How to Maintain Health While Working from Home

Everyone says working from home is easier than working in an office. What is different is the way we maintain our health. However, when you used to commute to the office, you moved a lot more than you do now. Then, you had fixed working schedules and specific times for all your meals and breaks. Now that you’re working from home, your routine is gone, you barely leave the house, and you spend most of the days in a sedentary position. That’s why settling into a healthy routine that will help you maintain not only your physical health but also emotional and mental is crucial. Here are the top tips to help you make it happen.

Carve Out a Space for Work to Maintain Optimal Health

The most important thing you need when working from home is a designated space for work. It should be comfortable and pleasant so you can work without interruptions and distractions. Some remote workers use separate rooms for their home offices. However, most employees don’t have this luxury because they share their homes with their families, roommates, or partners. If you’re one of them, you need to get creative and carve out a workspace of your own. When it comes to finding the right space, there’s no rule. You can set your home office in the dining area, corner of your living room, or even in the hallway. Just make sure it’s the place where you can focus and get the work done.

Settle into a Routine 

Did you have a pre-work routine when you commuted to the office? Like most employees, you probably had some rituals to start the day right. Psychologists often stress the importance routines have on our mental health. Knowing what comes next reduces the anxiety most of us feel over the unknown. That’s why settling into a new routine or getting back to the old one could be good for your mental health. Start your day with light stretching, a shower, some make-up, and a cup of coffee. If you want, you can get something nutritious to eat to get the energy you need for the upcoming tasks. Settle into a routine that works best for you.

Eat the Frog 

Have you heard about the eat the frog technique? It says you should tackle the most demanding or worst that first. Otherwise, you’ll end up procrastinating and stressing about doing it. Some people dread going through their inbox, sending or replying to emails, or making necessary phone calls. Since you’re working from home, efficient employee communication is crucial. If this is something you dread too, then do it first thing upon your arrival into the home office. Also, you might have to file reports or update team leaders and coworkers on your progress regarding ongoing projects. Whatever it is, get it out of the way first and then handle the easier tasks to end the day in a good mood.

Plan Your Day in the Office

Before tackling assignments, you should know what your day in the home office will look like. It relieves pressure and stress. Also, it prepares you for a few hours of hard and focused work. Although you’re bound to face unexpected challenges, you can still plan most tasks. When planning, try to be as flexible as possible because you never know when you might experience technical difficulties or come down with the flu. What’s also important is knowing when your workday starts and ends. This is particularly important if you don’t have a fixed working schedule. Setting it up for yourself will prevent you from overworking yourself and neglecting your basic needs such as food, sleep, etc.

Take Regular Breaks to Maintain Good Mental Health

In the office, when coworkers go on a lunch or a coffee break, that’s your cue to take a break too. However, when you’re working from home, there are no colleagues to remind you to grab a bit to eat, have a drink, or stretch your legs. If you make not taking any breaks during the day a habit, it can put a strain on your physical and mental health. Your body won’t be getting the nutrients and movement it needs to function properly while your brain won’t have enough time to rest and reset between different activities. For this reason, you should build a few breaks into your working schedule. If necessary, use apps as reminders to make sure you don’t skip them.

Stock Up the Cabinets 

When working from home, it’s easy to fall into one of the common traps —mindless snacking. If your home office is in the kitchen, all the more reason to be aware of this problem. Eating junk food, sweets, and unhealthy snacks and drinking fizzy or sweetened drinks throughout the day doesn’t do you any good. All they’ll do is damage your health and cause headaches, fatigue, shakiness, and insomnia. The same goes for having too many cups of coffee in a day. To avoid this, you can stock up the kitchen cabinets with healthy snacks. For example, fresh fruit and vegetables, plant-based milk, protein bars, all kinds of nuts, etc. Not only will they energize you but also make your brain work sharper and concentrate longer.

Schedule Time for Yourself 

Apart from scheduling meetings and breaks, you should also schedule time for yourself. During the workday, your mind gets bombarded with too much information. Also, on hectic days, you go through a rollercoaster of emotions. At the end of the day, you feel tired or even numb. To maintain your mental health throughout all the challenges of remote work, you have to take care of yourself. This means, unplugging from corporate devices, pouring a glass of wine, and getting cozy on the sofa while turning Netflix on. This is just one of many examples of how you should pamper yourself after wrapping up the work for the day or week.

Manage Your Stress Through Exercise 

Remote work can be stressful, especially for extroverts and working parents. There’s just too much you have to juggle in this case. To keep your mental health intact, you have to manage the stress. There’s no better way to do it than through regular exercise. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to take part in any rigorous workouts. Pilates, yoga, jogging, or walking will do the trick. The key is to get your body moving regularly. This way you’ll get rid of all the stress and negative energy. Also, exercise helps you to clear your head, think clearer, and focus better. More importantly, it allows you to leave your house for a few hours, meet new people, and lead a happy lifestyle. 

Prepare Meals in Advance – It’s Necessary to Maintain Our Physical Health

As you’re jumping from one meeting to another, you might feel stressed. It’s time for the lunch break and you don’t have a meal prepared. Should you order food again or should you open a bag of potato chips? What you should do is prepare your meals in advance. For instance, every Sunday, do a meal prep so you know what you’re going to eat every day. This way, you won’t have to think about it or order food all the time. Make sure the meals are wholesome and full of fiber, carbohydrates, proteins, and seasonal fruits and vegetables. As a result, you can leave your desk in your most productive hours, quickly fuel up, and get back at it with more energy.

Conclusion

Working from home has its perks, but it’s far from perfect. Like most people, you’re probably missing the old pre-work routine that kept you physically and mentally fit. Luckily for you, our tips can help you get back in the game and look after your physical and mental health even better than before.