Written by Kim Bayma

Many of us sit at a desk for long portions of the day due to job or school responsibilities. When I am not sitting at my desk, I am often sitting during my commute or in conference rooms at meetings. My day = lots and lots of sitting! It’s a bit of an epidemic in modern society as we are doing fewer physical things and more things via devices (computers, tablet, smart phones, etc.).

When I joined a tech company in 2014, I was introduced to the concept of a walking meeting. The first time I took one I felt a sense of energy not typically present in a meeting. Brainstorming flowed so much easier! It was amazing to get out of a conference room, out in the fresh air and not feel “tied down” to a computer. I immediately started incorporating walking meetings into my schedule both for professional and personal purposes. I meet with colleagues for walking meetings a few times a month and I use them for volunteer meetings (these would have been especially helpful when I was a chapter advisor!).

In Nilofer Merchant’s TED talk, she very pointedly states, “You can take care of your health or you can take care of obligations.” A lot of women think it is one or the other, but you CAN take care of business while doing something GOOD for you! My challenge to you is to schedule a walking meeting over the next week. Comment below with your results and let’s all try and apply this great strategy outlined by Nilofer in her TED talk.