Many people wake up inside a box (the house), pour cereals out of a box and, after they have had their breakfast, get into a small box (their car) and drive to another box (the office) where they spend most of the day at a desk, usually staring at a screen. They then get back into their small box, drive back to their house box, have a couple of glasses of wine from a box and watch an episode from a box set or watch Gogglebox on the box. They are boxed into a sedentary lifestyle. A sedentary lifestyle that causes health problems and sluggishness at work.
Moving about is the best way to overcome those health problems and boost your energy and therefore performance at work. Start simply by moving about in your box (unless it is your car). There are useful apps that can help remind you to get up and move about, for example Interval Timer and Pomodoro or you can use the natural patterns of your working day to help ensure you move about. For example, if there are files or other reference material you use regularly don’t have these within reach, put them somewhere that forces you to get up to reach them. And change your mindset, being tied to your desk doesn’t mean you’re being productive, often getting up and going outside for a walk will reenergise you so when you come back, you’ll work harder and smarter. Overall, even though you’ve spent less time at your desk, you will achieve more.
Getting outside particularly in the natural environment and moving about will help with your mental wellbeing and your ability to cope with stressful situations in the office. It’s not rocket science, it’s just recognising that the human body is designed to move and the brain requires both rest and stimulation. You don’t need to run marathons or enter Ironman competitions, you just need to move about. Weekend warriors who tackle marathons and Ironman competitions can still have health problems if they spend the rest of the week locked in their boxes being inactive.
One final thought when you are outside being active think about visiting a graveyard and read the headstones, I can guarantee you that not one of them will say here lies the best marketing manager, chief executive, salesperson etc. They will say things like here lies a much-missed father, a much-loved mother, sister, daughter, son, brother. So perhaps when you’re outside your box in nature share that experience with important family members and remember you owe it to them to be the fittest and best you can be.
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Business Thoughts 