Written by Brian Thomas, Guest Writer
Working from home holds a variety of benefits for employees, but sometimes it can be detrimental to overall health and wellness. Without the proper boundaries, work can overtake a person’s life, which can affect overall well-being in the long run. With some lifestyle adjustments and new habits, there are ways to boost your health while working remotely. Tune into the following sections on ways to achieve improved wellness.
Set a Timer
One way to remind yourself to take wellness breaks from work is to set a timer. It’s easy to fall into a project and not remember to stand up, drink or eat. It’s important to pause and step away from a screen or task to get your body moving for a few minutes. Even if you don’t get up and move, an alarm may remind you to check your posture or stretch your body. Correcting your sitting position results in less back pain and hunching while you’re at the computer.
Also, timers can create a more consistent workday schedule. If you find yourself working past your set business hours more frequently than you’d like, doing so can lead to burnout. These symptoms can include headaches, fatigue, or anxiety. Additionally, you won’t have time to enjoy your personal life and pursuits. Those activities are an important part of keeping yourself well, too.
Get Some Exercise In
A large part of wellness comes from moving your body. Whether it’s a visit to the gym or walking around the block, exercise is vital for life longevity and health. But it’s not just physical exercise to consider; mental health is just as important and it’s beneficial to put practices in place that are going to make you feel happier. It could be something as simple as completing a crossword puzzle every day, or for some, visiting a therapist can be a wonderful safe space to communicate with someone professional and understanding.
Scheduling time for yourself to exercise may be hard in the beginning but can form into a habit after a time. Even if it’s a twenty-minute workout during your lunch hour, there are plenty of YouTube exercise channels, or online gym classes available to follow and use for your session. Maybe you could spend another twenty minutes at the end of the day going on a walk to turn your work brain off or decompress to leave your day behind and focus on a relaxing evening.
Put Yourself First
It’s not selfish to focus on yourself. Self-care means different things to individuals, so one colleague may think it means a spa day, while another person views it as a hike. Finding what you enjoy and what makes you happy is a big part of successful self-care. If you’re not doing things that bring you joy then it most likely adds to stress or doesn’t relax you, which is what it’s meant to do.
Outside of that, you should also be using your vacation time. It’s your time off, and you should use it when you need it. Now, you may want to save it for the end of the year, but remember to take half days when you need a break. Depending on the company you work for, you may not be able to roll over your vacation time into the next year and that’s not the best for you or your wellness. So start booking your vacation time!
Create a Meal Plan
You are what you eat, and your well-being relies a lot on what you intake on a daily basis. While working at home, avoiding the kitchen and potentially unhealthy snacks in it can be hard. But one way to stop unhealthy choices is to shop smart and stock up on more nutritional options. Incorporating fruits and veggies into your daily snack choices, as well as protein, will make you feel more energized and productive.
Your calendar full of meetings can definitely take a toll on the time you have available to eat a healthy meal, so to make sure you’re getting the fuel you need to energize your body while working remotely, meal prep ahead of time. Mealtime doesn’t need to be an hour-long process if your ingredients are stocked. If you prepare healthy meals the night before, you can spend your lunchtime eating rather than doing both cooking and enjoying your food. Regardless of what you prefer, sitting down and away from the computer screen will assist you on your wellness journey.
Hydration is Key
Aside from eating, hydration is another part of wellness that’s easy to avoid and fall into bad habits. Drinking cup after cup of coffee all day has been shown to cause a variety of problems from stress to shakiness. Drinking water keeps your body properly hydrated and is important for brain function. If plain water isn’t your thing, there are different additives to add in flavor. You can try other drinks such as seltzer or juice. Bottom line: avoid consuming too much caffeine, and go for the H20.
Achieving wellness while working remotely can often be left to the wayside. However, it’s important to remember that taking breaks, using vacation time, moving regularly, eating, and drinking healthier options will benefit your body and work. At the end of the day, you are at your best when you take care of yourself.
About the Author
Brian Thomas is a contributor to Enlightened Digital. He enjoys reading and researching tech and business. When he’s not looking into the latest trends, you can find him out cycling.
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