Learning How To Integrate Exercise Into Your Work Life
You guys know I work from home so it probably won’t come as a surprise that I’m constantly looking for ways to exercise and stay active. I go to Pilates a couple times a week and I have a treadmill desk at home. But as much as I like the treadmill desk, it’s hard for me to do some things on it (like typing) and I find that I have to allocate at least 30 minutes when I’m going to be on it – away from my “real” desk. Seems unproductive to spend 5 or 10 minutes using the treadmill.
Enter Cubii, a smart under-desk elliptical. According to their website, it was invented by three University of Chicago graduates in their early 20s after reading the plethora of studies showing the necessity of moderate amounts of exercise all day to help reduce risk for heart disease, diabetes, and even certain kinds of cancer. Since many of today’s workers are constrained with limited desk exercise solutions in their own workplace, they decided to leave their jobs and create their own office wellness product. The product has been featured on NBC, ABC, FOX, and Forbes. You can check out a video here.
I’ve had my Cubii for a few weeks and I wanted to share my experience so far. I think my learnings not only apply to the Cubii but to work in general.
To do your best work, you must create the right work environment. A noteworthy portion of our population are “work anywhere” people – home, coffee shop, beach, wherever. Regardless of where we work, we have to consider our environment. If we are not comfortable, we will not do our best work. With the Cubii, it took me some time to get the right chair height, arm rest height and keyboard location. If you have a sitting job, you need to sit properly. And, posture is important!
Everything does not have to be a big project. Little accomplishments make a difference. With my Cubii, I can pedal 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there. Obviously, it would be better to pedal 20+ minutes at a time. But I found myself pedaling for miles – 5 minutes at a time. I also found that I could pedal while I was reading, talking on the phone, and proofreading. And oh my gosh – it’s especially helpful when you’re on hold with the cable company!
I’m still getting the hang of typing and pedaling. It’s definitely easier than with the treadmill desk but it does take some adjustment. I’m also still trying to figure out which is better – more miles at a lower tension OR fewer miles at a higher tension.
If you’re looking for an under-desk elliptical, I would recommend checking Cubii out. But that’s not the reason I wrote today’s post. It’s about learning and developing new and good work habits, especially if you work outside of an office. Wellness and well-being programs aren’t exclusive to large corporations. Even solopreneurs have to find time to take care of themselves.
Image taken by Sharlyn Lauby while on a break from her Cubii
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