Due to the Covid pandemic, working at home is more common now than ever before. More time at home can help you to be healthier, but it may also have health risks. These simple techniques can help you to stay healthier at home.
1. Eat Healthy Food
In some ways, it is easier to maintain a healthy diet when you work from home since you will have all of your healthy foods readily available at arm’s reach without having to worry about packing a smoothie or a salad on your work commute.
On the other hand, having all of the unhealthy snacks and junk food that you could want available at a moment’s notice can have some negative consequences. After all, at least when you are at work, you can choose what’s available to you and what’s not and won’t have your entire pantry to choose from.
It’s important to keep track of what you’re eating during the day, perhaps by keeping a food journal or keeping track of what you have available and when it is consumed. If you find yourself overcome by temptation, you may want to limit the food in your home to healthy options.
2. Create Space for Work and for Recreation
One of the downsides of working from home is that your work can easily seep into your everyday life. You may find yourself checking work emails while you eat dinner with your family or musing over work problems and dashing back to your computer in the midst of a hobby.
For your psychological health and for the benefit of relationships in your life, it’s important to create room for work and room for play. Some people can do this effectively simply by shutting down the laptop, while others do best if they create an actual workspace in another room or change into work clothes. Do what works for you. However, make sure that work isn’t taking over other aspects of your life.
3. Exercise Daily
Working from home lets you incorporate exercise into your life more easily. You can work out at more times a day, and you can use the time that you used to spend commuting to work out instead.
However, despite the availability of daily exercise, it isn’t always easy to actually do. You may find that you go from waking up, to working, to making dinner and going to bed without giving a thought to exercise. It’s important to make exercise a deliberate part of your day.
Exercise doesn’t have to be very involved to be beneficial. Some light gardening or a walk after work may be all that it takes to keep you healthy and active. Exercise can also be used to create a divide between working and leisure time.
4. Stretch Often
Your home work station is unlikely to be as ergonomic as your workstation at work was. Furthermore, you may be more likely to spend the whole day sitting in front of your desk instead of getting up to go to meetings, appointments, etc.
Therefore, it’s extremely important that you stretch often throughout your day. Check out some stretch exercise videos to get an idea of what kind of stretches you should be doing and to learn how to do them properly.
It is best to get up from your desk at least every half hour and do some basic stretches. This may seem like a lot, but your back and joints will thank you, and you will likely find that your mind is also refreshed thanks to regular stretching.
5. Spend Time Outsideh
A huge benefit of staying at home to work is the fact that you will be able to open up your window, walk out into your yard, or take a stroll around your garden as you like. Spending at least 2 hours outside every day can improve your health and sense of well-being.
While two hours may seem like a lot, when you’re working from home, it may be easier to incorporate into your day than you think. When you get up to do your stretches every half hour, step outside to do them.
Make sure you get your daily exercise by taking a walk outside or put your exercise machine on a covered patio or open the garage door. Be creative about ways to incorporate outside time into your daily life, and you may be surprised by how much healthier you feel while working from home.
Summary of Health Challenges When Working at Home
- Everything in your pantry is available to be snacked on, which can decrease healthy eating.
- Your workstation may not be as ergonomic at home as it is at work.
- It can be easy for work to take over your life, reducing exercise and leisure time
Work at Home and Stay Healthy
You are more likely to work at home now than ever before. While working from home can certainly have some advantages to your health and your quality of life, it also comes with some challenges. Be very deliberate about your health as you work from your home office and make sure that work doesn’t take over your life.
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