Working from home is great for the most part, but it’s very important to make sure you take care of your physical health along the way. We can work in our pajamas, schedule our day around the needs of our families, and save money on fuel and commute costs if we don’t need to leave the confines of our home surroundings.
Of course, there are also disadvantages to working from home, especially where our health is concerned.
In a previous article, we discussed the ways in which working from home can affect our mental health. Being isolated, having a heavy workload, and regular lack of exercise are just some of the contributing factors to depression and other mental health issues that can occur when we do spend our working days at home, especially when we have nobody around us to lift our spirits and encourage us into healthy behaviors.
Lack of exercise is also an issue when it comes to our physical health. If we don’t move around a lot during the day, we can develop a range of health issues, including high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes.
There are other factors that can contribute to poor physical health and we will touch upon some of these here. So, if you do currently work from home, follow the suggestions we have given below.
1. Manage your stress levels
High levels of stress can affect your mental health but did you know that they can affect your physical health too?
When you become stressed, you might experience headaches, chest pains, muscular aches, and skin issues such as eczema and psoriasis.
As such, you should take steps to reduce your stress if you find yourself becoming anxious, irritable, and overwhelmed at home.
You can do this by:
- Making sure you have a good night’s sleep before your working day
- Scheduling your workload so you don’t get overwhelmed
- Spending some time outdoors to get fresh air and exercise
For more ideas, consider these ways to destress after you have finished work for the day. By taking positive steps, you will protect both your mental and your physical health and be better equipped to deal with whatever the day has to throw at you.
2. Take regular breaks
In an effort to finish work at a reasonable time each day, many of us forego breaks and keep working instead. Unfortunately, we are more likely to work longer hours if we don’t take breaks as our energy levels will drop, causing us to make mistakes and work at a much slower pace.
But if we do take a sufficient number of breaks, we will re-energize ourselves, boost creativity, and increase productivity. Consequently, we should be able to get through our workloads much quicker, despite taking time away from our desks to have the occasional break.
Getting work done faster isn’t the only reason to take breaks, of course. By getting out of our office chairs, we will also avoid the health risks of a sedentary lifestyle that we briefly mentioned earlier.
If we can take part in some kind of exercise during our break times, even if it’s just a short walk around the block or a few minutes on an exercise bike, we will do much to protect our physical health during the day.
3. Eat a healthy diet
A healthy diet is one that incorporates nutritious foods such as fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains.
A healthy diet is not a microwave burger or a bag of potato chips that we quickly tuck into to eliminate the hunger pangs we feel when busily working through our lunch breaks. And it’s not a processed meal or an unhealthy takeaway that we hungrily swallow down after work when we are too tired to make an effort in the kitchen.
You will know the consequences of an unhealthy diet, we’re sure. It can lead to high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and these other health issues related to poor nutrition.
A bad diet can also lead to sensitive skin, as can a lack of exercise and stress, two other issues that we have mentioned already. You can learn more about the reasons for this by reading this article on Sensitive Skin: Causes, Treatment, And Prevention.
So, the key takeaway (not the food kind) here is this: Maintain a healthy diet when you’re working from home.
You can do this by eating a healthy breakfast at the start of the day, and by meal prepping your lunches and dinners for the week ahead of time. You will work more productively when you fill your body with healthy foods so this is another reason to forego any junk food that might cause you to feel sluggish and tired during the day.
In Conclusion
Working from home is great… until your health becomes negatively impacted. Therefore, follow the advice we have given to ensure both your mental and physical health are protected. As you will have the capacity to work harder and more productively too, these are other reasons to take care of your health when your home is your office.
Additional articles you may be interested in:
- 5 Apps That Can Help Anyone Work From Home
- Busy Professional Life? Your Health Still Shouldn’t Take A Backseat
- How To Work From Home Without Losing Productivity
- 5 Easy Work From Home Jobs That Pay Really Well
- How To Set Yourself Up For Work From Home Success
- 10 Ways To Destress From Running Your Own Business
- How To Create The Perfect Home Office Environment
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