The last three weeks have brought about more change than anyone could’ve anticipated in 2020. Your favorite restaurant is only serving takeout, sneezing in public has become worse than swearing in public, and toilet paper has practically become a form of currency. Perhaps one of the biggest adjustments has been transitioning to working from home full-time. While most of us appreciate a work-from-home day every now and then, endless weeks of it can leave you feeling cooped up, unfocused, and unmotivated.
During this time of adjustment, it’s important to find ways to get out of your chair and be active so you can remain engaged and productive, even from the confines of quarantine. Some of you may be satisfied with the “walk from bed to desktop” workout and, if you’re one of those, it’s totally fine! But for those itching for a bit more, consider setting specific goals or even instituting a company-wide challenge. For example, this is what our team is doing as part of the Mindset Challenge!
Here’s how it’s done:
- Each week, set an active goal. This doesn’t have to be jumping into a marathon training regimen or completing all your Jane Fonda workout DVDs in one day. It also shouldn’t be too easy, as this can kill your motivation. A happy medium is something attainable if you put in the effort. Remember, the goal is to get you moving more than you have been in the last few weeks. Whether that comes in the form of cycling, yoga, or dog walking, is up to you.
Here are a few facts to motivate your goal-setting:
- A sedentary person may only average 1,000 to 3,000 steps a day. If your goal is to up your step count, keep this in mind and reach for something greater!
- An average person has a stride length of approximately 2.1 to 2.5 feet. For the math whizzes reading this blog, that means one mile equates to roughly 2,000 steps.
- It takes about 66 days to form a habit so, as you plan your goals, think about how you want to continue it beyond this work-from-home period.
- Record your daily progress. This can be as easy as checking a box once you’ve reached your daily goal. It’s important to keep track of your progress for two reasons: accountability and motivation. Daily check-ins with yourself will make sure you are staying on top of the goal you set and will give you motivational momentum to achieve the goal tomorrow as well
- Share your progress. Each Monday, at Mindset we share if we met our challenge for the previous week. No need to share your specific target, just if you were able to achieve it. If you weren’t able to achieve your target, what did you learn and how will you adjust your plan going forward? If your goal was way too ambitious or far too easy, no worries! Adjust it going into the next week and try again.
At Mindset, we are offering a weekly prize drawing for those that meet the goal This gives everyone multiple shots at entry since the challenge will be taking place over multiple weeks while we’re working from home and chances to learn and improve. Finally, this is also a great practice for family involvement, too. If you’ve got kids running around in the background of your conference calls, this is a great way to get them out and moving with you.
Stay active, stay healthy, and stay motivated! Good luck!
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