Starting a walking meeting revolution – Photos and story of a homemade walkstation.

I received this e-mail from a colleague of mine today and was so excited by it I asked if I could post its contents, and since it’s here, you know the answer to my request…

Hi, Ted.  You may not remember our first conversation by webex but I do.  You mentioned, or I saw it on your blog, work while walking.  I absolutely loved the idea.  I then read about the work out of Mayo and the treadmill desk.  While I would rather be outside walking, it sometimes isn’t practical.

When I’m not on the road, I’m working out of my home office in West Covina so I have some flexibility in my home office.  I struggle with my schedule and the kids’ schedule to find time to exercise.  I was anxious to mock up a treadmill desk and give my version of walk while working a try.  I have just done that today as I had to wait for a major home remodel to complete.

I’ve attached a couple of photos of my make shift set up.  I dismantled a desk and used bungee cords and such to make it work.  Amazingly, it works very well and I am typing this note as I am walking 4 miles per day.

Just wanted to thank you for inspiring me, even if you didn’t mean to (makes it that much better).  Wish me luck

And here are the photos (click to enlarge):

Last week, when I spoke at the RWJF Aligning Forces for Quality Meeting, I noticed through the bright lights that the audience seemed excited by my discussion of the walking meeting as well (look at slide #2).

Ever since I started doing walking meetings I’ve loved them. My handy dandy guide to walking while working (“www”) is always at http://bit.ly/walkingmeetings . You can see my first walkstation experience here, at the Steelcase University Learning Center in Grand Rapids. Yet another spark created by the Innovation Learning Network ( @HealthcareILN ) that I may not have intended to pass on, but am celebrating nonetheless!

Have you had your first walking meeting or do you do them regularly? Please post your experiences in the comments, as well as words of support for my esteemed colleague.


11 Comments

This is a great idea for health and for those who do not wish to design their own there is the TrekDesk, available at http://www.trekdesk.com. Walking while working has a great number of benefits and you can read all about them at the TrekDesk treadmill desk website.

Okay, buddy, things have unfolded such that it’s time for me to get an office space and a walkstation – got any advice on which models people like, or how to assemble that custom one?? (If instructions are in there, I couldn’t find ’em!)
 
I’m so excited that things are at the point where this is feasible.

@ePatientDave Hey Dave,
Finally, maybe we’ll be able to keep up with you!
I am not a desk walker, just an evangelist in this case, there are a few often-recommended brands on your favorite web sites. Will you do a guest post here with your DIY, or allow me to link to yours I should say 🙂

@Ted Eytan  @ePatientDave Funny guy, o great thought leader! And I mean that literally – I’ve learned so much from you about how to be who I am, with blogging as my platform!
 
(I’m in an indeterminate funk about blogging right now – productivity’s been WAY down for 6 months, which tells me the “who I am” is shifting because the before & the after are fighting over the steering wheel. All is well…)
 
Not surprisingly, I learned a heap about walkstation choices last night on Amazon from the *comments* about the TrekDesk. I’m certainly not gonna spring for a $4,000 treadmill-plus-desk machine; first thing I have to do is snag a treadmill, and I may opt for the board-on-stacked-boxes version. I’ll let you know.

Ted Eytan, MD