Take your next meeting for a walk

I knew I had to come up with another way of working when my energy level was high, and I found myself sitting in a meeting or chatting online with colleagues and clients.   How could I use the high energy time I was spending in meetings?   I needed to rethink how I worked with my energy, regardless of my high energy or low energy time of the day.

I enjoy my walking, and it slowly dawned on me, there was the answer. 

“Walking Talking Meetings” This is not a new idea, several workplaces are beginning to support walking meetings.  The more I pondered on this the more it all started to make sense to me.

Sure, if I am in a zoom meeting or talking with a colleague or client on my phone, I have to be careful I don’t walk into the lamppost or absently minded cross the road, and I do stop now and then for notes break. 

 I love my “talk and walk”.   I can walk with a colleague and client, or chat on zoom or the phone.   Another benefit of walking meetings is that a change in scenery can help reduce the mental fatigue of sitting in front of a screen all day. We all know that walking boosts energy levels and is good for our health and wellbeing.    It was not long before I became convinced that “Talk and Walk” was important in my “Use your Energy not your Time” way of working.

Looking at the same things on my desk day after day is certainly not inspiring…. Walking meetings give me a break and a change of scenery, and I have found that I am more creative in my problem-solving. Research shows that walking meetings not only have great health benefits but also increase creativity by 81 – 100%.  

With winter coming our way in New Zealand, a needed boost of vitamin D is another plus.   Not letting the weather deter my walk and talk meetings, I have learned to dress appropriately.  Walking in the rain can be quite therapeutic.

Time to have some fun.   Combining fresh air and exercise with productive conversations certainly promotes a flow of great ideas.

I would love to hear if you have walk and talk meetings and the benefits that you have found.   If you would like to know more about integrating Energy Management not Time Management into your Strategy and Team engagement planning, please DM me

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions” – Oliver Wendell Holmes –