10 Ways to Exercise While You're at Work: Part 1

10 Ways to Exercise While You’re at Work: Part 1

1. Jog Your Memory: Begin by putting your elbows on your desk, arms up. Rest your head in your hands. Try to remember all of the telephone calls that you never returned and go briskly to the memos that you didn’t read. If this becomes too strenuous, try a little Jumping to Conclusions.

2. Stretch Your Imagination: The primary position for this important warm-up exercise begins with your feet up on your desk and your hands resting behind your neck. Then begin to imagine what it would be like to be somewhere else or someone else.

3. Pass the Buck: The purpose of this exercise is to shift the weight off your shoulders and onto someone else’s. This requires the participation of two other people besides yourself. The following is a typical Pass the Buck routine:
Boss: Did you finish the report?
You: I gave it to Jones to finish.
Jones: What report?

4. Drag Your Heels: This exercise is designed to help you to divert your energy from one important task to one or more meaningless ones. Confronted with a mound of work, begin by “shooting the breeze,” preferably with someone who is also engaged in the exercise. Next, you can stop off for another coffee, sharpen all of your pencils, look through the office mail even though you know that no one ever writes to you at work, and read old bulletin board notices.

5. Push Your Luck: When your boss says, “Boy, are you ever pushing your luck,” you will know that it’s time to begin this particular exercise, which involves, mostly, pacing and mumbling. You will know that it’s time to stop when your boss says, “Stop pushing your luck.”

Stay tuned for Part 2 of 10 Ways to Exercise While You’re at Work!