Part of doing IT support on a college campus is that sometimes we have to transport quite a few things to and from classrooms. A dozen or so computers altogether becomes very heavy quickly when it’s loaded onto one cart. This is the grunt work that goes on behind the scenes; it isn’t all just done with a keyboard. Who says IT support isn’t a physical job?
I always jump at the chance to do the heavy lifting stuff, because it’s really good exercise. I see it as getting paid to workout. It means I can skip an actual workout session. Pushing a cart full of monitors is far less boring than doing kettlebell swings a hundred times. Why restrain myself in my every day life just because I exercise consistently? It’s like the guy at hotels who valets his luggage but then goes to the hotel gym to workout.
Carrying the bags himself would have achieved the same thing, and more productive.
Of course, I am lucky that my work isn’t the constantly back-breaking type. I wouldn’t be saying any of this if I were a roofer. On most days, it truly is just sitting in front of a computer screen. Which is why it’s even more important to be active when I get the chance. It’s rather perverse when you think about it: white collar jobs need to find ways to keep their workers from becoming the equivalent of couch potatoes. I do very much appreciate my standing desk.
Never miss an opportunity to exert and use some muscles. I can always rest when I get home.
Red tape.