For many, especially those in IT, the past year was probably similar to ours in many ways:
Since March 2020 our offices have been closed. Except for the occasional visit to take care of the plants or paperwork, all of us are working from home. We were lucky – thanks to our regular 2 days per week home-office there were no technical problems and the infrastructure providers did their job remarkably well. Basically everything works, some online meetings are even more efficient and personal than before and the market for our niche is stable enough for us to get by well.
Still, it’s not always easy to maintain high spirits and the longer the lock-down continues the more deeply the Corona-Blues takes hold. My own content and physical well-being were also on the decline due to lack of opportunity and motivation for exercise and sports. But then a stroke of luck changed things and gave me a push in a direction that is promising to thoroughly change my work-life: In a video-meeting a colleague was happily tottering away. He’d gotten a treadmill and placed it under his adjustable desk.
Printed on the shirt: So that your software runs well.
Of course! I’d toyed with that idea years before but unfortunately not gone through with it at that time, partly due to lack of suitable choices. But now I understood immediately: This is it! I already had a suitable desk so I did a quick market research, read and watched a lot of user stories, compared prices, ordered a treadmill, got it delivered, set it up and started walking.
Today’s generation of treadmills for walking, not running, is ideally suited for that purpose. The maximum speed is limited to 6 km/h – not enough for running but more than enough at a desk. With prices below € 400.- the devices are smaller, lighter and less noisy than their large running counterparts in fitness studios and energy consumption is far less.
Familiarization didn’t take long. At a relaxed pace of 4 km/h (5 with a bit of practice), typing and mouse operation are not an issue as long as I don’t need to hit exact pixels. My concentration at work is so high that I barely notice walking. The light tension resulting from this contrast even helps focusing and the increased blood flow stimulates thought. Sitting has its well-known drawbacks and standing is not much better – I can stand comfortably for maybe half an hour at most. But walking feels like there’s no limit. After a month the magic still isn’t gone and I’m walking about 80-100 km per week without much effort. And that’s on top, while doing my work, without having to cut out the time and not in competition with going for a run outside in this wonderfully warm spring. And so far without wear and tear.
Though this approach is not for everyone and not every workplace is suited, the health potential is tremendous. One colleague also started walking, another mounted his bike below his desk. The others are getting used to the waggling in video meetings and, thanks to headsets, acoustics are OK though even the better treadmills aren’t really silent and there’s the occasional heavy breath coming through the microphone.
I’m curious to find out what the next months have in store for us. How quickly or slowly « normalcy » returns and what that’s going to mean for social and work interactions, what new balances we’re going to find. But what I’m definitely going to retain after Corona is working while walking (or is it walking while working?) and I’m totally thankful for that.