I am staying healthy in the home office!
Physical activity is significantly reduced in the home office. You don’t leave your apartment for work; you don’t walk to the bus or walk down to the parking garage and up the stairs in the office. The number of steps you make throughout the day is down significantly. Therefore, we must get this back into a healthy balance.
If you’re working from home, you should have at least one short 15-30 min. work-out a day. This will help you to balance your 6-8 hours sitting in front of a screen. This doesn’t need to be a session in the gym; walking up and down the stairs in your apartment building will do the job. Many apps will provide you many ideas for short workouts, just choose one and get active.
Additionally, posture is becoming bad, even with physically active people. A good chair and a correct screen position are crucial for your well-being. Many people are complaining about pain in their neck or back, due to bad sitting habits, a bad chair, improvable screen-position and so on.
Don’t save money on things that improve your performance and health. Good chairs are not cheap, but cheaper than a doctor or physiotherapist. Try to get your employer to pay for the chair in your home office.
Make regular short breaks to stand up and get your blood flowing. Set a timer to stand up every 45-60 min for at least 5 min.
Walk around your house or apartment, stretch your body, get yourself a coffee or get some fresh air. It’s just important that you don’t sit all day in your chair in front of the screen.
As well try to stand up when having only audio-calls. People can hear a different voice of you if you’re sitting and when you’re standing. I always prefer my voice when standing up. This will not only help your attitude for the call but as well your health.
If you have space and a budget, adjustable tables are the best solution. This gives you perfect flexibility to adjust to your requirements for work, and as well support your health.
