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."

A day in the life...

I thought it would be interesting (at least to me, and hopefully to my readers) to see how this might work in real life.  So here is a series of snapshots of today's workday:

Got to work (read: stepped on to the treadmill desk) @ 7:58am

Walked for 56 minutes before heading out to a 9am appointment

Got back to the office (read: stepped back on...) @ 10:10am

Walked for 84 minutes before heading out for lunch with D
Got back to the office @ 12:50pm
Walked for 30 minutes before jumping off for an afternoon meeting
Got back to the office @ 2:05pm
Walked for 46 minutes before heading out the door to pick up kids
Got back to the office @ 4:15pm
Walked for 57 minutes and then went downstairs to think about cooking dinner.

So...on a typical day I might walk nearly 5 hours while at work, covering 6.82 miles, and burning (at least according to my tread) 1200 calories

1M down, 2M on the horizon

I was originally going to take today off.  Like a personal day at work, so to speak.  It wasn't exactly planned; but, between cleaning out the garage with my husband, giving a midday presentation, and shopping for a weekend chalk full of baby showers, it seemed fairly unlikely that I was going to have any "desk time."  But after mowing the lawn, running out for dinner, and jumping in the hot tub - my body was telling me something different.  I think the best description was that my legs felt like what a dog must feel like after his or her owner has been away all day , I needed to get up for a walk.  So walking I am.  I will probably load up a Netflix movie, rather than doing any real work, and so in the end it will be just as I imagined - a personal day.   I have noticed that my legs seem to have received the most benefit from my late-in-the-day walks.  As a long time RLS patient, I have tried nearly every drug on the market - with good, crappy, and mixed results.  I am currently on a dermapatch that works great.  But sometimes I forget to trade it out and then I am left to manage my symptoms overnight with a less potent option.  However, I have noticed that my symptoms are much better than they have been in the past under similar circumstances.  I contribute this to the only thing that has really changed - project treadmill desk.

Clean out the turkey

In just a bit more than 10 weeks, I will be returning to my full time job.  I think about returning to work, like I think about Thanksgiving dinner -- neither excite me, but when they arrive I will rise to the occasion.  As Thanksgiving rolls closer, I am reminded of a strategy that I have employed in the past - those great articles in Sunset magazine or Rachel Ray that give you a timeline of sorts (2 weeks in advance - buy turkey, 1 week in advance - thaw turkey, etc.).  I think I can employee a similar strategy for a healthy return to my job.   I feel like I have made great gains physically (actually more losses than gains), emotionally, and professionally.  I am hoping to maintain the momentum right up until Jan. 19 - so I can return much like the anticipation of a Thanksgiving turkey -- with a feeling of satisfaction (for a job well done), satiety, and sanity, which will hopefully propel me through the spring semester.  To that end, I am beginning a timeline of activities that I hope to accomplish in preparation for my return - some are related to my goals set forth at the beginning of this project and some are not.  Feel free to make suggestions in the comments.

1. 10 weeks out - adapt, begin employment, and finalize GTD (get things done) system for RTW (return to work) 
2. 9 weeks out - meet with big boss, finalize syllabi, order textbooks
   
3. 8 weeks out - order holiday cards
   
4. 7 weeks out - give thanks and enjoy Thanksgiving
5. 6 weeks out - prep house for house tour, send out holiday cards
6. 5 weeks out - do Christmas shopping
7. 4 weeks out - make list of things that will need to return to work with me
8. 3 weeks out - savor the season
9. 2 weeks out - pack return boxes
10. 7 days out - find "knock 'em dead" outfit for first day of school
11. 6 days out - ???
12. 5 days out - ???
13. 4 days out - ???
14. 3 days out - ???
15. 2 days out - ???
16. 1 day out - lay out "knock 'em dead" outfit for work tomorrow