Exercise ... who needs it?
Posted On: 2014-10-08
I have no doubt that being a webmaster ... adult or mainstream ... is bad for your health.
Maybe we should even have some health warnings that pop up whenever we open up our favorite web tools just to remind us how bad working here can be for your health. Does that sound a little extreme?
Well if you're new here ... or you're still in your twenties or early thirties ... then it probably does sound a little extreme but I can tell you that the older you get, and the longer you stay in this industry, the more you will begin to notice that you're not as sharp mentally and physically as you used to be.
Now my partner and I used to exercise quite regularly ... our bodies are carrying a few long-term injuries so we didn't run or jog or work out at the gym but we did a lot of walking. But over winter we slacked off ... it was wet outside ... we had deadlines to meet ... we needed to get some work done before clients started calling ... all good reasons to grab breakfast in front of the computer and not waste time walking.
And that's how it is for many of us ... we're just too busy to get off our butts and get out there and exercise. It's a waste of time that we really don't have to waste so we don't exercise and we don't really notice anything happening to us ... maybe a few extra pounds ... but nothing really important. But important changes are happening.
Last week my partner finished a website for a client that took him all week to build ... it should have taken him three days max but for some reason he wasn't working as fast as he usually does. The best he seemed to be able to manage was about three pages ... several images ... and a slider a day. Even he complained about how long it was taking him to get the work done.
Then I began to notice that I wasn't getting as much work done through the day either. I was struggling to get much done at all on some days and I think that both of us were beginning to wonder what was stopping us from getting things done.
On Sunday we headed off in the SUV to get away from work for a while and we took a couple of podcasts with us. One featured a guy who ran his own business and who gone through a period where he just wasn't getting anything done and the lack of income was really hurting him.
He worked all day in front of his computer but just wasn't achieving anything and he was becoming depressed. Finally his girlfriend convinced him to go to one of his friends for advice and the first thing his friend wanted to know was whether or not he was exercising. Exercising? What has that got to do with being depressed and not making money?
Well according to his friend exercise ... or the lack of it ... was the key to this guy's problem. His friend's view was that if you're spending all day sitting at your desk you're not moving enough and just not getting enough oxygen to the brain.
The guy in the podcast took his friend's advice even though he was a little sceptical and after a couple of days of running his depression was gone and he was back in the groove of getting work done and making money.
Now I don't know whether what his friend told him is true or not but after listening to that podcast my partner and I decided that it was time we got back into walking. So for the last four mornings we've been getting up at 4am ... yes ... 4am ... an hour earlier than we would usually stagger out of bed ... and we've been walking a little over a mile every morning.
I guess I have to admit that our bodies are not enjoying it right now. Those injuries we carry are never going to completely heal but exercise will help them improve ... even if they're providing more aches and pains in the short term ... but we're seeing a real improvement in other things.
We might have only been doing this for four mornings but we're already seeing an increase in the amount of work we're getting done every day. We're still working the same number of hours but we're definitely getting more done.
So guys maybe it's time to get out of your comfort zone and start getting into the habit of doing some exercise every day. And it doesn't matter what age you are.
If you're a little older like us then you definitely need to keep the blood pumping to your brain. It's the only one you've got and if you don't feed it with what it needs it's going to start turning to mush and when that happens you'll begin to lose your ability to make money.
If you're not so old you still need to get out and exercise. You're brain might still be sharp but you need to keep it that way and you need to get into the exercise habit.
And don't think of the time you spend exercising as time that could be better spent working. When we walk we talk about the business ... we listen to the birds begin to wake up ... we just enjoy being outside. If that doesn't work for you then maybe it's a good time to listen to podcasts ... there are some great marketing podcasts out there ... and you can use the time for personal development.
It doesn't really matter what type of exercise you choose ... or what you do while you're exercising ... the important thing is to get out and do some so you stay competitive and flexible in this ever-changing industry.