Summer is over, vacations are over, relaxation is over. School is here, as is the daily work routine, errands, and more. Feeling overwhelmed yet? I’m sure you do.
Suddenly, there never seems to be enough time in the day. There never seems to be enough money. There never seems to be enough energy to make the money.
The last thing you or I want is another thing to do every day. Our to-do lists are long enough as it is, so we cut things out. We take shortcuts. And we suffer long-term effects from it.
But here’s the fact: most of us are cutting out a primary key to being better on the job and in the classroom. This key can help us have more time, money, and energy.
What is the key? Exercise.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS DOWN
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what lockdowns and the following years have done to us and our kids. Screen time is up, and getting outside and moving is down.
The results: lower test scores, depressed moods, weight gain, lack of interest, lack of alertness, and lack of drive.
Pre-lockdowns, in a study done in 2016, stats showed that 81% of kids were considered inactive—not doing enough physically. Imagine where that stat is today.
Another study showed 1.4 billion adults are not active enough physically.
But we don’t need studies to prove this—we see and live it daily.
THE ANSWER IS EASY
For most of us, the answer to begin more alert, retain more information, and be more focused is buried under clothes in the guest room (hint: it’s a treadmill).
Or it’s hiding behind boxes in the garage (your mountain bike you bought.)
Or it hasn’t been bought (a Red Panda Skateboard—ha!).
Recent studies show that…
- Exercise gets us into a mindset that is beneficial for work by making us alert—hard to skateboard or run or jump if we don’t see what is around us.
- Sports make us more aware of our surroundings, waking us up to things we often ignore.
- Physical movement primes the motivation center of the brain: exercise makes us happy and excited about life.
- Skateboarding (and other sports) “prepares and encourages nerve cells to bind to one another,” providing a basis for long-term memory storage.
- Exercise has an immense influence on concentration leading to better test scores and better classroom behavior.
- Adults who are physically active sleep more, arrive to work well rested, can focus better, and remember instructions longer than other employees
A LITTLE EXPERIMENT
I am someone who doesn’t need another thing to do each day. But I’m finding that cutting out exercise is like burning hard-earned cash: I work better and write better when exercising regularly.
The better I write, the more people want to read it, the more I am hired, and the more I get paid. It’s very evident the benefits.
But it’s still hard to do. After a day of editing material, designing a new board, or helping my son with his book report, I’m tired.
Yet, not exercising is not helping me. It’s making me more tired. More sluggish. Less productive.
As an experiment, to help prove what I am writing, I got up regularly while writing this column and walked for fifteen minutes. Then, I’d sit down and write.
Every forty-five minutes or so, I was moving.
Guess what? The ideas flowed much better. I found myself stuck and tired if I sat and thought too long without moving. But once I got up and walked a bit, the blockage disappeared, and I was writing coherently again.
I am miles away from being consistent in my exercise routine, but that will change. The more I do, the better I feel.
OPTION TO GET MOVING
Red Panda Boards was founded to get the sport of skateboarding into the homes of those who have never thought of it or who have done it for years.
Skateboarding is an excellent option for kids who are not in team sports. Fall is a great time to introduce the sport if your son or daughter is not in cheer or on the football team. It’s an amazing outlet for the sixty minutes of exercise kids need daily.
And best of all, you don’t have to go anywhere. I wrote about this in another article, but it bears repeating. Skateboarding means you don’t have to go to a field, building, or anywhere. Your kids can slap on their tennis shoes, go out in the driveway or the patio, and skate.
For adults, sidewalk surfing is a stellar way to shed anxiety and worry. Slap the board down, pound the pavement, and you’ll find the discouragement of a crappy day fading.
Trust me, it happens every time for me.
Right now, we have a sale on our logo board. It’s $20 off. Get them while they last.
Overcoming obstacles
There will always be obstacles to exercising.
- Not enough time
- Not enough money
- Not enough energy
But here’s the rub: exercise will give you more time, money, and energy. The more you move, the more you can focus. The more you concentrate, the fewer mistakes you’ll make, meaning you can do the following job instead of fixing the one you messed up.
The more you can get work done, the more jobs you can take on, and the more money you will make.
The more you move, the better you do on the job, and the more money you make will produce more energy and a better outlook on life.
Are your kids struggling in school or with friends? Get them skating and watch it change.
Are you fighting to go to work? Spend some time carving up the street and watch things get better.
So, face the obstacle, see it as something you can overcome, and get moving.
You’ll be better for it.
