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Moving Towards Health

Move more during the workday

Maggi Fitzpatrick
Posted 1/10/23

Many jobs today require us to sit at our desks hunched over a computer for many hours at a time. We all know that sitting all day isn’t good for our health, and we usually have great ideas to …

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Moving Towards Health

Move more during the workday

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Many jobs today require us to sit at our desks hunched over a computer for many hours at a time. We all know that sitting all day isn’t good for our health, and we usually have great ideas to move more during the day, but actually doing it can be difficult. 

Excessive sitting can be life-threatening as it can increase your chances of many diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity, Cardiovascular Disease, back and neck problems, and more. Adding movement into your workday can significantly decrease these risks and will improve your overall quality of life and ability to enjoy your day.

If you currently sit a lot during your workday, it’s going to be difficult to change your habits. Habits are formed when we perform the same actions over and over, and it takes time to change them. Think of your habits like trails in the woods. Your current habit is the nicely groomed trail you’re constantly clearing trees off. You spend a lot of time on this trail and it’s easy to take, you know the way, and could probably do it in your sleep. A new habit is like foraging a new trail through the woods. It takes a lot of time and effort to build the new one and for a while, it will be difficult to find again. 

Creating a new habit of adding movement into your workday is going to require you to do some planning ahead of time. Although it’s likely your plan will change, it’s necessary to plan because if we don’t know what our goal is and plan out how we can reach it, the chances of us being successful are slim to none. Not planning is like trying to get to a new destination without any directions. Good luck! 

Let’s say you have a goal to walk for 30 extra minutes during your workday. Break down your goal into a couple different options, such as taking one 5-minute walk every hour for six hours, taking three 10-minute walks during your breaks, or taking one 30-minute walk during lunch. Which one works best for your schedule? All three will get you the same result and none are better than another. 

Creating a new habit requires accountability and intention. Find someone you trust, who will support you in reaching your goals, and preferably who wants to achieve them with you. This person will be your accountabili-buddy and will help you stay on track. You can even turn your goal into a competition and see who can get the most steps in a day or set a prize for the person who wins at the end of each month. We must focus on our goals, keep them in the forefront of our mind, and always take action towards them in order to reach them. 

You may be the only person at your company prioritizing movement for a while, and this is normal. Don’t let this discourage you from taking action. As you start to change your habits, move more, and improve your mood and health, others will take action along with you. You’ve got this!

Xoxo

Coach Maggi

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