Below: 1. When sitting is suicide 2. July public courses selling now (Brisbane‚ Sydney) 3. Survey results: “Biggest key to persuasive writing” 4. New section: Ask a “writing” question!

When sitting is suicide

I hope you’re standing as you read this: Long hours sitting at your desk can kill you – EVEN IF you’re lean and you exercise regularly. That’s a bummer (pun intended) when it comes to writing – or doing any desk work. A recent article in Men’s Health (“Why your desk job is slowly killing you”) cites numerous studies showing that sitting is an independent risk factor for heart disease. Here’s what stood out most to me: • A study of 17‚000 people found that those who sat for most of the day were 54 per cent more likely to die from heart disease‚ irrespective of their weight or how often they exercised. • Even if you exercise for 45 minutes five times a week‚ you’re still classified as “sedentary” if you work a 60-hour week at a desk. • We have a heart-disease-causing gene in our bodies that doesn’t respond to ANY amount of exercise‚ yet is activated (made worse) by sitting for as little as 45 minutes. Take a stand So should you ask for “danger” money because you’re always writing at work? Maybe not. The answer could simply be to STAND more. Standing chews up as much as 50 per cent more calories than sitting‚ and has several other benefits, like helping to avoid neck and back pain. Naturally you can’t just stand all day and be healthy. Regular exercise is crucial. But if you’re on your butt a lot‚ here’s how you can stand more to avoid your murderous chair:

Can you think of more ways to get people out of their chairs? Help us live longer and share it on our blog!

P.S. Here are some “standing desks” — some even come with treadmills or exercise bikes!

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/stand-up-while-you-read-this/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ario/1748276967/#/

http://unclutterer.com/2011/04/29/workspace-of-the-week-standing-desk-in-a-cubicle/

A while back‚ we asked you to vote on what you thought was the most important key to persuasive writing.

As you’ll know if you’ve done our training‚ of the options presented above‚ “consequences” or “implications” is the biggie (we call it “FBI”: Features‚ Benefits‚ Implications).

The good news, as you can see: Many of you (39%) got it right. But it's interesting that so many didn't!

For an explanation‚ shoot a quick email to paul@magneto.net.au with the subject header “Tell me about FBI” and I’ll fire a short tip back to you.

Got a question about writing that you’d love answered? Ask it here