Get to Stepping! Ways to Stay Motivated with Your Treadmill Desk

So you have an UPLIFT Treadmill Desk. It's awesome, right?! You can watch those calories, steps, and miles tick away as you work. You can also interrupt mid-morning and mid-day focus fatigue by getting up there and walking, which is a great way to stay productive and manage your time. These desks rock, and every lucky employee at our company knows it personally, since we all have them ourselves.

The one thing that can happen, though, is that we can naturally fall in and out of motivation from time to time. If you have a cold, or if you are dealing with stressful deadlines, or are just feeling lazy, it's easy to ignore the treadmill and just sit for a good chunk of the day. Just like it's easy to eat a little more than you should, or stay up late doing something mindless and not get enough sleep, it's not always easy to stay willing to do the things we know are good for our wellness and self care. So it's good to have some ways to modify behavior when we find ourselves wanting to rebel.

Because this is a part of our work culture here at THS, we've come up with some suggestions on how to stay motivated to walk, even when the going gets a little lazy:

1. Have an accountability buddy. Ideally, they have a treadmill desk too, so you can compare progress and goals.You can also think creatively, if your friend does not have a treadmill desk. Perhaps they have other health-related goals they are trying to stick to - not eat the junk food in the snack room, or go to the gym after work three days a week. There might be other ways to buddy-up with someone on their wellness goals, while you try to keep to your own personal walking goals. Check in with each other and encourage one another as a way to stay accountable. It's always okay to fall short of those goals - so don't give up! It is very helpful to bring a friend into that process with you; it keeps it light and fun, but also more motivating.

2. Remind yourself. Put a calendar reminder to pop up on your screen or in your email an hour after lunch.

3. Don't force it. Don't pressure yourself to walk to the point that it's no longer enjoyable. Strike a healthy balance of walking when you don't feel like it, and letting yourself take a break when you are legitimately fatigued, or just really not wanting to. It's not good to sour the overall experience, if you're just not feeling it at that moment. The best thing to do is try, see what happens, and maybe stop after doing a bare minimum - perhaps 15 minutes.

4. Measure progress in different ways. Pay attention to different measures shown on the treadmill: Set a goal one day that has to do with time, like 1 hour for the day. Maybe another day set a goal for the number of steps you take, or maybe for a certain amount of miles, or even a number of calories. Take full advantage of the Lifespan Desk Treadmill's console, and its various ways of measuring your activity by varying the types of goals you set!

5. Pay attention to hunger and fatigue. If you notice you are lagging in focus or energy, or are thinking about getting up to grab a snack when you aren't really all that hungry, consider getting on your treadmill instead. The movement has been shown to help many people refocus their concentration, and it's also a great substitute for unnecessary snacking!

I hope these tips prove helpful for you - even if you don't have a treadmill desk (yet). It can be difficult to stay motivated, I know this from experience. That's why it can be really helpful to have a few tricks up your sleeve when the going gets a little bit lazy.

Visit TheHumanSolution.com for more ways to stay healthy and productive at work.

Related Reads:

• Stop Wondering, Start Walking: See the UpLift Treadmill Desk in Action!
• How Do You Determine Which Treadmill Model You Need? It’s Easy!
• ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ Promotes the Idea of a ‘Walking Workstation’