Also, making sure I have time for both my friends and my partner and myself. Having life balance means that I’m doing enough to ensure my “girl time” is prioritised as my time with my partner, and time for myself to rejuvenate. I find that if you let any one of these slip you face issues in the others. Look out for yourself.
On health, I encourage women to…
Get yourself into a healthy habit with your phone, smart watch, etc. Switch off notifications from apps you don’t 100 per cent need – particularly social media, but also news apps, games etc. That includes setting “work hour notifications” for your work emails, Teams, Slack etc. Some of these Apps are geared towards taking as much of your time as possible and they know when to send you a notification to optimise that time. Take back control and choose when you open these apps yourself. Also, your loved ones love you so much more when you are engaged with them, rather than with what’s happening on your phone.