Work From Home: Maintaining Wellness & Routine
It’s no secret that working from home presents its own unique set of challenges. After all, your home is your sanctuary, safe space, and place of peace— and you want it to stay that way. However, the intrusion of your work life, tasks, meetings, to-do lists, and even office equipment can throw off the peaceful balance and harmony within your home that’s central to your wellness.
Likewise, trying to function in a professional capacity while in your home environment is tricky. With various distractions from the television to housework to cooking and pets, focusing on work at home seems impossible. Since this is a reality now facing millions of people worldwide, we want to share our favorite tips for successfully working from home, and maintaining a sense of wellness while doing it!
Make a Schedule You Can Stick To
Reality check. It might be difficult to maintain the same exact routine you had before you worked from home, and that’s ok! As humans, we thrive on routine, even if it looks like just a little structure throughout the day. Take the time to formulate a new routine that meets you exactly where you are in this season, and make it something you can realistically stick to! If you hold yourself to a standard of structure that just isn’t realistic, you’ll be chasing your tail and exhausted just to keep up with something that is supposed to help you! Be kind to yourself and put a routine in place that fits where you are, and not where you used to be. It’s ok that things look different now, and it’s ok if your routine looks different too, as long as it works for you!
Create a Separate Workspace and a Separate Space for Breaks from Wireless Devices
Designating a separate space strictly for work prevents your personal life from blurring in with your professional life. It also trains your mind, so it knows that when you’re on the couch, it’s time to relax because that’s where relaxation takes place, but while you’re in your workspace, it’s time to be productive.
Bringing your office into your home also generates an increase in the number of wireless devices that constantly surround you. With the increased electromagnetic waves swirling throughout your home, there is also an increase in the amount of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) you’re exposed to daily. Take measures to protect yourself from the effects of EMR by taking regular breaks in a space away from your wireless devices such as stepping into your backyard or taking a short walk around the block.
Get Up, Go Out and Move
Constant exposure to EMR also makes you feel sluggish just as much as sitting in a chair all day does. Spend your lunch hour active outdoors giving yourself a break from all the stressful energy incorporated into your workday and boosting your energy naturally. Whenever possible, work while standing to circulate more blood flow and relieve stress and tension from your back. Take time to get up and stretch once an hour or whenever your body needs to move. Your body will thank you for it.
Set Limits on Your Screen Time
From video conference calls to emails, and more, we’re living online now more than ever. Add in the amount of time we spend hooked on our cell phones and social media and we’re easily spending half our lives in front of a screen—and continuously exposing ourselves to the negative effects of EMR. To avoid headaches, sleep disruptions and other unpleasant symptoms of EMR exposure, limit the amount of time you spend in front of a screen. If your work requires long days in front of a computer screen, try staying screen free while you’re not working.
Always Remember to Hydrate
With pressing deadlines and piles of laundry in your face, hydration can be the last thing on your mind, but don’t let it be. Maintaining optimal hydration is still a crucial element of wellness that supports overall health and vitality. Keep hydration simple by always having a full jug of fresh i-H2O in your fridge and refill your glass throughout the day.
Eat Well and Avoid Processed Foods
With your kitchen just around the corner, it’s tempting to grab pre-packaged and processed foods— especially high-calorie comfort foods. Keep your kitchen stocked with fresh, whole foods like seasonal fruits and vegetables. Meal prep as much as possible so nutrient-dense choices are always readily available.
Keep up the good work from home, we are in this together!
By: Emily Starinier