How To Stay Healthy When Working From Home

There are many benefits to working from home.

No commute, no more endless face-to-face meetings, more time with your loved ones, and plenty of pyjama days, to mention a few!

Yet, it also comes with challenges that can affect your physical and mental health.

For instance, the lack of structure might make maintaining a healthy diet or keeping up with the recommended level of daily physical activity more difficult.

So, here are five tips to help you stay healthy and productive when working from home.

Set A Routine

Defining clear boundaries between your personal and professional life is critical to your mental wellbeing.

While working from home seems like a dream on paper, it often leads to burnout because of a lack of clear boundaries. Responding to emails while eating dinner with your family or finishing a presentation while watching TV after dinner should be a no-no.

Here’s an example of a routine you can use to energise your body and fuel your high performance during working hours:

Wake up at the same time every day
Exercise for 30 minutes and stretch
Spend 10 minutes meditating
Eat a healthy breakfast
Start work at the same time every day
Schedule your lunch break at the same time every day and switch off from work during your break
Finish work at the same time every day
Close your laptop and turn off work notifications
Go to sleep at the same time every day

Work Safely

Australians spend between 8 and 10 hours a day sitting.

The issue is that sitting for prolonged periods can cause severe physical problems. That’s because sitting for hours on end can put a lot of stress on your back, neck, arms, shoulders, and legs.

So, to protect your body while sitting, you need to adopt a good posture and use ergonomic office equipment designed to promote healthy positioning and support your body.

Some of the best products to invest in include:

A sit-stand desk
An ergonomic chair
An ergonomic keyboard and mouse
Blue light blocking glasses

You should also take regular breaks and walk or stretch and avoid at all costs working from your sofa or bed. We know it’s tempting, but it can damage your body in the long run.

Eat A Healthy Diet

Keeping your nutrition in check can be challenging when working from home. After all, the kitchen is full of goodies. Sure, you could go for an apple, but the chocolate bars you bought the other day are very tempting. And so is the bag of chips you were planning to have this weekend with your friends.

Yes, temptation is everywhere when working from home!

Yet, eating a healthy diet is key to supporting your mental and physical wellbeing and giving you the sustained energy you need to stay productive throughout the day.

Here’s how to keep a healthy diet when working from home:

Don’t work near the kitchen
Prepare healthy snacks the night before for you to graze on during the day
Prepare your lunch the night before to avoid snacking on junk food due to lack of time
Don’t skip any meals
Eat nutritious foods such as whole grains, fruit, and vegetables, and avoid processed foods
Keep hydrated throughout the day

Schedule Regular Exercise

One of the benefits of working from home is that you don’t have to commute to the office anymore. Then, why not use this time to exercise and get your blood flowing?

Exercising has been proven to have both physical and mental health benefits.

And you don’t have to lift heavy weights and use fancy equipment. Walking your dog in the morning, doing a few jumping jacks before your lunch break, and stretching for a couple of minutes every hour all contribute to your physical and mental wellbeing.

Check out this article for a few exercises you can do while working!

Stay Connected

20% of people feel isolated when working from home.

Yes, working from home can feel lonely.

And even though you enjoy the quiet time away from the distractions of an office environment, having social interactions is key to keeping your sanity and staying healthy.

After all, as Aristotle once said; “man is by nature a social animal”.

So, make sure to keep in touch with your colleagues daily and see friends or do activities you enjoy at the end of your working day.

Are you a business owner or independent contractor working from home? Even if your business is home-based, you may still need insurance. And to help you find the best insurance to suit your needs, we’ve created an easy-to-use instant quote generator. It will instantly provide you with market-leading insurance that best suit your occupation, allowing you to be insured within minutes.