Earlier this week, I drew up a list of the small steps which might need to be taken to transfer from a lethargic mildly depressed state to having enough energy to go out on a bike ride. Now I’m thinking about how I ought to set up the house so it is as easy as possible to go out on a bike ride, or take part in any other exercise activity.
- Put the bike in the front room. Thankfully, this has already been done, and it is a great help. The bike used to be in a shed at the back of the house — how easy it was to open a backdoor and retreat back inside without even getting to touch the bike! If seeing is achieving, then the front room is the ideal place, as this is also where I have my office. Unfortunately, there is a lot of junk around the place where I usually hang my bike up, so that needs to be moved.
- Get some pictures up and on computer screen, in notebooks etc, to remind myself how much I enjoy cycling. Include pictures of some of the great places I have been cycling (especially Nevis, Zermatt, Grosse Scheidegg, Cotswolds, Scotland), and places where I’d like to go — especially places which are easily accessible in a day trip from here. These images should be part of a sequence of motivational images, which could also feature business goals, travel plans etc.
- Keep the house tidy — tidy house = tidy mind = get more done = easier to leave work and get exercising.
- Sort out alarm clocks and getting up routine — if I’m up early enough in the day, it is so much easier to go out exercising first thing, and to enjoy the buzz that gives me for the rest of the day.
- Have kit ready — even if on many days it is perfectly fine to reuse cycling kit from the last trip, it is always nice to have fresh gear clean and ready if I want it.
- Hang cycling shirts up in bedroom — this is a great reminder, although perhaps I should now use the picture hooks for their original purpose and put up some cycling related pictures on them.
- Keep it up — once I get into a really good routine of regular daily exercise, it is so much easier to stay there. This really isn’t rocket science!