This week we’re going to talk about being healthy at work. Most of us spend at least 8 hours a day at work. If you add up commute times, that number can grow to 10 or more hours. I usually leave my house at about 8am and I don’t come back until 7pm. That’s 11 hours that I spend driving to work, working, or driving back from work. In other words, I spend almost half my day on activities related to work. If I look at my other activities, work is the one that takes up the most amount of time.
This large amount of time spent on working tends to have a negative impact on health. We tend to think of health as something we do outside of work. We’ll work out before work, or we’ll jog after work. Whatever it is, we never really think of work as the time to be healthy. In fact, many people have unhealthy habit only at work. For example, business lunches and dinners tend to be very unhealthy meals. Also, for most of us, work means sitting in one spot for hours on end. We are completely inactive for a large portion of our day and we seem to think this is the natural order of things.
Well, while I’m not going to suggest you quit your office job and focus on training for a marathon, there are ways you can be healthier at work. All of the suggestions we’ll discuss this week will not interfere with your daily productivity. You should be able to accomplish the same amount of work you’ve done before, we’ll just find ways to squeeze in some extra activity and eliminate some unhealthy habits. So let’s get started with the easiest tip of all. Take the stairs.
You’ll hear people telling you to do this over and over. In fact, it’s almost a cliche for the physically active. However, like many cliches, it does have a grain of truth. Furthermore, it can be used as a tool for explaining the benefits of small changes to your lifestyle.
I work on the second floor of a two story office building. My company has both floors. I frequently have to discuss issues with people on the first floor. At this point I have a choice, I can email them, I can call them, I can take the elevator down to see them or I can take the stairs. All of these options have about the same time investment. Going to talk to them face to face might take a few more seconds than email or phone, but it has the benefit of better communication, so I don’t consider it a productivity loss. In fact, I usually try to avoid phone calls and go talk to someone in person. I find that it builds better relationships, which is important in any line of work. So I end up taking the stairs at least 5 or 6 times a day. Now here’s the question, does this miniscule amount of activity really help? And the answer is, absolutely, and let’s see why.
The act of taking the stairs spends a minimal amount of energy. I’m going to spend maybe 1 extra calorie each time I take the stairs versus staying at my desk. So I spent an extra five calories a day. Doesn’t seem like much, does it? Except I work 5 days a week and about 50 weeks a year. That adds up to about 25 calories a week and about 1250 calories a year. Guess what, a lb of fat is worth about 3000 calories. So I’ve lost almost half a lb just by going up and down those stairs. Even more importantly, our bodies need some activity or else our metabolism slows down. By getting up from my desk and taking those stairs, I’m keeping my metabolism going at a faster rate. That adds even more to my weight loss.
All in all, I’m going to work off about 1 lb of fat over the next year, simply by taking the stairs. Have I lost productivity? Not at all. In fact, I would argue that my work benefits from the face to face communication. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but you have to realize that it all adds up. This is 1lb of fat that you will lose this year with virtually no effort and no time lost. There are dozens of little things like this that you can do to change your life. None of them are drastic, none of them will lead to massive weight loss, but all of them together will add up to serious improvements in your health.
So take the stairs. Don’t sit at your desk, go talk to someone face to face. You’ll be more productive AND healthier.
