Integrating On The Treadmill Of Technology....Literally!

Posted by Dave McCray on Apr 22, 2014 4:17 PM


Technology is constantly changing and so are the ways we work.  Integration positions come in many varieties.  These days, Integration experts are onsite, remote, consultants, long standing employees for large corporations, and some are completing your IT project while walking on a treadmill!  While technology trends change, so do our employment trends….and some of these new trends in offices can be downright strange! 

Recently I was reading about the trend in treadmill desks.  Did you know that they manufactured approximately 400,000 treadmill desks last year to meet the demand of the trend?  The thought of walking into an office for a meeting or an interview and seeing all of the employees walking while they work sounded a little strange to me at first.  Then I did some research……

In studies, researchers discovered that sitting all day can increase your risk of early death and developing cardiovascular disease.   Sitting for prolonged periods of time has been linked to all kinds of other bad outcomes, including depressive symptoms, blood clots, and back pain.

So I figured sure, let’s try out this trend!   After all, in IT, with constantly changing trends I am no stranger to a new challenge! 

While I don’t spend 8 hours at a treadmill desk, the picture below depicts where I try to spend at least a half hour of every work day. The shelf over a treadmill is my economical way of creating a work desk where I can work while I walk.

Treadmill Desk

I’m actually typing this article while I am walking on the treadmill. 

Now instead of sitting for 8 hours, I am walking while I surf the web, research a project, or view industry webinars.  The one negative I have found so far with working while walking is that it is extremely difficult to write on paper and have it be legible!

With ever increasing demands of project deadlines, new EDI maps, and time spent on software support, I find that walking 30 minutes a day has increased my productivity by making me more alert.

I’m not jumping in with two feet to be the EDI Analyst that spends 8 hours a day on a treadmill…..I currently am walking 30 minutes per day and try to do 5 days per week at a minimum.  Since I started doing my walking on 2/18/14 I have walked approximately 87 miles and spent 23.5 hours on the treadmill. So… how far will you go?

 

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