As a keyboard warrior spending hours sitting in front of the computer, I was having back pain issues and gaining weight every year. This summer I decided to ta

As a keyboard warrior spending hours sitting in front of the computer, I was having back pain issues and gaining weight every year. This summer I decided to tackle the root cause, so I started doing daily walks during my yearly vacation (about six months ago). Most walks were short (30min), and some took a couple of hours because I was visiting friends/family/local events, going for small groceries, ... If it was less than 10km/(~ 7 miles), I had the time and the weather was reasonable, I walked. I was convinced I would have to walk a lot in bad weather, but this turned out not to be the case: in the morning I check my calendar and the weather for that day, and mentally mark a few opportunity windows to go for a walk. After doing this, the biggest task is getting up and putting on my waking shoes and coat (and chest light when it can get dark) when the time is there. Once I do get out the door, I usually have to force myself not to walk further than I initially planned. In the beginning 30 minutes felt like a long walk. When I go for a walk now, it feels like I'm only beginning to get in the flow after 30 minutes. I do have a fixed route for my brisk walks that I tend to do during weekdays, which is a little over 6km and now takes at most an hour. (It used to take way longer when I started, so there's progress there as well.) I tend to go for bigger walks during the weekends, or as a "reward" when I close a big deal/wrap up a big task... So what did I do with all that time before I went for these walks? A lot of it was mostly feeling productive/creative: browsing around on the internet, noodling at the piano/guitar, watching TV or doing a gazillion small things. Turns out having a fixed walking window where I let my mind wander is way better for me personally: I tend to come home with at least one insight, doing a lot of "gedankenexperiments" (thought experiments) and come back more zen. Next to this it's also improving my physique slowly but gradually. I keep close track of my progress via a smartwatch, because I'm an IT guy after all, and love tracking progress... All things considered, it took a few weeks/months to build this habit, but in the end it was all about starting small and building up gradually, stacking up one little habit on top of the other as time progressed. Over the last fortnight I have been unable to go for walks due to a medical procedure, and I missed my daily walks a lot. Thankfully I'm now able to slowly reboot the habit, and I don't plan on stopping with these walks anytime soon. Highly recommended!