Goal Setting and Recording Progress

When you decide to try to move a bit more (or sit a bit less), how do you know if you are improving?   It’s important to know where you are starting from and what you are trying to achieve if you want to move a little more during the day

The first step is knowing how much are you moving just now?  One idea might be to count how often you stand up and walk about, but you will have your own ideas too.

Here are a few simple ways to measure and record what you are doing.

Setting Goals

Setting small realistic goals can help you plan to move more while not trying to do too much too quickly.  Writing your goal down and telling someone else so they can join in or help you, are useful ways to keep you on track.

A great way is to think of Goals being SMART:

S Specific – a clear goal e.g. I want to walk and move more during the day

M Measurable – something you can count e.g. I will count how many times I stand up and move about during the day

A Achievable – I counted that I generally stand up 5 times during the day. I will stand up 7 times tomorrow, 7 times the next day, then increase to 8 and so on

R Relevant – set a goal that is important to you – e.g. so that I have the ability to play with grandchildren, get in and out of cars etc when the lockdown is over

T Timely – when do you want to reach that goal by? e.g. I will reach my goal of standing up 20 times a day by the end of the month

Using SMART will help you change your goal of wanting to sit a bit less in the house to a SMART goal such as ‘Standing up and walking to the window to look out, 10 times each day by the end of the week’

Moving more is a challenge but breaking it down into small goals linked to a measure can be a real help on the way.