Workplace activity rituals to

address today’s sedentary

lifestyle

Donna Graham Occupational Health Services Operations Manager Tuesday 12 April 2016

Workplace rituals to address

today’s sedentary life style

Technology enables today’s worker to perform many

tasks without moving from their immediate work space

Incorporating a few basic activity rituals into daily

working practices can improve cognitive function and

maintain physical energy levels

Helping to support long term health and wellbeing

Health consequences of 21st century living

Health consequences of a sedentary lifestyle

• Increased risk of cardiovascular disease (BP, stroke,

heart disease)

• Increased incidence of metabolic disease (diabetes,

obesity

• Increase in posture-related musculoskeletal conditions

• Poor restorative sleep patterns impacting on mental

and physical fatigue levels

The impact of a sedentary lifestyle on

mental wellbeing

Reduce ability to manage stress

Impact of inactivity on cognitive

performance

Danziger et al. 2011

Break Lunch

Dehydration and Cognition

Mild dehydration causes headaches, fatigue and the

sensation of hunger. Only a 2% reduction in hydration

causes a significant reduction in mental performance.

Drink 6-8 glasses of water per day

This will act as a natural activity break

Try the Waterlogged app and iDrated App to track how

much water you’re drinking and remind you to drink more

if you’re not reaching the recommended amount

Build movement rituals into

your day

What to incorporate into activity rituals

• The 20-8-2 rule: every 30 minutes sit for 20 minutes

stand for eight minutes and walk around for 2

minutes

• Every 60 minutes make big muscle movements a 2-3

minute walk around the office

• A 10 minute break every 2 hours combining mental

and physical activities

• Take a lunch break a 20-minute walk is one of the

best ways to maintain performance

Rituals to consider

• Think about tasks better performed standing

• Converse, don’t email

• Create walking routes around your department. Label

routes and staircases with calories burned using

schemes like Step Jockey.

• Start a lunchtime 20-minute walking group

• Sign your department up to schemes like Global

Corporate Challenge

• Start and finish the workday with 10 minutes of activity.

Park further away from the office or get off /on the bus a

stop earlier / later.

Rituals to consider

Give meetings a shakeup:

• Experiment with standing meetings. People get less

distracted, are more expressive and meetings tend to

be quicker by 25%.

• Try a walking meeting, favoured by Tech Executives

including Mark Zuckerberg

• Look at breakout areas for standing meetings

• Use team checklists such Trello, which allow you to

make collaborative boards of activities to stand at to

monitor actions and ideas

Beat Screen Fatigue

• Try the 20-20-20 rule

• Every 20 minutes, look away from your screen for 20

seconds at something roughly 20 feet away (about 6

metres)

Research by the University of Texas found that sticking to

this rule prevented computer vision syndrome (CVS)

which causes tiredness and headaches and reduces

performance

Incorporate mental activity rituals

into your day

• The 3-minute mind map exercise will force your brain

to think at speed and generate associations, helping

overcome mental fatigue

• Mindfulness techniques can reduce stress and boost

mental energy. Try www.bemindful.co.uk.

• Implement prioritisation rituals to improve cognition

and performance

Three minutes to power up your day

Listening to music of any genre has

been proven to impact your

productivity by stimulating the brain’s

limbic system

The Focus@Will app has attention

amplifying playlists with tracks

that engage the brain during a 2-3

minute walk around the office.

To sumarise

Try the 20:8:2 (sit:stand:walk) 30-minute rule

A daily routine to include:

2-3 minutes mental and physical recovery time every hour

to restore concentration and reduce musculoskeletal

discomfort

A 10-minute walk in the afternoon for creativity

20-minutes of physical activity at lunchtime to maintain

health and performance

6-7 hours sleep a night and 150 minutes physical activity

a week for sustainable long term health and wellbeing

Avoid the health risks of sedentary work.

Build activity rituals into your day

Any Questions?