Walking 10,000 Steps a Day - Five Tips for Finding the Time

Tip #1. Pay attention to your reactions.

Be sensitive to your reactions to the time that you spend walking. For example, did the time seem to fly by, or did it seem to drag? Your reaction to the passing of time might predictably differ according to the time of day. Some people find that time flies when they walk soon after awaking; other people find that it flies when they walk as their last physical activity before bedtime. Keep a diary about how you feel about the passage of time during your morning walks and evening walks, then compare notes and use that information to pick the most effortless time of day to walk.

Tip #2. Pay attention to others' reactions.

Be sensitive to others' reactions to your walking. For example, steal some time away from your loved ones to go for a short walk, then notice how they react to you when you return home. Did they compliment you on looking after your health? Did they even miss you? Did they appreciate the time away from you? Did they appreciate having you back home? Leverage those positive reactions by others when you plan when you are going to walk again!

Tip #3. Pay attention to when you are bored.

Boredom usually comes when you are looking for distraction. Use a sign of boredom as a trigger to consider whether you can use that time to walk a bit. For example, if you have to participate in conference calls where you are more of an observer than an active participant, then you might often become bored during those calls. Get a cordless headset so that you can walk away from your desk, distract yourself a bit by your walking, but also increase your mental focus and pay better attention in your next teleconference.

Tip #4. Pay attention to others' walking.

Be alert for noticing when others are walking. When are they doing it? How could you copy that into your own life ... and make those walks last longer than what you observe in others? For example, if you see a coach on television walking up and down the sidelines of a football game, and if you have a child who plays soccer every Saturday afternoon, think about imitating that coach by walking up and down the soccer field's sidelines. Get out of your folding chair at your child's next soccer match, and start walking!

Tip #5. Pay attention to your walking.

Be alert for noticing when you are walking. When are you doing it? How could you pad that walking time -- to make it last a little longer? For example, if you catch yourself walking from your car to the front door of a retail store, think about where you could have parked to make that walk last longer. Did you park near the door? Next time park farther away. Make a game of it. You may eventually find that you look forward to the extra steps that you can walk whenever you go shopping -- simply by parking as far from the store's door as possible.

About the Author

Kirk Mahoney, Ph.D., loves to walk and run, and his website provides practical research for runners and walkers. By going to http://www.SpryFeet.com/Reports/, you can get Free his special report about eleven programs to help you reach and sustain walking a very beneficial 10,000 steps per day.