How to Have Your Most Productive Day at Work AND Fit in Some Exercise

We've had a lot of questions this week about how to keep an exercise routine in place when things get really busy at work.

Here's a quick strategy that will help:

If you have a day coming up when you’re back to back with meetings and you know there won’t be a moment to spare, you can still fit in some training and use it to make sure you get the best out of the day.  Here's how.

• Set your alarm for 15 minutes early, get up, get your kit on and run around the block.  
• During your run, visualise exactly how you want the day to go.  What do you want to achieve, what will you negotiate, how do you need to behave, what are your best methods of communication? Return home, get ready as usual and off you go to work.  
• At the end of the day, no matter how late, get your kit on and run round the block again, this time reviewing how things went.  Consider, what did you learn and what do you need to action tomorrow to get the most out of today’s meetings?  Then clear your head as you approach home and relax

Obviously you can modify the type of exercise that you do - walking instead of running, indoor instead of outdoor if you have access to a treadmill or rowing machine - but focus on using your exercise time to optimise the efficiency and effectiveness of the rest of the day rather than thinking that your exercise has to get in the way of your daily productivity.

A burst of exercise at the beginning of the day will flood your brain with oxygen, boosting creativity and setting you up for the day.  Getting active at the end of the day will clear your head and reduce stress levels ready for a good night's sleep.

This tip is taken from our Beat The Clock series in Men's Running Magazine

Image by Flickr: RunningShoeGetWet