Working from home 4-8 hours a day can be tiring. How much more if you’re stuck in your desk and the only form of activity you have is getting up and walking to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
Even though we get a lot of benefits working from home, it does give us risks of sedentary lifestyle-related diseases. Prolonged sitting is considered unhealthy and bad for your overall health and is called the new “smoking” that predisposes us to heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and other lifestyle disease due to inactivity day in and day out. Here are some ways to keep healthy when your work is mostly done sitting and infront of your work computer. Check out these tips to get you in top shape despite sitting all day.
Eat healthy meals
Most of the time our default when we get tired or need some distractions to keep us attentive is snacking. It is also not new that the best snacks are either the salty or the sweet snacks. This is nice if you’re a light snacker and reaches for it maybe once a month. But for frequent snackers, this can become a problem.
Prepare healthy snacks like fruits of veggies slices to munch on. You can also work on your meal prep to make sure you are eating enough calories so you won’t feel hungry later in the day.
Make time for exercise
Always set aside time for exercise on a daily regular basis. Even when it is just standing up and doing bending and stretching exercises. It can help boost your efficiency by making you more alert and motivated and increase your work productivity.
Breaktime is important
Aside from scheduling your work hours, you also need to schedule your break periods. Establish a routine taking a break for lunch, to get a drink, check the kids, or to even check your social media accounts. It will give you some rest from screen time and allows your circulation to get going.
I also suggest a 20 minute power nap if you need it. This allows you to re-energizes your brain from all the mental activities at work.
Prepare the day before
Your weekly work schedule can be irregular but it’s best to always stay on top of things. This include writing tasks you need to do for the following day. You can write your tasks by priority that way it’s easier for you to see which tasks need your attention first thing in the morning. It is also better if you clean you workstation and prepare it. It will save you time organising your worktable and starting your workday.
Just because we are all working from home does not mean it is all rest and relaxation for our bodies. We still need to listen to our body’s needs to keep it active and healthy.