The global pandemic changed the way people lived and worked. During the lockdown, most organizations asked their employees to work from their homes to maintain health and safety. Working from one’s home is undoubtedly a convenient option, which makes sense during these unprecedented times. However, it comes with its challenges, affecting your physical health. It includes indulging in bad food habits, lack of exercise, maintaining work-life balance, and lack of social outlet.
Health tips for working from home include wellness fundamentals, such as consuming a nutritious diet and exercising regularly. Besides, it is also crucial to understand the psychological and social challenges of remote working, which include loneliness and blurred lines between your professional and personal life. The blog deal with maintaining optimal wellness everyone must follow while working from home.
Working from Home is the New Norm
Working from home has become a constant for millions of workers globally. Today, over 60% of US employees are working from their homes. Do you know why they opted for work from home job? If your answer is fear of getting sick, you are wrong. They chose to work from home because they felt more productive and could maintain a robust work-life balance.
According to research by WHO in 2021, an individual working more than 55 hours a week has a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of heart disease than those working between 35 and 40 hours a week.
Organizations across industries are experiencing a change in their workplace culture, which will continue to evolve in the future. Leaders and managers are finding and adopting creative ways to reduce the burden on the employees. Several countries, including Japan, Scotland, Iceland, and Spain, conducted and proposed trial four-day workweeks, with the United Arab Emirates becoming the first country to adopt a four-and-a-half-day workweek.
If your Thailand organization is experiencing continuous conflict, it is high time to seek help of a Human Resource professional. Search online for the most reputed Human Resource Management firm near you and seek advice for conflict resolution.
Best Ways to Stay Healthy When Working From Home
Since the challenges of working from home might affect you physically, socially, and psychologically, it is vital to take steps to maintain all aspects of wellness. These include the following:
1. Follow a Consistent Sleep Schedule
When you work from home, you no longer have to plan time for commuting to your workplace. The longest journey you might experience is from your bedroom to your living room or your study room. It facilitated most people to take advantage of sleeping in. However, it also means that most of you will spend more time sleeping and waking up ten minutes before the start of your workday. Instead, take care of your wellness, and give yourself time every day to get ready in the morning before logging in. It also means you will go to bed at reasonable hours every day. For instance, if you used to wind down at 10 pm while going to the office, try staying close to the schedule, and maintain a consistent sleeping pattern.
2. Set Up a Dedicated Workplace
We know that your office and laptop are no different, yet having a space assigned as your work area is helpful. It is quite easy for most of us to develop a bad habit of working from our bed. Although you might feel comfortable and comfortable at first working from your bed, it will reduce your productivity and increase your back pain over time. Instead of falling into the temptation of working from your bed, it is advisable to create a separate workspace. Set an office space in the living room or kitchen. Alternatively, you can also opt for a standing desk in your bedroom. The new dedicate workspace allows you to become more productive and engage in a better work routine. Ensure that during your work hours, there are minimal distractions. If you feel bored sitting in one place, work an alternative between your living room and study room tables for a change in the environment.
Is your Thailand business experiencing any problem that is difficult to identify? Then you must seek advice of a consulting firm. Search online for the best consulting firms in Thailand and discuss your problems with the experts.
3. Take Breaks during Lunch
You must be mindful of your well-being and schedule breaks throughout the day. Instead of sitting in front of your laptop throughout the day, get up and move around. You can also take a walk or do your laundry. You need to get out of the thoughts of work. If you have a family at your place, schedule a regular time and enjoy lunch with them. Ensure to get back to work at the same time every day.
4. Plan Nutritious Meals and Snacks
Working from home gives you unlimited access to food and snacks, often leading to poor eating habits. When you spend your entire day at home, there is a continuous temptation to head into the kitchen for a snack or the convenience of ordering out instead of cooking lunch. Avoid food and drinks that are high in sugar and carbohydrates, including white bread and baked goods. These foods will give you a quick boost of energy, causing you to crash within a couple or three hours. Instead, consuming fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins is better.
Many of you wonder, what is wrong with snacking? There is nothing wrong with snacking healthy items over unhealthy ones. For instance, you can eat fruits instead of grabbing a bag of potato chips. Plan your meals as you used to when you went to your office. Healthy eating habits are crucial to maintaining your health when working from home. Moreover, you must consume enough water throughout the day to avoid dehydration, which can lead to headaches, fatigue, and inattentiveness.
5. Dress for Success
What is that one benefit we all love about working from home? For most of us, it is about not spending time getting ready and working in our pajamas. However, you can increase your productivity if you change your clothes. Studies state that clothing influences your performance. When you dress formally, you increase your productivity, which further enhances creativity and abstract thinking.
6. Reduce Stress by Practicing Mindfulness
Mindfulness often helps with the stress of working from home. The practice involves paying attention to the present situation. Keep yourself stress-free. How? Set a couple of minutes aside throughout the day for meditation. It boosts optimism and ensures you get enough sleep every night, ideally seven to eight hours.
Although the link between sleep and psychological health remains unclear, studies state that people getting a proper night’s sleep are emotionally and psychologically resilient. People not receiving a proper night’s sleep tend to have negative thoughts. Moreover, sleep deficiency often leads to heart disease, kidney malfunctioning, hypertension, obesity, and stroke. Therefore, experts recommend prioritizing sleep every night.
7. Follow Your Fitness Regime
Most of us used to go to the gym after our office hours. We cannot go to the gym with the pandemic hitting us hard. However, you can use the treadmill and the stationary bike at home for daily exercise. Alternatively, we can join online yoga and Zumba classes. You can pick anything you like and make that a habit to keep your body fit and mind relaxed.
8. Limit Your Screen Time
We spend most of our days working from home on our laptops, phones, or iPads. Most of you even watch a show on Netflix or spend hours catching up on social media. Besides affecting our eyesight, staring at the screen lights is an unhealthy habit. Ensure to take a break from screen time after your work hours. You can go for a walk, practice yoga and meditation.
9. Nurture Your Social Life
The start of remote work was difficult, as we could not interact with our coworkers and friends daily. Over time, we all became adaptive to the culture and seldom kept ourselves. Since you cannot meet with your friends and coworkers, it does not mean you have to bid goodbye to your social life. You can schedule monthly or weekly online game nights and scavenger hunts with your friends and coworkers. It will help break the monotony of your workweek and refresh your mind.
If you are experiencing any problem with tax reporting, it is essential to seek help of a payroll outsourcing service. To find a suitable service provider for your Thailand organization, search online for the most experienced payroll outsourcing Thailand, and speak to the experts.
Conclusion
With these health and well-being tips in mind, you will have a comfortable work-from-home experience. Never work at the expense of your health. Remember, a healthy employee is always happy and productive.
