![]() (It’s not meant to replace other forms of exercise-instead, it replaces sitting.) But it is a decent way to boost creative thinking and get more satisfaction out of desk work. It’s not even an especially good form of exercise, if the goal is to get your heart rate up. It’s not a Peloton or one of those exercise mirrors. That said, an under-desk treadmill is not a glamorous piece of equipment. When I step off, I feel like I’m back at home. When I step onto the treadmill, I feel like I’m stepping into the office. (Again, it’s amazing what you can get used to after a few months of working from home.) It also helps to delineate my workday from everything else, a boundary that’s become blurry in the past year. Showing up at the treadmill each morning also forces me to prepare for my workday more like the way I used to-specifically, by wearing socks and shoes-which means I’m more likely to put on clothes separate from the ones I had slept in. I’m not saying that it’s given me superpowers, but I’m not saying it hasn’t. People always ask if it’s hard to type while walking, so I gave myself a speed test and found that, improbably, I can type 10 words per minute faster on the treadmill. I’m more focused, if only because the treadmill kept me stationed at my desk. I feel more energetic after a day of walking, which means I’m also more likely to do something after work, like meet up with a friend for an outdoor beer or go for a run. This new habit has had compounding effects. When I read that Bowles walks at a pace of 1.5 miles per hour, and Coles only logged a couple of miles each day, I also felt a surge of competitive achievement. I felt as though I had cracked a secret code. I had spent 3 hours on the WalkingPad, averaging between 2.5 and 3 miles per hour, during which I had typed a draft, gone to meetings, and called sources on the phone. The number seemed improbable, not because of the distance but because I had done it while performing the usual duties of my job. The first day with my treadmill, I logged 8 miles. Have you fallen off yet? Do you get motion sickness trying to read? One colleague Slacked me to say that the treadmill had a “thumping quality,” like techno playing in the background. How can you type on that thing? People wanted to know. My colleagues watched my head bob up and down in my Zoom square through meetings, like a ship at sea. Reactions varied between skepticism and intrigue. I imagined how accomplished I would feel after a day of walking, knowing that I had collapsed hours of exercise into the workday.Īt work, I announced the arrival of my treadmill desk on Slack. Nellie Bowles, a reporter for The New York Times, described her working life on a treadmill desk as “ ideal” in 2018. I channeled visions of Steve Jobs, who liked to take his meetings while strolling around Apple’s campus in Cupertino, and Joanna Coles, who famously ran Cosmopolitan from the treadmill desk in her office, further intimidating colleagues by walking on it in heels. I wanted to revive my step count, which used to reflect a life of urban splendor but now reflected the laps I took between the bed, the refrigerator, and the dining table turned desk. Now, it seems like a very nice part of my day.Īt first, the reasons for buying a tiny treadmill were practical. A year ago, the image of myself marching on it from my makeshift “home office” would have seemed like a joke. The most ridiculous example of this is probably that I have now replaced my commute, and the ancillary exercise of being a person in a city, with a miniature treadmill that I walk on throughout every workday. I meet up with friends for weekend hikes but see the doctor for virtual visits through my phone. Dinner parties are now picnics, but my office is contained within my apartment. Much of my “new normal” has involved moving my inside life outdoors and my outside life indoors. It’s strange, but not surprising, how quickly you can get used to things. A strange side effect of the pandemic year has been the gradual, reluctant adjustment “ to a new normal.” Things that would’ve seemed absurd a year ago now seem ordinary: approximating a birthday party over Zoom, covering your face in public, turning the kitchen table into a home office, or greeting loved ones with that weird ghost-hug gesture to maintain 6 feet of distance.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |