5 Ways You Can be More Active During Work

It may come across as cliché, but the ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ saying has lived on through the ages for a reason. In our modern era of work, where so many of us spend most of our day sitting at a desk in front of a screen, the ‘healthy body’ part might seem a bit allusive – but remains important to getting our brains in the best shape possible.

With some small everyday behavioural changes, there’s no reason you can’t make yourself more active before, after, and during your workday. Here are 5 tips on what you can do to get those valuable moments of movement into your daily routine!

See the steps

50 years ago, an influential marketing campaign for a pedometer, preceding the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, suggested that 10,000 was the magic number of steps a day needed for humans. Whilst the exact number is up for debate, tracking your steps is a great first move to motivate yourself to do more in your daily routine. Most phones now have tools to help us do this, so simply switching them on and setting notifications for certain milestones is a nice gentle nudge to change your daily behaviour.

Reimagine the commute

Is there a way you can incorporate more steps and exercise into your daily commute? Of course, not everyone has the luxury of being able to walk or cycle to work. However, you could try working more exercise into certain stages of the journey, such as walking an extra public transport stop, or cycling half the way, for example. Experiment with how you can divide that commute time up to give yourself more exercise within it.

As many people have been confined to lockdowns in the past year, and remote working is on the rise, many are enjoying not having to commute 5 days a week. This free time in the morning is a perfect chance to do some exercise – going for a morning walk, bike ride, or even run before you start the day!

Standup meetings

Standup meetings have become an organisational buzzword in the past decade. The initial concept (supported by solid research!) was that by having a standup meeting, participants would have to be more concise and efficient, and ensure things don’t drag on unnecessarily long. Now, the term is used to describe any type of short meeting, but its original purpose remains important!

Even if you’re having virtual meetings in our new age of remote work, try standing up for the length of it to give your body a break from its default office desk position. You could also try a walking meeting – both virtually on your phone, or if you have a small team with you in the office, then with them too! A new environment combined with exercise is a great way for your brain to enjoy working in a different environment. You never know what great new ideas you might generate.

Take a non-smoking break

Just because you don’t smoke, doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to a timeout. As smokers get the opportunity to go for their break as needed, take a cup of tea of coffee outside and enjoy the fresh air just to take your eyes of the screen for a while. Fresh air + more steps + eye rest is a winning formula for a healthy mind and body.

Join forces

Teamwork makes the dreamwork. Setting goals for a healthier lifestyle is always easier when working collaboratively, and even competitively with others. Speak to other colleagues you think may also be interested in setting some active targets with you, helping motivate each other. You could use an app to share each other’s exercise goals/daily steps so you can encourage one another if it seems someone is falling behind the pack!

You could even set weekly challenges with small rewards for all those who achieve them at the end. Having a support network will certainly inspire you to increase your activity and coincides with being a nice social networking opportunity for you and your colleagues.