How to Incorporate Exercise Into a Busy Work Day
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The average American often juggles work, household responsibilities, and lifestyle activities, all within 24 hours. According to a survey on time use by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people who worked at their workplace for 7.8 hours whereas those working from home did so for 5.6 hours on their scheduled workday on average. Furthermore, people usually spend 2-3 hours completing household chores and more than 2.2 hours tending to children. Given both accounted and unaccounted responsibilities, it can be difficult for someone to squeeze exercise into their schedule, especially when busy with work and everything else.
A report on physical inactivity notes that without proper exercise, people are at greater risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. With one in two adults not getting enough aerobic physical activity, it has become essential that you make an effort to incorporate exercise into your routines. Here are some ways you can fit in exercise on a busy work day:
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How to Create Time For Breaking a Sweat
Finding fun and simple workout activities
Sometimes, people trick themselves into thinking they don’t have time, but in reality, they are unmotivated to exercise. Including fun exercises in your fitness plan to help lose or maintain weight can work wonders for your health, even getting you closer to your weight-loss goals. Finding movements you enjoy — having dance breaks, stretching at your desk, or taking a walk at lunchtime — can help you develop a healthy habit that sticks. You can get closer to your fitness goals much sooner through simple physical activities. Activities like dance classes such as Zumba last 30 minutes, giving you intense cardio while not feeling like a chore.
Add it to your calendar
Rather than putting off exercise time for other tasks, it may help to treat the physical activity as if it was a scheduled activity in your work day. For jam-packed work days, you may be able to handle unexpected assignments by finding ways around them — asking your coworkers to cover your meeting, or taking work home, among other things — to squeeze in your workout. As shared in our post on habits of successful people, exercise is part of keeping healthy and should be considered your ‘you time.’ Blocking off at least 30 minutes of your time can push you to take action and have a bit of physical activity for the day.
Work out efficiently
The best way to get your fitness up without using too much time is to choose workouts that provide significant gains in a short time. Some examples include bodyweight workouts, CrossFit, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which take up as little as 20 minutes of your day. For busy working parents, you can multitask and consider time with kids as exercise, such as getting a jogging stroller or doing some workouts while playing at the playground. You can easily add fitness to your daily routine and habits by having efficient activities.
Exercise while working
If you’re very short on time, you can incorporate exercise while working using a treadmill desk. A study on treadmill desks found that their use can reduce overall sitting time, which can be beneficial for sedentary adults in weight management, glucose and lipid metabolism, and reduced mortality risk. While walking benefits your health, prolonged standing, and walking can be as taxing on the heart as lengthy sitting. It’s essential to take breaks to ensure your body can recover and work effectively.
You can commit to making time for physical activity even on a busy day through these methods. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of reframing your mindset and putting in the effort to build healthy habits.
The Power of a Good Workout: Uncovering the Benefits
Working out is important for your health. It improves your mood, reduces stress and anxiety, and keeps your body strong.
There are many benefits to working out, but one of the most important reasons is that it helps you feel better mentally and emotionally. Working out releases endorphins, which make you feel happier. Working out also helps alleviate stress, which can decrease your risk of depression.
Working out also has physical benefits, including improving your cardiovascular system and strengthening your muscles. You'll be able to do more physically if you work out regularly, meaning you won't struggle with everyday tasks like carrying groceries or climbing stairs as easily. The added strength will also help prevent injuries from happening in the future!
Check out more tips on productivity:
The Art of Work Management: A Guide to BeforeSunset
Warning Signs You're Overworked + How to Handle It
50+ Productive Things to Do at Home - The Ultimate List For Productivity Ideas
The Surprising Link Between Fitness And Productivity
Working out and being productive go hand in hand.
When you work out, your mind and body are focused on the task at hand. You can't be productive when you're distracted by the little things, like how much time it takes to get to the gym or what you'll eat after you're done working out. When you're exercising, your mind is busy thinking about how much longer you have left on that treadmill, what your next meal might be, and how much better you feel after a good workout.
Working out also helps keep your mind clear of stressors. Stress can make it hard to focus on anything else other than what's stressing you out—and who needs more distractions?
You'll feel more energized and alert if you work out regularly. Your body will thank you for having a healthy routine that keeps all of its systems running smoothly!
What other ways can you increase your productivity?
You know you're supposed to be more productive, but how?
You've probably heard a million times that being productive is a matter of prioritizing tasks, breaking them down into manageable chunks, and getting organized. And while those tips are all well and good, they don't really tell you how to make it happen.
The truth is that there are no magic bullets when it comes to productivity. It's a process—it takes time and effort, and it's not always easy. But if you can put in the work now, you'll reap the benefits later on. Here are some ways to start increasing your productivity today:
1. Start small: Don't try to change everything at once! Pick one or two things that are particularly irritating about your current work process and focus on them until they're fixed. Then move on to another area of improvement, and another after that.
2. Track your time: It sounds simple enough, but many people don't realize just how much time they spend on certain tasks throughout their day—and it's even harder for us non-project managers to keep track of our own hours (especially if we aren't paid hourly). By tracking our time we can get insights into the way we spend our time and how much we are overworking.
We also have a great tool recommendation for you, with BeforeSunset time tracking has never been easier.
