Doable New Year’s resolutions to add movement to your day

It’s January, and once again we are being bombarded with ads promoting gym memberships and exercise equipment as part of the annual New Year’s resolution push. For a lot of us, we’ve tried those things, and they don’t last. It’s not that we’re weak or lack willpower. We simply require another approach—one that involves a practical purpose. Here are three doable New Year’s resolutions for becoming more physically active. They are designed to fit into your already-established daily routine. 

1) Turn an automated task into a manual one

There’s a fine line between making your lifestyle more physically active and making it too inconvenient. The ideal manual task will allow you to become more physically active without consuming much more time than its automated counterpart. One area that I continue to make more manual is my tool box. I’m a fan of hand tools, and, in particular, I enjoy using a miter box and hand saw for most cutting jobs. This year, I am adding a hand drill to my collection to replace my electric drill for small projects around the house. Last month while shopping at a thrift store, I found a Sears-brand hand drill. I just wish I had bought one sooner. I wouldn’t use it for building a deck, but it’s great for making a few holes here and there.  

I’ve been studying our home and considering other possibilities for going manual. One of my ideas was to switch to a manual garage door, which my wife promptly rejected. For various reasons, it would be impractical for us at this moment. However, I like the concept of a manual door because it would require lifting and closing the door about twice a day. This motion would provide a mini-workout for the arms and legs. Even if you can’t walk or bike to work, a manual door would insert some physical activity into a driving routine, at the start and end of a commute.  

What manual task works for you? Here are a few more ideas:

• Hanging laundry on the clothesline instead of using a dryer.
• Washing dishes by hand instead of using a dishwasher.
• Cooking more instead of eating out.
• Washing your vehicles by hand instead of using a car wash.
• Growing and preserving some of your food instead of buying it.

Look around your home (and yard). There are a lot of automated tasks that we take for granted. Spend some time researching how you can create or find the manual versions of these automated tasks. Then find one that fits into your setup/lifestyle and make it into a doable New Year’s resolution.  

2) Turn a sedentary situation into an active one

Must all work meetings require us to sit around a table? Might we be able to discuss our business while going for a walk? It all depends on where you work, who your colleagues are, and their willingness and/or ability to turn a sedentary meeting into an active one. Personally, I have never held a walking meeting, but I know people who say walking meetings are one of the best uses of their time. They’re getting work done and working out simultaneously! 

Here is an example of a sedentary situation that I’ve turned into an active one: Whenever I sign up our son for a baseball or basketball league, I make myself available as an assistant coach. This way, I’m not sitting around at our child’s practices but am being physically active. I help the kids run drills or pitch batting practice. Basically, I do whatever the head coach needs. Park and rec leagues are often desperate for volunteers, and you don’t have to be an expert to help out. For me, assisting at practices beats sitting on the bleachers waiting for practice to end.

To turn a sedentary situation into an active one, take an inventory of your daily routine. Try to figure out which situations are best suited for conversion because not all of them are. For example, with walking meetings, you might discover only certain colleagues are interested. And that’s OK. When I take our son to a sports practice, sometimes the head coach doesn’t need help. In that case, I just wait for another opportunity. My point is: You won’t know unless you ask. 

Once you identify a sedentary situation that you can make active, you have a doable New Year’s resolution!

3) Find an enjoyable offset.

In the land of Frugalmatic, all movement that doesn’t accomplish a practical purpose is called an offset. Despite touting the benefits of practical movement, my home life is still too sedentary to rely on tasks alone for my physical activity. I must do some offsets, with my favorite being shooting baskets in the driveway. 

Here’s another offset that I enjoy: During the summer months when our kids don’t attend school, we go on morning walks to recreate their daily walks to school and back. These walks are offsets because they’re not serving as transportation. As we stroll, we laugh and tell stories. One time, we found a $10 bill, which I guess meant the walk did have a practical purpose. 

One of my favorite interviews was with a woman named Joy Jones, who loved to jump rope as a child but then stopped once she became an adult. After many years, she decided to start it up again, and she formed a group to show kids and adults alike how to do Double Dutch jump roping. (I tried it for the first time a few months ago, and it takes some practice.) Joy truly enjoys jumping rope, and that’s the key with an offset. You must enjoy it; otherwise, you’re bound to quit it for the simple reason that offsets have no practical purpose. 

Practical New Year’s resolutions are doable New Year’s resolutions

Finding ways to become more physically active is important for health reasons, but I believe many New Year’s resolutions fail because they’re impractical. But if you can attach your movements to everyday responsibilities, you’ll have a greater chance of sticking to that resolution. Ultimately, if you’re moving a little bit more than you were the year before, you’re experiencing success. And once you add a manual task to your daily routine, your next goal is to look for another one.