Get fit with a tiny exercise routine
Are you planning drastic, far-reaching new year’s resolutions? Stop! Making tiny (almost stupidly tiny) changes will be more lasting in the long run. Oliver Burkeman tells you how
By 
Psychologies
One big advantage of mini-habits is how they sneak beneath the mind’s radar, evading our inbuilt tendency to resist change.
If you’ve never been running, a goal of a mile a day is too intimidating, and will trigger procrastination; a goal of 30 seconds a day, on the other hand, is laughable – and what’s laughable can’t also be scary.
‘In school, when I was trying to acquire the habit of running, I ran down the street until I’d passed just three houses, then I turned back,’ says Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project (Harper, £6.99) and a forthcoming book on habits, Better Than Before (Two Roads, £16.99, to be published in March 2015). ‘After a few runs like that, I ran past four houses. Over time, I worked up to a few miles. Taking small steps helped me to keep running long enough to make a habit of it.’
Research suggests people stick to moderate exercise plans longer than more vigorous ones.
Alternatively, try SaluteTheDesk.com (£2.49), an app encouraging yoga stretches at work.
More inspiration:
Sign up for our Life Labs Practical Wisdom online course Achieve Your Goals here
Read Make one change happen by Vanessa Anstee on LifeLabs
Read 5 ways to feel more balanced, every day by Eminé Ali Rushton on LifeLabs
Photograph: iStock
