If you are a GIS professional there is a good possibility that you are slowly shaving time off your lifespan. What is this malady you might ask, and can it be prevented by moving to open source? If only it were that simple.
Several studies have shown that sitting for long periods of time can increase a person’s chances of dying from a heart attack by more than 50%. That is a scary fact that should get you thinking about what you can do to prevent it. Here are a couple of things you can do right now to reduce the risks associated with a sedentary job:
- Stand up! At least try to as much as possible. While the effects of sitting can be cumulative, interrupting your sitting periods can be beneficial.
- Use a standing desk. If you are in a work environment that will permit it, standing to do your work can make you feel better, make you burn more calories and of course and take care of the “sitting is bad” for you problem. If the cost of a standing desk is not something your employer will consider, you can always raise your monitors and keyboard with books or other objects.
- If you’re stuck using a regular desk you can always use a DeskCycle under the desk. This will keep your legs moving and blood circulating. Your rate of calorie burning will increase as well.
- Sit on an exercise ball. They are great for strengthening the lower back and you can always fall back into a couple of sit-ups when the fancy strikes.
- Collect GIS field data. If GPS data collection is part of your organization’s workflow, see if you can add that into your schedule a couple of times a week. You will be moving, burning calories and staying healthy.
- Exercise at your desk. Keeping your body in motion throughout the day goes a long way to keeping you healthy.
The lesson to take away from this is to keep moving. Regardless of you office situation there are probably things you can do to put a little motion into your day.