The past year or so has brought many changes to the way many of us lead our lives, due to the pandemic. People that were at high risk were especially stressed out. Working from home has been an area that has grown substantially in this time. There can be many benefits for your mental health and wellness from working at home, such as reduced stress and an overall improvement in quality of life. However, one area that can suffer is your physical health if you’re not careful, due to the reduced movement in your work day.
We talked in the past about the importance of preventing air pollution when working from home. However, there are some even more important tips that you can’t overlook.
Here are some tips for staying healthy when working from home.
Make Sure You Get Enough Exercise.
Spending more and more time inside your home makes it harder to stay motivated or find the energy to want to exercise. The less exercise you do, however, the lower you’ll find your energy levels. This can create a vicious cycle that can be hard to find your way out of. For tips on keeping your energy levels up and living a healthy life, visit Energetic Lifestyle.
Getting into a routine is a helpful way to make sure you get your exercise every week. Starting something new is always difficult at first, but you will eventually grow to love being active and the feeling it brings to your overall health.
Set Up a Dedicated Work Space
While it may be tempting to work from your bed or the sofa, making sure you have a specific area to work can help ensure you keep good posture while working. Having a dedicated area can also help you switch off when the time comes. Setting the boundary between work and relaxing spaces can greatly benefit your mental health.
Make Sure To Stretch Often
A repetitive strain injury is an issue many people face who work at a desk, whether it’s at home or at the office. Make sure to get up and move regularly and avoid staying in the same position for too long, as this can wreak havoc on your health if you’re not careful. Get up at regular intervals and move your legs, hips, ankles, shoulders, wrists, arms, legs and neck.
You can do this any way you wish, what’s important is to get the blood flowing throughout your whole body.
Give Your Eyes A Rest
Another issue with computer work is the strain it puts on your eyes. The eye is a complex structure that has evolved over millions of years to take in the images of objects at different distances, all of the time. Unfortunately, a computer screen is almost always at the same distance which can cause a problem with your eyes if you don’t take the necessary precautions.
Make sure to look away from your screen regularly. You can even do some eye exercises to keep your optic nerves healthy.
The Bottom Line
As working from home becomes more common, we must all take time to create healthy habits in our work and personal lives. While there are many positive mental health benefits to working from home, it’s important to make sure we carve these out ourselves and don’t let our physical health suffer.
Create and stick to good exercise and eating routines. Make sure to create a specific area in your house for working, and maintain other spaces for your downtime. Finally, don’t forget to move your body at regular intervals to help ward off repetitive strain injury to your eyes, back or shoulders.