Coming in late 2019, my third book:
Your Job is Killing You: A User's Guide to Sneaking Exercise into Your Work Day
Do you have a desk-based job? Are you a professional sitter? The knowledge-based economy requires many adults to sit at desks, and in meetings, for hours and hours every day. Productivity, profit, professionalism lead people to remain seated at all times. But we're not an airplane and there is no turbulence. This physical inactivity is killing us.
This book will help teach you how to sneak snacks of exercise into your work day.
This book will help teach you how to sneak snacks of exercise into your work day.
Zone of Convenience
Your Zone of Convenience
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Beyond Your Zone of Convenience
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How’s your desk setup at work? Is everything within easy reach? That’s not necessarily a good thing. If your daily-use items are just an arm’s length away, you are more likely to sit for long periods of time. I call it your “Zone of Convenience.” If, however, you move some of these items just a little further away, they are beyond your Zone of Convenience, and you’ll need to get up to retrieve them. These mini movement breaks, sprinkled throughout your day, are good for your body. They encourage you to sit less and move more, thereby reducing the damaging effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
And you don’t need a ton of space for these movements to have a big impact. As you can see, I have a very small desk. In the first image, most of my daily-use items are crammed onto the front of my desk. In this scenario, I barely have to move to grab a pen, my glasses, my earbuds, or my coffee. But that’s not how I typically set it up. My desk is deep, so I push many things to the back. It’s just far enough away that I have to stand up and reach forward to retrieve them. That’s what you see in the second image. And, actually, I usually leave my pencil and notebook on the dining room table. That means I have to get up and walk across the room to get it.
Small changes lead to big impacts. Learn about your initial and secondary Zones of Convenience — and much more! — in my upcoming book, “Your Job Is Killing You: A User’s Guide to Sneaking Exercise into Your Work Day.”
And you don’t need a ton of space for these movements to have a big impact. As you can see, I have a very small desk. In the first image, most of my daily-use items are crammed onto the front of my desk. In this scenario, I barely have to move to grab a pen, my glasses, my earbuds, or my coffee. But that’s not how I typically set it up. My desk is deep, so I push many things to the back. It’s just far enough away that I have to stand up and reach forward to retrieve them. That’s what you see in the second image. And, actually, I usually leave my pencil and notebook on the dining room table. That means I have to get up and walk across the room to get it.
Small changes lead to big impacts. Learn about your initial and secondary Zones of Convenience — and much more! — in my upcoming book, “Your Job Is Killing You: A User’s Guide to Sneaking Exercise into Your Work Day.”