\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\tOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.\t<\/p>\n
Picture a typical day at your office. People typing at desks. Sitting in meetings. Sitting in the kitchen grabbing lunch. You can go through an entire workday<\/a> without standing up once. That should worry any founder trying to get real output from a team.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve spent nine years building and scaling BetterMe, and if there\u2019s one lesson I keep returning to, it\u2019s this: movement is one of the most underrated drivers of productivity<\/a> in business, and most companies treat it as a wellness perk instead of infrastructure. A meditation stipend or a gym reimbursement doesn\u2019t fix a workday designed around sitting. Rethinking the workday itself does.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how I approach it \u2014 for myself and for my team.<\/p>\n Think about a lazy, couch-bound Sunday. After a day like that, do you feel energized? I don\u2019t. I feel sluggish, slower and even simple decisions get harder. That\u2019s the exact state employees<\/a> end up in after spending a day moving from one chair to another.<\/p>\n The qualities we value most at work \u2014 creativity, mental clarity, problem-solving \u2014 all rely on good blood flow and oxygen reaching the brain. Movement<\/a> supports both. When you move, circulation improves, more oxygen reaches the brain and cognitive function sharpens.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a real economic case too. The McKinsey Health Institute<\/a> estimates that improving employee health and well-being globally could create up to $11.7 trillion in value each year. Much of that comes from higher productivity and less presenteeism \u2014 people who are technically at work but nowhere near their full capacity.<\/p>\n Staying physically active isn\u2019t a wellness<\/a> habit for me. It\u2019s one of the tools that keeps my energy and focus where they need to be. Instead of squeezing in a workout when I can find time, I\u2019ve built movement into the structure of my day.<\/p>\n In the morning, I start with at least an hour of movement. Most days it\u2019s Pilates or yoga. A few times a week I get out for tennis or golf. By the time I sit down to work, I already feel switched on. During the day, I schedule short breaks for stretching, walking or a quick exercise. Even ten minutes can reset your energy. In the evening, I slow things down with quieter mindfulness<\/a> practices \u2014 meditation, chanting mantras and Pranayama breathing. It reduces stress and clears mental noise. When I go to sleep with a calm mind, I wake up more focused.<\/p>\n None of this is unusual. What\u2019s unusual is treating it as non-negotiable and letting it shape how the workday is structured.<\/p>\n Culture<\/a> isn\u2019t purely top-down, but it helps when leadership sends the first signal. When a team sees a founder step away for a walk between meetings, others feel like they can do the same without overthinking it.<\/p>\n From there, a few specific changes make it easier for everyone.<\/p>\n Make the environment movement-friendly. Adjustable desks that let people switch between sitting and standing. Whiteboards, coffee and supplies placed farther from workstations. Open space to stretch or walk between calls. A dedicated recovery zone with soft lighting, plants and a view outside.<\/p>\n Rethink meeting culture. Not every meeting needs to happen sitting down. Turn 1:1s into walks. Make stand-up meetings live up to their name at a standing table. And on some calls, make cameras optional \u2014 say upfront that they can stay off so people feel free to stretch, walk or move while listening. That one change did more for our meeting culture than anything else we tried.<\/p>\n Create shared rituals. A quick stretch before any meeting that runs more than an hour. A short exercise after 30 minutes of sitting. A Friday step-count check-in with a weekly leaderboard. Small habits, shared by the team, give the day structure.<\/p>\n Make it social. It\u2019s easier to stay consistent when you\u2019re not doing it alone. Sign up for a step challenge as a team. Turn team-building events into something active \u2014 badminton instead of drinks. Set up a Slack channel to share progress and small wins.<\/p>\n Block it on the calendar. If it\u2019s not scheduled, it\u2019s easy to skip. Encourage employees<\/a> to block windows for movement resets. When people see those blocks on each other\u2019s calendars, stepping away stops feeling like something only they do.<\/p>\n The point isn\u2019t to turn the office into a gym. It\u2019s to stop pretending that eight hours of sitting produces the best version of the people you hired.<\/p>\n A study from Oxford University\u2019s Sa\u00efd Business School<\/a> found workers are 13% more productive when they feel better at work. Movement is one of the most direct, cheapest levers a leader has to move that number.<\/p>\n Strong teams don\u2019t just brainstorm together. They move together.<\/p>\n And if it\u2019s been a while since you last stood up, this is a good moment to do it \u2014 and to show your team it\u2019s okay to do the same.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Picture a typical day at your office. People typing at desks. Sitting in meetings. Sitting in the kitchen grabbing lunch. You can go through an entire workday<\/a> without standing up once. That should worry any founder trying to get real output from a team.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve spent nine years building and scaling BetterMe, and if there\u2019s one lesson I keep returning to, it\u2019s this: movement is one of the most underrated drivers of productivity<\/a> in business, and most companies treat it as a wellness perk instead of infrastructure. A meditation stipend or a gym reimbursement doesn\u2019t fix a workday designed around sitting. Rethinking the workday itself does.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how I approach it \u2014 for myself and for my team.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWhat happens when people stop moving<\/h2>\n
What my day actually looks like<\/h2>\n
The changes that actually move the needle<\/h2>\n
Why this compounds<\/h2>\n
Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n
\n