Maintaining a healthy lifestyle has benefits not just for your health and wellbeing, but also in boosting your work productivity.
Working from home can pose both opportunities and challenges for staying healthy. You might have more time to exercise, with time recouped from not having to commute to work, or you might have family distractions that make it harder to focus on your fitness.
This article will give you practical tips for optimising your health when working from home.
Exercise
In addition to the well-known benefits for physical fitness, exercise also releases endorphins that boost your mood. Research has shown that regular exercise has positive impacts on mood and overall wellbeing. So if you’re feeling stressed, exercise is a great stress buster!
If you find it hard to set aside an hour or so each day, you could break up your exercise regime into smaller sessions. For example, you could take a brisk walk for 20 minutes in the morning, do some push-ups or squats before lunch, and finish with a 20 minute session of Pilates or bike riding later in the day. To learn more about ‘incidental exercise’ and ‘movement snacks’, check out this article.
For tips on setting up the perfect home gym, check out this article.
Healthy snacks
It’s easy to fall into a pattern of eating unhealthy snacks, like chocolates or potato chips. The afternoon hits, you’re looking for a quick energy boost, and that chocolate bar is very tempting!
The trick is to substitute unhealthy snacks, for healthy (and tasty) ones – such as fruit and nuts. A handful of berries and some nuts will give you an energy boost without the guilt. Bananas are another great option, they’re nature’s pre-packaged snack food.
For more healthy eating tips, check out this article.
Take breaks
It’s easy to work for hours at home without taking any breaks. You get on a roll, and perhaps there’s no one else at home to disrupt your work.
Here’s the thing, you’ll be more productive if you take regular breaks.
Working long hours uninterrupted means more mistakes, because fatigue sets in and your concentration wanes.
You’ll do your best work when you’re properly rested.
Get enough sleep
Sleep is crucial for being able to function properly.
Lack of sleep negatively affects your concentration, motor skills and mood. That’s not a great recipe for working productively.
It can be helpful to establish a routine bed time and wake up time. It doesn’t have to be exact, it could be something like ‘in bed before 10:30pm’. The aim is to achieve some consistency.
Of course you may need to accommodate for others in the household to ensure the timing works for everyone. If that’s the case, then it makes sense to discuss your work hours with your family or significant other.
For more tips on getting better sleep, check out this article.
Stay connected
For many people, one of the hardest things about working from home is the lack of regular interaction with other people.
It’s important that you’re able to share your thoughts and worries with someone else. It could be a friend or family member, or people working in the same industry.
Whilst face-to-face contact may not be possible, technology can have you chatting with people all over the world. Platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Facebook offer an easy (and free) way to connect with people.
In addition to the social benefits, connecting with others can also help with your work. Someone else may have already solved a problem just like one you’re currently facing, but you won’t know if you don’t make those connections with people.
Speak up
If you’re feeling down or anxious, speak up and get some support.
There are many free mental health support services, such as beyondblue. Support is delivered by trained mental health professionals and is completely confidential.
For more information, see our Mental Health Support and Resources article.
Celebrate your wins
It’s worth taking a step back from time to time and reflecting on what you’ve done well and your wins along the way.
We all remember (and hopefully learn from) our mistakes, but sometimes we forget our successes all too quickly.
You could set yourself some goals and assign rewards for meeting them. The rewards don’t have to be expensive, they can just be activities or things that make you smile.
