WEBVTT - The New Corner Office: Sneak in a few more steps

0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:10.120
<v Speaker 1>Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,

0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:13.920
<v Speaker 1>the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the

0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:18.120
<v Speaker 1>new world of work, where location and hours are more

0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:22.200
<v Speaker 1>flexible than in the past. Today's tip is about how

0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:24.919
<v Speaker 1>to sneak in a few more steps during the day.

0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:27.720
<v Speaker 1>When you're working at home. It can be easy to

0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:31.440
<v Speaker 1>go nowhere, but with a few smart choices you can

0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:35.880
<v Speaker 1>stay active and have more energy. So first, I want

0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:38.839
<v Speaker 1>to be clear that working in an office can easily

0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:42.080
<v Speaker 1>lead to sloths too. In fact, some research has found

0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:47.120
<v Speaker 1>that long commutes are negatively associated with physical activity. It

0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:51.600
<v Speaker 1>makes sense when do people usually exercise well seven in

0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:54.440
<v Speaker 1>the morning and six at night. When are people who

0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:57.280
<v Speaker 1>have long commutes on the road seven in the morning

0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:00.200
<v Speaker 1>and six at night. When you work from home, the

0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:02.680
<v Speaker 1>commute disappears at least a few days a week, which

0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:05.600
<v Speaker 1>is great. You can open up a lot more time

0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:09.600
<v Speaker 1>for a real workout. But on days when that doesn't happen,

0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:12.880
<v Speaker 1>you may be facing down a long stretch of sitting

0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:16.959
<v Speaker 1>with a lot less incidental activity. The walk from your

0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:19.760
<v Speaker 1>parking lot to your desk is probably longer than the

0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:22.720
<v Speaker 1>walk from your bedroom to your home office. Unless you

0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:26.320
<v Speaker 1>have a really palatial house. You aren't walking to conference

0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.600
<v Speaker 1>rooms for meetings. You aren't walking to the office cafeteria

0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:32.200
<v Speaker 1>or out to lunch. Usually there are just a lot

0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:36.040
<v Speaker 1>fewer reasons to stand up, and that's a problem because

0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.360
<v Speaker 1>sitting too long can lead to stiffness and general malaise.

0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:42.680
<v Speaker 1>And there's nothing magical about racking up a certain number

0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:45.960
<v Speaker 1>of steps, but it is a proxy for extra movement

0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:48.440
<v Speaker 1>during the day, and you do want to stay in

0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:51.720
<v Speaker 1>motion if you can, so how do you do that?

0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:54.880
<v Speaker 1>You can look for lots of ways to sneak in

0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:58.680
<v Speaker 1>extra steps. From the time you wake up to the

0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:02.120
<v Speaker 1>time you go to bed, there are opportunities to move around.

0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:05.080
<v Speaker 1>This is true even if, like me, you need to

0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:08.120
<v Speaker 1>be careful about when you emerge from your home office,

0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:11.600
<v Speaker 1>because when you emerge, people suddenly develop needs for your

0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:15.320
<v Speaker 1>time and attention. First, look for ways to build movement

0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:18.120
<v Speaker 1>into your morning routine. When you get out of bed,

0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:22.480
<v Speaker 1>stretch a bit, touch your toes, or do some quasi

0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:25.200
<v Speaker 1>push ups on the kitchen counter when you're making your coffee,

0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.760
<v Speaker 1>pace around the bathroom as you brush your teeth. Fifty

0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:32.480
<v Speaker 1>extra steps in the morning, and fifty extra steps at

0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:36.040
<v Speaker 1>night doesn't sound like much, but one hundred steps a

0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:39.040
<v Speaker 1>day for three hundred sixty five days a year is

0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:43.280
<v Speaker 1>thirty six thousand, five hundred steps, which is about eighteen miles.

0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:46.600
<v Speaker 1>You can also pace around the office while you're on

0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:50.919
<v Speaker 1>an audio only call. Again, you're not trying to run

0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:54.520
<v Speaker 1>a marathon. Just getting up to walk a hundred steps

0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:58.160
<v Speaker 1>during two calls during the day will encounter some of

0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:02.000
<v Speaker 1>the effects of sitting. You can stand up while clearing

0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:04.680
<v Speaker 1>out your inbox on your phone. After all, you can

0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:08.040
<v Speaker 1>delete as easily from a standing position as a sitting one.

0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:12.320
<v Speaker 1>You might try taking a call while walking. Any casual

0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:14.840
<v Speaker 1>one with your immediate team in which you don't need

0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:18.520
<v Speaker 1>to take notes can work well. Look for ways to

0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:22.400
<v Speaker 1>take active breaks. Go throw a ball with your dog

0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:24.720
<v Speaker 1>or your kid in the back yard for a few minutes,

0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:26.919
<v Speaker 1>walk to your mailbox, or if you live in a

0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:30.720
<v Speaker 1>walkable neighborhood, go walk to run a quick errand. I've

0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.400
<v Speaker 1>written my kid's virtual school breaks into my calendar, and

0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:35.520
<v Speaker 1>I sometimes try to convince one of them to go

0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:38.320
<v Speaker 1>for a quick walk with me during the break. With

0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:40.400
<v Speaker 1>five kids in a family, it's hard to get one

0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.440
<v Speaker 1>on one time, but This is one way to do it,

0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:46.840
<v Speaker 1>and then, of course look for ways to be active

0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:50.960
<v Speaker 1>after work too. Family outside time before dinner can lead

0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:54.440
<v Speaker 1>to extra steps, but it's all about the fun. I

0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:56.880
<v Speaker 1>sometimes push my baby in the stroller in the driveway

0:03:56.920 --> 0:03:58.720
<v Speaker 1>in the evening as a way to fill some time

0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:01.040
<v Speaker 1>and not have to worry that he'll grab anything off

0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:04.120
<v Speaker 1>the floor that he shouldn't. He likes looking at me

0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:06.320
<v Speaker 1>and looking at the clouds, and well he's pretty cute

0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:09.440
<v Speaker 1>to look at too. Just in general, if you've been

0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:13.360
<v Speaker 1>sitting for a bit, think about getting up and challenge

0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:15.640
<v Speaker 1>yourself to walk for just fifty to one hundred steps.

0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:19.960
<v Speaker 1>It isn't much, but it isn't nothing either, and little

0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:24.800
<v Speaker 1>bits of not nothing do add up in the meantime.

0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:29.440
<v Speaker 1>This is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to succeeding

0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:36.080
<v Speaker 1>in the New Corner Office. The New Corner Office is

0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:40.839
<v Speaker 1>a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:44.279
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.