Top tips for moving more for your mental health

Written by Callum Watson, Forresters IP

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, and the theme this year is “Movement: moving more for your mental health”.

Here, Callum Watson (pictured), Trainee Patent Attorney at Forresters IP provides some top tips for getting started with movement.

While most of us would agree that exercise is good for you, putting it into practice isn’t always easy, especially when you’re busy with work, and dealing with everything else life throws at you.

“Moving more for your health” doesn’t necessarily mean you need to sign up to a half marathon and start intense training (unless you want to, of course).  Instead, it’s about introducing movement into your life in any way you can, no matter how small.

Here are some tips I have picked up along the way from my time as a member of my firm’s Wellbeing Group and as Welfare Officer at the student body of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys:

1. Avoid sitting at your desk when you can – many of us sit at our desk all day, and even have our lunch at our desk.  Going for a walk at lunch, even for 5 or 10 mins can really help give you a boost for the rest of the day.  If you can, take regular breaks away from your screen during the day.  I recommend using the Pomodoro Technique, which helps to ensures you take a regular break, and can help improve productivity. On your break, you could take a short walk outside to get some fresh air or a do a short stretching exercise.

2. Find ways to move during your everyday tasks – maybe go for a short walk while you take a call, or fill up your water at the water cooler on opposite side of the office rather than the one next to your desk. Maybe you could walk to the train station instead of driving to it? If you’re feeling really keen, you can now even get a variety of exercise machines that you can use at your desk, such as a treadmill desk or under the desk bike pedal. 

3. Moving in groups – find other people to exercise with.  For example, at Forresters we occasionally organise group walks at lunch along the canals in Birmingham.  Not only does this give you a chance to exercise, but it also provides a great opportunity to talk to colleagues that you might not otherwise have the chance to talk to.

4. Do something you enjoy – it’s much easier to find motivation to exercise if you find something that you enjoy.  That might be joining a sports club, going to a yoga class, or simply going for walks in local nature spots. Everyone enjoys different things and it’s important to embrace that.

5. Schedule a specific time to move – it can be easy to say to yourself “I’ll exercise next week”, but when it comes to it you end up saying the same thing again.  Personally, I found that moving from being in education, where I could easily fit in exercise around my studies, to being in full time work made it much more difficult to find time to exercise.  Allocating a specific time to exercise can improve the likelihood that you will go ahead and do it.

I hope these tips are useful!  More information about Mental Health Awareness Week and this year’s theme can be found on the Mental Health Foundation website.