Love it or hate it, remote work is here to stay. The old reporting model for cubicles or office corners from 9 to 5 is no longer available. Collaborate with colleagues far away from the comfort of your bedroom.
Chances are, if you work from home, you’ll love it. While some people miss out on cool water chats and lunch breaks with co-workers, polls show people say they’re more productive at home. Job satisfaction is higher. Work-life balance is exponentially better.
This forced social experiment has shown that the old-school way of focusing on the office isn’t necessarily the best (more conventional wisdom dusted off). But that’s not to say there aren’t downsides to the new hybrid or work-from-home models. Social isolation is a real concern. So does the blurred line between personal and work time, plus the loss of built-in daily structure. Some people are just fed up with the inside of their house and frankly the people they live with.
Overall, I think it’s easier to stay healthy while working from home. If for no other reason, people have more time. As the pandemic forces offices to close, a survey from the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago estimates that American workers have saved more than 9 billion (yes, billion) hours from going to work from March to September 2020. That’s only for six months. Now extrapolate that to the present day, and consider that going to work consistently ranks among the top modern stressors and health hazards.
However, for the reasons mentioned and beyond, home workers face special challenges that can be corrosive to their physical and perhaps especially emotional health if they are not careful. kidney. Here’s what I would do to reduce that risk.
Make it easy to move
One of the biggest problems with remote work is that you can easily sit at your computer all day every day. No need to leave your home or even get out of your pajamas. Suddenly it’s dinner time, and you can barely take a hundred steps, let alone sprint or lift heavy stuff.
Any behavior change expert will tell you that the first step to building a new habit is to hit yourself in the head with these signs to get the job done:
- Place your kettlebell in the middle of the floor, where you’ll literally pedal over it on your way to the bathroom.
- Keep a resistance band next to the coffee maker.
- Schedule motion to your calendar and turn on notifications.
- Create a sitting workspace. Make the game of applying as many different positions as possible throughout the day. Sit on the floor, stand, kneel, lean over. Bounce on an exercise ball or a bounce ball. Use a balance board or stool. Stand on one foot, then the other.
- Invest in a bike or treadmill under the table.
- Sign up for my microworkout challenge to get a daily email reminder to get moving, plus another workout to try.
- Challenge your co-workers to complete a certain number of walking meeting minutes each week. Hold each other accountable.
Making it harder to ignore all the signs is to start moving.
Set boundaries around your time
Your boss and co-workers won’t know if you take a break in the middle of the day to mow the lawn, take the kids to the park, run to the gym, or take a nap. That part was great. Unfortunately, however, when your home is your workplace, you often work in some sense. No one protects your time but you.
First of all, do your best to maintain normal working hours. Don’t start work first thing in the morning. Don’t open your email or check your calendar or anything else until you’ve had a chance to rise, get some exercise, and get some space during the day.
Similarly, do not work late. In addition to not looking at screens right before bed, you need time to relax and let go of all the stress of the day. When work-related anxiety keeps you going, instead of giving in and working a few more hours, focus your mind. Take out a piece of paper and write down all the things you are worried about. Make a to-do list for the next day and pick the first two or three things you’ll tackle tomorrow.
I’ve played this drum before, but take regular breaks during the day. Five or ten minutes every half hour or so and take longer breaks every few hours.
Use your vacation time. Accommodation is good and good, but try to get out of your home/work. Do not bring your laptop.
Keep enough water
Dehydration reduces concentration, processing speed, and productivity, so drink plenty of water. Obviously don’t force it, but be mindful of drinking to quench thirst.
Here’s a little motion trick. Every time you go to the kitchen to get a drink, use it as a cue to change your location. If you were sitting before, switch to standing when you come back. Do some push-ups while you’re working out.
See Your Caffeine intake
I love coffee as much as the next guy. However, without a doubt, you can abuse it. There’s no need to give up coffee altogether, but be careful not to use caffeine as a counter.
Eat reasonable meals
Avoid the temptation to work past breakfast and lunch. You will digest food better when in a parasympathetic state. That means you don’t need to check email or work on a slide show for tomorrow’s meeting while you’re eating. Close your laptop, plug your phone into the charger, and spend half an hour preparing and eating a meal without stress or distraction. Bonus points for eating out.
Also avoid the temptation to eat grass all day, which is easier to do when you’re doing a rock-throwing maneuver from your fully stocked kitchen. If you are hungry, eat a meal. If you don’t want a meal, you’re not really hungry.
Leave the house every day
Take your laptop to the park or coffee shop for a change of scenery. Take a walk. Take a few walks. Walking meetings are one of my favorite ways to incorporate more movement into your daily routine, but make sure you find a reason to stay home as well.
Speaking of which…
New production
If you’re one of those people who’ve been to the office before the pandemic, working from home has probably been your own novel experience for a while. However, at some point, the gloss fades and you start to feel like you’re living in your very own Groundhog Day. Nothing really changed.
Your brain craves novelty. Read a new genre of fiction. Take an online course on a topic you’ve always wanted to learn more about (ideally one that’s unrelated to your expertise). Buy a new ethnic food cookbook and make your way. Go camping somewhere you’ve never been.
Buy a houseplant (or three)
I know, I know, it’s cliché at this point. You probably bought some houseplants a few months ago, named them, and talked to them regularly. If you haven’t jumped on this bandwagon yet, what are you waiting for? Homework has many benefits for mood, productivity, and satisfaction in the workplace.
There is a creative store
The music is mine, but it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you have a way of expressing yourself. “All work and no play” is not just a trifle. It’s an evolutionary fact, not to mention one of the ten laws of the Primordial Diagram. The game includes art, music, dance, all kinds of self-expression that bring emotions and creativity out. The act of creating provides a necessary counterweight to more rigid, “serious” work.
That’s what I have for today. What would you add to this list?
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