Stay Healthy While Working from Home

The pandemic has forced many people to isolate themselves at home. They have made several significant life changes to adapt and survive in a world with less physical interaction. Even their workspaces have migrated into their homes, creating a small corner of work environment within their personal spaces. Thus, this article will tackle the wellbeing ideas for working from home.

Eventually, their lifestyles have become more sedentary, and this is no surprise. Their daily walks and commute have been replaced by an easy trip to the kitchen to grab a sandwich or a leftover dinner.

Quick workouts at the gym are now an almost impossible reality but instead they are left glued to their monitors and ergonomic chairs.

However, as one of those affected by the pandemic, this should not be your norm. The risks of getting sick are higher if you allow your bodies to be dormant rusty machines.

According to research, those who work from home are more likely to work extended hours and are generally more productive than working from their offices. Although employers are naturally happier with this, it can take its toll on the employees’ physical and mental health.

A survey also showed that employees are more anxious about taking a sick leave during the past year, aggravating the situation ever more.

Fortunately, there are simple tweaks you can implement in your daily routines to make your work-from-home environments less stressful and more conducive to your overall health.

These tips can be easily done within the comforts of your own homes without taking too much time out of your schedules. So, get ready and get physical.

1] Staying Active and Stretching

When working from from home, the stress can be overwhelming. Time consumed for being inactive is longer because you are required to stay in front of your laptop eight hours a day and even more if there are additional tasks. You should bear in mind the importance of staying active despite working at home.

Physical exercise or bodily movement can be in any forms and can be done even you are sitting on a couch, doing work in your laptop.

Stretching is one of the forms of exercise which cannot be underestimated. This should be incorporated between work hours. This will not only benefit your body but also your mind because you will be refreshed and you can regain your focus which diminishes if you are working for long hours.

There are also other ways to stay active which you incorporate at the start of your day. First, the slow, breathing and physical exercises, such as yoga and Pilates which are great ways to start your morning by making you more relaxed.

Second, morning walks around your neighborhood which can make you awake. You may bring your dogs for a walk and even play with them. You may also opt to walk to run errands and enjoy the time off your work table.

Lastly, you may add exercises and other activities you love doing and see how it boosts, not only your mood, but also your immunity.

2]  Nutrition While Working from Home

A cliff that people usually fall into when working from home is that they consume a lot of snacks throughout the day since more often than not, it is the only thing they could do aside from work to get rid of boredom.

However, it should be noted that good nutrition is indispensable especially in the middle of pandemic in order to stay healthy.

Here are few tips that can help you stay fit even though you spend most of your time in front of your computer:

First, consume healthy treats. Some people are so fond of finger foods but they the stock the unhealthy than nutritious ones.

You should put more fruits and vegetables in your refrigerator and avoid including so many junk foods in your grocery list.

Through that, you will not be tempted to binge eat those stocked junk foods and you will hit two birds with one stone- taking care of your health and at the same time satisfying your hunger.

Second, prepare your meals. The work that you are required to do every day is already exhausting. You probably would think not to burden yourself anymore with preparing your meals.

Also, ordering online would be more convenient for you because it saves time. Well, that is actually a problem. Mostly that you can buy online are foods from fast food chains. These are really not good for your health. 

The advantage of preparing your meals is that aside from you can save money, you can choose healthier ingredients. You should always remember that eating right makes you feel right.

Third, make a schedule of your meal time. It is an undeniable fact that you can eat any time since you are just working from home and that the kitchen is just near you.

However, you should disciple yourself by setting a time to eat and the amount of food you will take. Through this, you can monitor your calories and your diet as a whole.

3]  Developing Healthier Habits

Developing healthier habits does not only mean focusing on eating more nutritious foods or maintaining balance diet.  It is mainly about balancing your lifestyle with your nutrition. 

You need to move frequently to have fast metabolism.  A fast metabolism burns calories at quicker rate. What are those healthy habits that you need to develop?

First, you have to maintain a good sleeping pattern. Research suggests that adults, must have at least 7-9 hours of sleep.  You have to practice relaxing pre-bed routine to make it easier for us to fall asleep and you can choose mattress that would make you comfortable.

The next day when you wake up, do some stretching and exercise to energize your sleep mind and body. Do little walks inside your house as it is not advisable to exercise outside due to community restrictions. 

Eat healthy and complete breakfast as it is the most important meal of the day, because it helps you boost your energy level and alertness.  Don’t forget as well to take vitamins to enhance your immune system. 

While working, you have to maintain proper posture.  Bad posture can cause neck and back pains, eye fatigue and so on.  Bad posture can also decrease your concentration in work. 

Hence, by maintaining proper posture, you will become focused and centered on what you are doing. Research claims that by doing the same things for the whole month, those will become your habit.

Do these things every day to make it your lifestyle. As much as possible, do these routines with your family.  It could make them healthy as well. 

These could help not just your physical and mental states, it also improves your relationship with your family, while working from home.

4] Finding Your Health Motivation

Working from home, when it comes to our physical and mental health, can present a unique set of challenges. Hence, finding your health motivation is important.

The best way to start finding your health motivation is to know why you want to become healthy. You need to know it yourself.

Those reasons could include wanting to have a younger, energetic and healthy body.  Some people feel that they are a bit older than their age.

You can avoid illnesses and you will become more productive. When you start to feel good about your body, you become more confident, you look better and become happier. 

Having a healthy body also boost your self-esteem, improve your relationship with others and overall well-being.

Second is wanting to have a healthy mental state. Mental health is one of the most neglect aspect in a person’s life because its importance is not understood.

A healthy mental state will help you handle stress, allows you to adapt to changes in life and cope with adversity. It   gives you a better outlook in life and motivation to pursue our goals.

Other reasons include wanting to take care of your family and other people.

After knowing that, you can now set goals that are reasonable and achievable. The goals should be neither boring nor too extreme that it feels like it is impossible to sustain them in the long term.

The right amount of challenge allows us to start immediately because it is not too overwhelming, and it will not feel too simple either.

Moreover, we can always look for best practices by watching online videos featuring fitness and health experts and determine which of their method works best for us.

5] Creating a Healthy Morning Routine

There is a need to create a morning routine to start your day right. The routine need not to be complex and packed but rather a list of simple activities to do each day; of course, employing one’s creativity too is a must. 

First thing in the morning, you must pump yourself up through a good workout. Your body releases chemicals that are known as feel-good brain.

This can help you with building up your excitement or mental preparation to get by your day. The more energy you have for the day; the more workload you will accomplish.

How can you accomplish tasks even without the supervision of your bosses? You must have a boosted self-motivation which can come into terms if you have a well-set goal.

You can have a morning routine of writing all the things that you need to do for the rest of the day then crossing out those which are already accomplished.

Moreover, it is more beneficial to break down your large goals into smaller steps because in such way it is not only easier and less frustrating to do but also a means to show yourself your own accomplishments, regardless if it’s small or big.

Finally, a known other way of melting away one’s stress is music so putting together up a playlist mixed with relaxing and mood lifting tracks.

Thus, you must bear in mind that a morning routine does not only follows an accomplished day but also a healthy mind and body. Self-care should always be everyone’s highest priority.

6] Health Pitfalls to Avoid

When you make a commitment to pour extra time and effort to care for your health, you tend to think that everything that you will be doing would always be in consideration of how it would affect your health.

However, are you really sure that you are doing it properly and the reason you’re doing it is indeed for your health?

For an instance, you might think that the habits and routines you implemented in your work-from-home life are for your health where in fact you might be focusing on the wrong things.

Here are a few things you need to keep in mind when you are on a health journey:

Diet – People say that a diet is essential for a healthy life. That might be true but do remember that eating healthy foods is far different from eating less.

Having a great figure does not equate to being healthy. You have to eat nutritious food which would fuel your body rather than not eating at all.

Besides, eating nutritious foods would not make you gain weight if it is accompanied with proper exercise.

Focusing on the wrong things – Healthy life does not only revolve around physical health. It also includes mental and emotional health.

In order to achieve this, you have to focus on things that makes you feel good and will give you a positive outlook in life. Same goes with the information you acquire, don’t always think of the negative things and focus on the good side.

Feeling being incomplete – Every single progress matters. Don’t be hard on yourself. Always think that everyone has their own pace.

You may not achieve the goal you’re aiming but every single step you make will make you closer to your destination. Feeling good about the progress you made would greatly affect your mental health and wellbeing.

7] Taking Regular Break

Your work from home setup becomes more challenging when added with household chores. Challenging because you need to have the skill to manage your time wisely so as to cater all your tasks intended for the day.

Despite the busy schedule, you must not forget yourself. It is important that you take enough breaks in between tasks to regain your strength and focus to conquer the day.

Do not forget to take breaks in the morning, at lunch or in the afternoon, the same breaks you do in office setup.

While working and using the computer for long period, you need to rest your eyes by focusing on other objects. Try to stand, walk or jog in place. These small breaks will benefit you more than you think.

For others who intend to allot more time for their breaks, you can also do walking, running or jogging around your backyard.

This is your chance to go out of from your work place and inhale some fresh air while you keep yourself physically active. Humans are not robots. Everyone deserves a break from a long and stressful day.

8] Environmental Changes

As you adopt in this new work-from-home set up, upgrading a working environment at home is a must. An organized workplace can help you to have a healthy mindset and can make your work even more enjoyable and productive. Here are some tips that may help you feel good while working from home:

First, you need to create a workspace. Set up a small work or office space area that is strictly dedicated to working. Try to make this area into a space away from distractions.

Second, invest in good devices. Since you spent most of your time facing the monitor or computer, it is essential to invest in a good device. Digital work requires a reliable partner which is your devices.

Third, improve ventilation at home. Studies show that natural light has positive effects on the physical and mental health. You must ensure that your work-from-home set up is in a well ventilated area or has windows.

Fourth, you can decorate plants. Putting house plants in your work area helps reduce stress due to heavy workloads and tight deadlines. It will also give your area a fresh vibe which relaxes your mind and body and keeping you focus on your work.

Lastly, put some motivational stickers. These motivational stickers on your wall or workplace can keep you going through these tough times. Put your favorite quote as an inspiration to boost your productivity while working at home.

9] Your Work-Life Balance

While you’re still young, you have to learn how to manage your time wisely in both your work and personal life, whether you work from home or at your office.

You have to balance your life and focus achieving your goals one step at a time. Though, in reality it is difficult to balance everything when your home becomes your office especially this pandemic.

The first thing on the list to solve that problem is to take note of your working time. Be disciplined and learn how to manage your time wisely.

You have to avoid certain things which might lessen your productivity, such as working from the bed for your entire shift. This will help you avoid temptation to continue working while your working hours have already lapsed. As much as possible separate the area where you do your personal things.

Lastly, after working hours, you also have to give attention to your personal life. Read books, play with your favorite instruments, communicate with your family, exercise, or start your skin care routine.

These things may seem very easy but in reality it is hard to put into action but take note that these small changes will make a huge difference in your work from home setup.

Are You Ready to Be Healthier?

To sum up the activities and choices we can make to be healthier at home, you need to:

• Plan your day ahead – Set daily or even weekly goals! Plan your meal, set a morning routine, and don’t forget to take a break. Consistency is the key to maintaining a positive attitude.

• Organize your workspace – Nothing is better than a clean desk ready to conquer the corporate world. The best way to do this is by setting a clear line between your working area and the dining area. Lastly, always keep healthy foods within reach, toss those chips outside the room!

• Stay active – It’s essential to take a break in between work. Stretch, lift weights, walk, do whatever you can to keep that body moving. Moving your body gives you better concentration and mental sharpness plus staying active can help you live healthy for years to come!

• Do what motivate you to be healthy – At the end of the day, we are different in our own way. We know what’s best for us especially for our health. Just keep in mind to be honest with yourself on the impacts of your choices. Lastly, self-care is very important so don’t forget to set aside time for yourself.