This blog is excerpted from articles by CNN Business and TechnoCodex.

If the blur between work and home is still a struggle, mimicking your route from the Before Times may be the solution you need. “Routines and rituals are very beneficial to us, because they’re things that we understand and know what to expect from them,” said Lynn Bufka, the senior director of practice transformation and quality at the American Psychological Association. Commutes are forced pauses that signal the time to transition from one’s work identity to another identity, such as parent, spouse or friend, said Ravi S. Gajendran, an associate professor at Florida International University’s College of Business. “Working full time from home during the pandemic makes it difficult to transition between work and home roles,” he said.

How Can You Keep Up These Routines From Home?

Fake your commute. Starting your own fake commute can be as simple as walking, running or biking for around the same time or mileage that your former trip took. Work up a step by walking around your home, garden, street, or local area while listening to podcasts. The average podcast is 37 minutes long and the average person does about 80 steps a minute. If you round that up to 40 minutes you’ll end up doing 3,200 steps.

Can’t get outside? Pop the radio on, or your current Netflix show, and just do your steps in the living room while watching it, to distract yourself.

More Ways To Get Your Steps In

  1. If you have them, walk up and down the stairs. If you walk up and down the stairs 42 times, you’ll be adding an extra 1,000 steps to your daily count. This is based on the fact that the average staircase has 12 steps, so by doing 84 trips in total you’ll reach 1,000 steps. The best part about this hack is it will only take you roughly 12 minutes and 30 seconds.
  2. Do 500 steps before each meal. If you do 500 steps before and after each meal, this will be at least 3,000 more steps to your daily count. The best part… it will only take you a maximum of five minutes to do 500 steps!
  3. Have a walk-and-talk break. Whether you live with others or live alone, take some time in the day to chat with your pals or family while walking.  If you do this for 15 minutes a day, you’ll add 1,200 more steps to your total. It will help improve your mood and reduce stress, and a 15-minute walk can give you a chance to clear your mind.
  4. Chores. Cleaning your home often requires a lot of elbow grease, squatting down, and using your core muscles, and you’ll also rack up lots of steps on your fitness watch while you’re at it. If you do five minutes of hoovering, mopping or window cleaning a day, you’ll be doing an extra 400 steps at least.

In addition to the benefits for mental health and work-life balance, fake commutes could improve your physical health. Walking and other forms of exercise can help to reduce problems with stress, mental health and sleep, research has shown. Physical activity can also boost your immunity and respiratory health, which are critical factors in how a person fares if infected with coronavirus.

The Bonati Belief

We believe walking to be the best therapy, and we encourage everyone to maintain a careful and mindful commuting and walking routine. If you find yourself in pain despite this special attention, it may be likely you have a physical abnormality within the spine that requires surgical repair. Our targeted, minimally invasive procedures were designed and patented by Dr. Bonati to treat spinal conditions WITHOUT the need for general anesthesia, highly-invasive open back surgeries, excessive scarring and a prolonged recovery. We can treat all levels of the spine. If you are dealing with chronic pain, allow our team to review your case to determine if you are a candidate for the Bonati Spine Procedures. To get this review started, simply call us at 844-663-0310 or complete our online contact form and one of our patient advocates will reach out to you directly.

Read the full article from CNN Business here: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/18/success/fake-commute-meaning-benefits-pandemic-wellness/index.html

Read the full article from TechnoCodex here: https://technocodex.com/walk-10000-steps-seven-hacks-to-do-10000-steps-from-home/