Life @ 1.4mph

The college that I work for ran a brief blurb in the weekly newsletter. This is the accompanying picture, which I love because you can see the movement in my legs and fingers (blurry), but my head, face, and upper body look perfectly still. Life @ 1.4mph = pure bliss and total productivity.

stress fightin' machine

A week ago I attended my first giant staff meeting for my new branch of the college. As an ice breaker, we answered a serious of questions - How will your co-workers know if you are stressed? How will you combat stress? How will you work toward life balance? As I stared at the questions on the page, I realized that the treadmill desk has fundamentally changed my work persona. While the answer to the first was pretty easy - I will be frustrated about mundane things - it was difficult to craft answers to the other two which didn't include treadmill desk in the answer. How will I combat stress? - walk a few minutes on the tread. How will I strike balance in my life? - walk a few minutes on the tread. I realized that not only has my body responded physically to the demands of walking an average of 4.8 miles per day at work, but my psyche has also responded positively. Being able to put myself in a work zone is great - the increased productivity and focus washes away any stress that might otherwise build up. It can also be a johnny-on-the-spot remedy. As we finish up the second week of classes, I wonder if I will feel the same way once mid-semesters (and their associated d-slips) roll around.

FAQs

Since today's onslaught of students in our office ("do you have any more of those planner thingys") brought with it a maelstorm of questions, I thought I would take a few lines to address the most frequently asked of those:

Q: A treadmill desk in your office!  Really? In your office?

A: Yep, really, in my office.

Q: Does your boss know you have this in here?

A: Yep, my boss knows, and her boss knows, and his boss knows.  So short of a trustee dropping in and voicing a loud objection - I think I am good to go.  

Q: Do you walk on that all day long?
A: I walk on it when I can. Today I did 4.44 miles and 3 hours worth of office work aboard the tread.  Tomorrow I am packed with meeting after meeting -- so will probably only get in an hour.

Q: Don't you ever just want to sit down?
A: Not really. I actually feel very energized, productive, and focused -- whatever antsy-fidgety-doodle in the margin-link clicking part of me that often emerges when I sit, seems to have to just go along for the ride when I am walking.  Today I had to sign 300+ letters and while I could probably have signed them atop the desk, it was more practical to do it at the table.

Q: How fast do you walk?
A: 1.4 mph @ a 5% incline

Q: What kind of shoes do you wear?
A: Pretty much whatever I wear to work.  Yesterday 2" high clogs, today flats.  When I work at my home treadmill desk, I wear my treadmill tennis shoes (I bought them as a getting started present to myself last September).

Q: Don't you get dizzy?
A: Not anymore.  I did after the first day, but since then I am not bothered by the movement  plus reading or typing or writing.  As a person who still gets carsick as a adult, this is a monumental feat.

Q: Doesn't your office stink?
A: I don't think so.  Of course it is winter, so the office is a bit chilly.  Come spring and summer I might have to dial down the mph and incline to make it all work.

Q: Can I use your treadmill desk?
A: Absolutely.  However, you might have to fight off C or P who have dibs on the lunch hour.  I am always gone for an hour @ 9am so if you want to give it a go -- come on over.  If you want to use a laptop, bring one along -- I am wired for all.  (aside: When B helped me bring it into the building (under duress I might add), he suggested that I put it in the break room (does my building have a one of those?) so that everyone could use it.  He's missing the point on its purpose.)

Hope this clears up any unanswered questions.  Please stop by if you can, and as GBC regularly said to folks he encountered in his day "have an effective day."

Oh happy day...

So today was my first day on my treadmill desk, in my new position, in my new office, with new co-workers in a new building and all went well. I was able to cover 2.35 miles today (which was just short of half my milesage for all of last week), so I am so happy to be back on the tread so to speak. I am also happy to report that based on a quick survey of office mates, office neighbors, and the colleague directly below me -- no one seemed bothered by either the novelty of having a treadmill desk in one's office nor the noise that such a desk might produce. It seems quite hysterical to me that for the first time since starting this blog I am sitting in a chair to type in my entry, rather than walking on the tread. But the tread calls and lucky for me, I have two of them. So while the kids and B take in KungFu Panda courtesy of NetFlix, I am going to head upstairs to the home office to feed my brain some brain candy as I delve into my new read: The Middle Place.