05/ 30/ 2007
by Megan Goodchild
Forget whistling. Thomas Niccum has discovered a new way to boost his productivity and spirits while he works--walking. Niccum, the owner of Burnsville, Minn.-based Lancet Software, traded in his traditional office desk for a treadmill more than a year ago and hasn't looked back.
"It keeps me mentally sharp," says Niccum, who describes the resulting feeling as "the opposite of the post-lunch coma."
After reading about the idea on the blog of a Virginia anesthesiologist, Niccum, whose business provides professional IT services, such as enterprise reporting and data analysis to Fortune 500 companies, outfitted a treadmill with a computer monitor and keyboard and got to walking. He typically walks the entire workday, stopping only for meetings.
The concept originated from the work of Dr. James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Dr. Levine found that incorporating more movement into a daily routine allows people to increase the rate at which they burn calories--a process he calls "nonexercise activity thermogenesis."
Making the transition from working at a sit-down desk to a treadmill was relatively easy for Niccum (he only has trouble writing by hand while walking), and he recommends the setup to any small-business owner pressed for time.
"It's not hard; it's really kind of natural," he says. "And I think most small-business people are big on multitasking anyway."
Registered nurse Angela Upleger does her work at a traditional desk at Body Wise, a nutrition and wellness center she co-owns in Murfreesboro, Tenn., but she can see how the idea of a treadmill workstation would appeal to small-business owners--not only to help them consolidate their work with their workouts, but also to preserve long-term health.
"When you sit all day, blood accumulates in the lower part of your body, and you are at risk for more health problems, like obesity, varicose veins or swelling in the feet and legs," Upleger says. "When you're active and walking, you're working muscles, getting your circulation going, burning calories, burning fat--just staying fit."
Though Niccum still hits the gym for cardio and weight lifting, he enjoys the "effortless exercise" his treadmill desk provides.
"I don't care for exercise simply for the sake of it," he says. "I like to be able to accomplish something else at the same time."
NFIB.com
Find more about staying fit and attaining a healthy work-life balance in the "Problems and Priorities" section at www.NFIB.com/toolsandtips.
