It's National Walking Month in May and Northern Stroll has a challenge for you.
Starting on 1st May and running through the Keswick Mountain Festival to midnight on 27th May we want you to join us in pledging to spend less time on social media than you do outside.
Every. Single. Day.
Think that sounds easy? You'd be wrong. The average commuting adult spends less than 30 minutes outside whilst over 2 hours browsing social media. Whether it's in the morning when we wake up, over breakfast, on a coffee break or even in the bathroom (you know who you are) some of us are addicted to our phones.
Social media has a reputation for being rather unhealthy at times (whilst the outdoors is awesome) but rarely do people consciously turn one off for the other. We want to help you do that.
How do I start?
Tracking your progress is simple. Just download Google Digital Wellbeing if you are on Android, or check your battery usage if you are on iPhone. (More on that later).
All it takes is small changes to your lifestyle to make a big difference. And to reward you for your hard efforts, we're going to choose one winner and two runners up to win some prizes from our partners Ordnance Survey and Ascendancy Apparel. Full T&Cs and all the prize details are here.
And if you want to show how well you are doing, tag us on social media and use the hashtag #strolldontscroll. Yes, we appreciate the irony, but how else would we spread the good word? Just go for a walk around the block to earn it.
This sounds hard
Perhaps, but if you're wondering how you can fit more time outside into your busy schedule fear not. Subscribe to our newsletter and we'll send you a weekly update on our own progress as well as tips and tricks to maximise downtime and minimise screen time.
And remember, you can join us any time throughout the month, you don't have to start on May 1st with us (but it does help). Just make improvements.
Good luck!