Just recently, a friend gifted me one of those gadgets that clips onto my waist and avidly takes count of every step I take throughout the day. How thoughtful. This gets me thinking just a bit and I have come to some conclusions. One, I must have gained a couple of pounds and it shows. Two, being winded after walking up two flights of stairs is not atypical for most. Three, she must have caught a glimpse of my biometric screening bordering a yellow-orange – but not red – which doesn’t mean I live a completely sedentary lifestyle. Whichever the case, I accepted the gift along with the challenge and commitment to walk more – not only outside, but inside the office as well.

Until recently, I hardly considered the amount of steps I’d taken after arriving to the office. By 10:45am, I clocked a total of 78 steps. That’s one roundtrip to the restroom and another roundtrip to fill up my coffee mug in the kitchen. By 11:30am, I walked 29 steps to retrieve a few copies off the printer and say ‘hi’ to a colleague since it was on the way. By 12:30pm, I headed to the elevator for 43 steps and then unpacked my lunch in the courtyard for 92 more steps, and then did the reverse of that exact same trip without taking detours. Back to the office an hour or so later, I headed to a meeting that was 53 steps away, stopped at the women’s restroom and then hurried to another just kiddy corner for another 16 steps. Following that meeting at around 4:00pm, I ended up back my desk heads down clicking away at my computer. I entertained a phone call or two – no steps. Then continued tapping my fingers at the keyboard. I retrieved another copy off the printer for 29 steps more steps and stopped by a team member’s desk to inquire about a recent campaign. Then back to my desk that was nine steps away and continued to finish up writing and sending a few emails our to vendors before calling it a day.

Before clipping on the pedometer, I had no idea how few steps I had taken around the office, especially since my role in marketing and project management typically requires me to work closely with my teammates. That day, I had spent more time at my desk writing up elongated emails rather than collaborating with my colleagues who sit just a few desks away or directly on the opposite side of the office. I unchained the series of email strings from just one subject line and found more than 18 back and forth replies, the majority being subtle clarifications, and the others being unclear roles and responsibilities. To think, if I had just made that trip to my colleague’s desk for 25 steps, I could have set project expectations with just a few lines and given her a friendly hello, rather than continue to exchange emails and glare at my computer screen in mere frustration for what should have been a quick solve and I’m sure she would have felt the same.

Over the next couple of days, I really contemplated the idea of email exchanges versus a face-to-face interactions. I also created a five second rule for myself. After reading an email, I had to wait five seconds before hitting the ‘reply’ or ‘forward’ button – and ten seconds for a ‘reply all’ button. Within this time, I let the wheels quickly spin as to whether it would benefit the receiver to get an email response or to meet in person. I have to admit, sometimes, my fingers were faster than those wheels spinning in my head. However, with discipline and persistence, I did commit to setting aside that ounce of time and surprisingly, more often than I had anticipated, the scale tipped towards a face-to-face visit. Also, in an effort to increase the number of steps tracked on my handy dandy pedometer, I made the executive decision to get up and walk.

In the coming week, I walked eight steps to Sam’s desk, 37 steps to Anne-Marie’s, 14 to Thomas’, 18 steps to Dan’s, 34 steps to Ariel’s, 39 steps to David’s, three steps to Brittain’s, 42 steps to Michael’s, 36 steps to Calvin’s, and 33 steps to the elevator, plus 43 steps to Brendan’s and another 22 steps to Harrison’s – on top of the daily meetings and frequent visits to the printer, kitchen and lady’s room. All these steps, plus the reverse added up to nearly quadrupling the number of steps I had originally taken within the office and led to fewer email strings. Not only did I improve my physical health, but also my mental health and spirit. I interacted more with my colleagues and built rapports that broke down those email barriers. I learned that Sam likes to hike, Anne-Marie likes to salsa, Thomas has two dogs named Bailey and Katsy, Dan is about to get married at the end of the year, Ariel is competing in a tennis tournament, David’s mom makes a killer pot roast, Brittain likes to swim and has won two medals, Michael is going to Hawaii in the next month, Calvin is allergic to chocolate, Brendan is a dance instructor, and Harrison loves to mountain bike. It’s amazing how much more there is to your colleagues that the campaign you’ve been working on for the last six months. Not to mention, I had more visits to my desk than I can count, and I’d like to think it wasn’t only because of the candy jar sitting on my desk.

To the friend who gifted me the pedometer, thank you.