Can you spare 20 mins a day?
For this week’s Mental Sunshine, I want to tell you about something really simple I’ve been doing for the last few weeks.
On days when I’m working at my desk all day, it’s easy to end up hunched over like a prawn, staring at my screen and wondering why my bum hurts at the end of the day!
You know the feeling – you’re so busy that basic things like sitting up straight or stopping to have lunch just go out the window!
I often find that on days like this, I might feel good that I’ve ticked some things off my to-do list…
But I can also generally feel pretty rubbish about myself.
So I started taking a daily wellness walk.
At lunchtime, instead of grabbing a quick bite to eat and heading back to drop crumbs all over my desk…
I put my hoodie on and I take myself out for a quick 20-minute walk
I make it a rule that no matter how busy I am, I have to give myself at least twenty minutes
Even if it’s raining!
Another rule is that there’s no phone – at least, no wandering along, staring down at the screen.
And no listening to music or podcasts either!
Just me taking a short walk to clear my mind, get some exercise and look around.
The only time I take out my phone is to photograph something interesting I see.
And there are lots of things to see when your head is not glued to the screen.
Plus this gives me a lovely bank of images to use to accompany these emails 🙂
I try to fit in a walk every day when I’m at my desk – and I do find that it makes me more productive when I get back to my desk
But more importantly, it makes my mood better.
A lunchtime wellness walk doesn’t need to be an hour trekking across a nature reserve;
It can be a walk around the block or even through town.
20 mins is all you need
The key is that you’re not on your way somewhere; you’re not in a rush, and you’re not trying to remember a shopping list.
You’re just walking
(And looking for things to photograph).
I’d definitely recommend a lunchtime wellness walk for improving one’s mental sunshine
It works wonders for me!