You spend 9-11 hours at work, including the travel time and lunch. By the time you reach home, you are quite tired. We get it, we are like that too.
“Take the stairs? Take your own damn unsolicited advice!”, you think. No, we won’t ask you to take the stairs. You had a long day and deserve the lift. We’re not lazy writers.
Welcome to habit stacking
One practical way to improve your health is to take one habit you do everyday, such as watching your shows after work, or drinking your morning coffee, and add one more habit to it. James Clear, author of <Atomic Habits>, calls this Habit Stacking. This is how it works:
Before you drink your morning coffee, do some exercise.
Before unwinding and watching your shows, do some exercise.
You can choose to do it while watching your show too. We think of it this way – make yourself ‘pay’ for the leisure activity by exercising first. Then you can watch guilt-free.
Existing Habit A + New Habit B = Healthy Habit C
“What exercise? I don’t have the energy for it”, you might think.
The 60 seconds workout
First, do as many half pushups (knees on ground) as you can in 30 seconds. Time yourself or count in your head, doesn’t matter. Then do as many sit-ups as you can in 30 seconds. This is one whole workout. It only took a minute. But now you have done something rather than nothing for your health. It also helps check your body – if you feel winded after that, maybe it is time to consider your health more seriously.
You can choose to do this 1 or 2 times every day. How about when you just wake up? And then before you shower at night?
Do it 2 times every day and you would have 700 minutes of active time more than you did last year! Not a bad improvement, isn’t it? And no one is asking you to take the damn stairs.
What else can we do in a busy, busy Singaporean life?
Take long walks on the weekends
Walking is a whole body workout. It is a good check on your health. We would urge you to try walking for an entire 2 hours on either weekends. Or split it into 1 hour each day. These very long walks help you sweat out, gets you some sun exposure, and makes you tired enough to have a good night’s sleep. How fast should you walk? Not fast at all. Slow enough you can have a conversation with someone without panting. Don’t walk in the stadium tracks alone though, it gets boring fast. Explore the areas around your block.
Isn’t 2 hours quite a waste of time? After all, some of you may have most of your weekends free, but some of you spend most of it taking care of your kids, or parents , or both. Weekend time is sacred! Yes, that is true, but in the matter of your health, those 2 hours are the most important of your week.
So give it a try. What do you have to lose? 2 hours. Try it for 4 weeks, together with the 60 seconds workouts, and see for yourself if you feel and look better.
Recommended Reading:
<Atomic Habits> – James Clear
<How To Change> – Katy Newman
