Have you found yourself yawning at work frequently? Do you feel sleepy and exhausted at work midday? Well, these are the signs that your body is tired and it needs a break. But wait for a second! It's just a Monday, and you came to work after a 2-day weekend! Why is your body tired already?
Well, this isn't just your story. Every other individual feels tired all the time. Even after getting a good sleep at night, a lot of people complain about being in a constant state of tiredness.
The primary reason is the lack of physical activity. We're so caught up in our hectic lives today that we fail to make time for exercise or any other form of physical activity, as a matter of fact. Most jobs involving some physical effort are now computerized, so most people are just sitting on their chairs all day, every day! As much as a sedentary lifestyle sounds comfortable, it negatively impacts your physical stamina and mental alertness!
Now, being lazy or dull at work will directly impact your performance and productivity – something you most certainly wouldn't want. If you're stressed about how your constant state of tiredness and fatigue may affect your performance and want to know how to stay active at work, this blog post will help you greatly!
Importance of Staying Active at Work
You've got to stay active at work. There's no argument here. The more active you are, the better you'll be able to focus on work and perform better. But this isn't the only reason why staying active at work is important. Let's look at the many ways staying active and fresh at work will help you.
Higher Alertness
Being active actually means how mentally alert you are. By staying active at work, we actually mean staying mentally alert. It goes without saying that the more alert you are at work, the better your focus will be, and the higher will be your productivity and efficiency.
Reduces Stress
Individuals who are active move around more often. Look at it this way; you're feeling tired and exhausted. Would you feel like leaving your chair and walking all the way to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee? Probably not. However, when you're active, and you feel like your energy level is dropping, you’ll quickly walk over to the kitchen and make yourself a cup of coffee. Did you know that walking is a form of exercise that offers similar stress relief to any other exercise? This is another reason why you should make a conscious effort to stay active at work. If you feel stressed at work, take a break and go for a short walk or simply stretch a bit. The body will produce feel-good hormones that instantly make you feel better!
Reduces the Risk Associated with a Sedentary Lifestyle
Experts say that sitting is the new smoking. When you're active and move around often at work, you're actually protecting yourself from the risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle (lack of physical activity).
Improves Mental Health
Exercise in any form, as you know by now, promotes the release of feel-good hormones (the same chemicals that reduce stress). Anything that reduces stress is good for your mental health. The better your mental health, the better you'll feel, and the better you'll perform at work.
How Can You Stay Active at Work?
One of the most common questions we get is how one can stay active at work. Well, we understand your concern. For people who've got to sit in chairs all day long, incorporating physical activity into their routine seems a little impossible. But the good news is that no matter what the nature of your job is, you can stay active at work and enjoy its numerous benefits!
Let's see how!
1. Walk or Ride a Cycle to Work
If you, like most people, drive to work or take public transport, switch your commute mode today. Instead of driving or hopping onto public transport, walk to work if your office is close to your home or ride a bicycle. Walking and cycling are both forms of exercise that offer tremendous benefits apart from bringing your entire body to work and ensuring you stay active at work. Walking or riding a bicycle, you’ll feel more energized and refreshed during the day.
Walking and cycling to work are associated with plenty of other benefits, including:
Lower BMI
Lower risk of cardiovascular diseases
Enhanced focus and concentration
Improvement in overall well-being
2. Use an Ergonomic Standing Desk
If walking or cycling to work isn't a possibility, try switching to sit-stand workstations. As we've already mentioned earlier, sitting is the new smoking. Sitting in the same posture for prolonged hours puts you at a high risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. It also causes fatigue and makes you feel tired and exhausted, and hence, less productive at work. However, using a sit-stand workstation can change things for you.
A sit-stand workstation is a workstation that can be lowered to be used as a regular workstation and raised to be used as a standing desk. It allows the users to alternate between sitting and standing so that they aren't in any one posture for too long. Working while standing is found to burn calories (pretty much like exercise, only not that many). This is because when you're standing, the muscles of your legs are in a constant state of micro-movements to keep your body upright against gravity, and these micro-movements are what helps burn calories.
So, standing at work offers pretty much the same benefit as light physical activity and ensures that you don't feel tired or exhausted at work.
3. Work Out at Work
Staying active at work shouldn't be a problem today. There are so many options available today. One of the best ways to stay active at work is to incorporate workout into your work routine. You may wonder how that is even possible. Well, thanks to under-desk treadmills like the Under Desk Treadmill 13, you can now workout while at work without having to take a break. An under-desk treadmill is similar to a treadmill that you see in gyms. They're just small enough to go under your desk so that you can use them while working on your standing desk. Using a treadmill benefits you the same way walking does. It helps burns calories and ensures you stay active throughout the day, both physically and mentally!
4. Move Around More
By simply moving around more at work, you can ensure you stay active, both physically and mentally, at work. Instead of calling or emailing a coworker, walk over to their work desk. Take stairs instead of an elevator. Walk over to the kitchen to make yourself a cup of coffee instead of asking the staff to make it for you. Park your car farther away from your office and walk all the way to the main entrance. These are just some of the many ways you can stay active at work.
5. Walk to the Nearest Café for Lunch
While you may be tempted to order your lunch and eat at your desk, we suggest you do otherwise, no matter how tired you feel. Walk to the nearest café to grab lunch and then walk back to your office. You'll be surprised at how refreshed and energized you'll feel. Walking is an excellent form of light exercise that promotes the release of endorphins that make you feel good and active!
6. Have Walking or Standing Meetings
We've all been in meetings that drag on for hours. You can try having standing or walking meetings instead. Not only will having meetings while standing or walking ensure the meetings aren't dragged on too long, but it'll also give you a break from sitting for too long. As we've already mentioned earlier, standing ensures activity in the muscles of your legs that ensure you don't get tired or fatigued.
Final Word
Staying active at work isn't so difficult after all, or is it? You just have to make conscious efforts to break free from the ever-so-comfortable sedentary lifestyle and incorporate physical activity into your routine. Not having time for exercise is just an excuse today. You've got so many fitness equipment options that you can use at work to stay physically active and fit. Even if you don't want to use any fitness equipment, you can still stay active at work by ensuring plenty of walking and moving around.
You may not find moving around and walking too much very comfortable in the beginning, but once your body is used to this level of physical activity, you'll start to experience the difference, starting from feeling more active, refreshed, and energized at work!
So, instead of wasting time at work waiting for the day to end so you can go home and rest and then repeat the same cycle the next day, take charge and start moving!
