Make Working Out a Priority

Transcript

Working from home by its very nature means that you are stuck in, typically, a cramped place that does not have a lot of the amenities that office environments do. One amenity that's really big that some offices have that almost no home office has is a gym. I used to work in a highrise in a downtown office many years ago for an employer. Part of our benefits as employees was a gym membership. That was a really good benefit that I used all the time. The problem is when you start working from home, you have to go and proactively find ways to stay physically fit.

If you live close to a gym, I highly recommend that you join a gym. Physical fitness is one of the most important things that you need to be aware of when you're working from home. I cannot stress this enough -- it's so important. There's enough stress already to working in the first place. But working in an environment that's not conducive to business--as I've discussed, a home is not necessarily conducive to good workplace productivity--that introduces an additional level of stress on top of whatever stress you already have just by working. And it's so crucial that you maintain your physical fitness and there are ways to do it, but you have to think about it, especially if you have to go out of your way because you can't just go to the office gym or the gym that's right across the street from your old office.

Gyms are a really wise investment, and sometimes they can be fairly expensive. In my town where I live, there's a gym by my house that costs $10 a month, and there's a gym a couple miles away that costs $100 a month. I have both options, and I have done both. And it depends on whatever your circumstance is, and the hours that they're open and the amenities that they offer at that gym.

If you don't live close to a gym, there are some other things you can do, like home equipment, like treadmills or Total Gyms, or Bowflex, or any number of name-brand equipment that's designed for you to be able to stay fit in your own home. If you can't afford a big, expensive piece of home exercise equipment, and you might not need it, honestly--there are lots of other little things you can do. You can buy a foam roller, or push up bars, you can get a chin up bar that you can hang from the doorway of your home office... you can get a Bosu ball. You can get all kinds of small things that if you use them together on a regular basis, will give you the kind of workout that you need to stretch yourself and to stay physically fit.

But I highly recommend that you make physical fitness a major priority.