How I went from walking 500 steps to 10,000 a day

A few months ago, I was averaging about 1,000 to 3,000 steps a day. Some days, I barely move, spending hours on my laptop and amassing only 500 steps total. Pitiful, I know.

So when I took on a 10,000-step challenge for March, I initially thought I was in way over my head. How was I supposed to dedicate a month to 10,000 steps when my step count was 514 the day before?

After some trial and error in the first two weeks of my 10,000-step challenge, I discovered a hack. It was so simple, and I still use it today to get at least 7,000 steps, even on a busy day.

Now I’m sharing what I’ve learned to help get us all moving.

A 10,000-step journey

Have you ever felt there’s so much to do and so little time? If your goal is to walk more, then follow these three steps:

■ Force yourself to stand for one minute: The first thing I had to do was break a bad habit, which I’m sure most of us have — scrolling on our phones in the first few minutes after waking up. I had to be honest with myself: A “few minutes” of mindless scrolling would probably have me lying in bed for another half-hour. That half-hour could be spent doing something more productive, like taking my first few steps of the day.

After I shook off sleep, I forced myself to stand up for a minute. I found that just a minute of standing snapped me out of my sleepy daze and stopped me from accidentally falling back asleep or going back on my phone.

■ Spend the first 30 minutes of your day walking: It was tempting to dive straight into checking my emails and getting ready for work after I shook off the morning drowsiness. Instead, I dedicated the first 30 minutes of my day to walking. Whether taking a stroll around the block or walking up and down my hallway, I gave myself the “me time” to get my body moving before I had to sit for hours at work.

When I did a brisk walk, 30 minutes gave me about 2,500 steps. Most of the time, I walked slowly while drinking my morning coffee. Still, this amounted to 1,200 to 2,000 steps before 7:30 a.m. — shaving off almost a third of my 10,000 daily step goal.

The best part was the mental and emotional boost I gained from my walk, leaving me feeling focused and motivated to tackle everything I needed to do for the day.

■ Walk for five minutes of every hour: Doing 10,000 steps a day sounds daunting. But 500 steps an hour? That’s doable. I gave myself five to 10 minutes every hour to walk around, even if it was just circling the room a few times. To make the time fly by, I would use that time for more passive activities like replying to emails or checking Slack.

It was also a good reminder to avoid sitting too long anyway. According to science, it would be even more ideal to get up and move every half-hour. One Columbia University study found that just five minutes of light walking was enough to counteract some of the health issues of prolonged sitting.

A few minutes here and there might not seem like much. But breaking up my steps after eight hours added 3,000 to 4,000 steps. Adding in the approximate 2,000 steps I did in the first 30 minutes of the day, I already had about 5,000 to 6,000 steps.

Hitting 10,000 steps didn’t seem intimidating when I was already halfway there. Knowing I was 50 percent done helped me relax and leisurely finish my steps instead of trying to cram it all into the last few hours of the day or give up altogether.

While my 10,000-step challenge is over, I still use this method to avoid sitting around all day. Even as I wrap up this article, I plan to get up and walk another five to 10 minutes. I recommend you do the same.