Healthy Home Working
DC Direct has bought together some great tips, to help you to get the most out of your working day in your new environment, and to promote good healthy home working and wellbeing. With the sudden seismic shift in the number of people working from home, no doubt many of you reading this will be adjusting to spending your working day in a hybrid home/office space.
Define and Declutter Your Workspace
Claiming a space in your home as your work area and removing homelife clutter, such your video games or the kids toys from this workspace will support the delineation of your home and work life.
Once you have defined your space, you will find, there are lots of functional, stylish desk tidies available for all those pens, sticky notes and paperclips, and there are stackable paper trays and folders in an array of styles, to match your décor, great for keeping all the’ necessary’ work clutter neat and tidy.
Maintaining a clean, orderly workspace can help relieve stress and will present a more professional image especially during video calls, whether your calling customers, colleagues or your boss.
Unleash those endorphins with exercise
Exercise is a great way to alleviate some of the impact of hours sitting at a desk. Exercise can make you more alert, improves concentration and fuels creativity. It also releases endorphins that enhance happiness.
In a busy schedule, we know it is often difficult to find time for everything. Just 10 – 15minutes exercise, perhaps at the start of the day or over lunch, will make a positive difference to your health, so it is worth finding the time. Why not swap the time of your usual work commute, with a 10-minute yoga warm-up for an energising, feel-good start to your day?
A little Inspiration will Brighten Your Day
Adding a pinboard to your workspace offers an alternative focal point for those essential screen break times. Why not pin up a favourite family photo, a postcard of an exotic location or an inspirational quote, to provide added motivation and promote wellbeing? Or perhaps you could use it to make a vision board for your latest project instead.
It is important to remember to take regular screen breaks. The HSE suggest that for healthy home working a short 5-10-minute break after 50 -60mins is better for your optical health than 20-minute break every three hours.
Achieving the best Ergonomic set up
You will probably find yourself spending much of your day sitting in your new homework space. Therefore, a comfortable adjustable chair and footstool together with a desk, ergonomically designed keyboard and mouse, and a correctly positioned screen, are all essentials. This combination of equipment encourages good posture and provides proper support and comfort throughout the day. Some pointers to consider when planning your set-up:
- Screen height – Set the top of your screen about eye level
- Position screen – Approximately an arm’s length from you
- Position feet – On a footrest or resting flat on the floor
- Chair – Your lower back should be well supported
- Mouse and keyboard – Positioned to the front of you, at elbow height.
Scents to liven your Senses
Introducing an element of nature to your workspace can be uplifting, a small houseplant at the side of your desk can improve air quality and brighten your mood, or if you don’t happen to have green fingers why not try a few drops of essential oils in a diffuser to bring in that touch of nature and liven the senses.
You could try these Essential Aromatherapy Oils purported to promote wellbeing:
- Pine Increases alertness
- Citrus Lifts your spirits
- Cinnamon Improves focus
- Lavender Relaxes the mind
Create a Work playlist
If you spend a lot of time on calls during your working day, you will find that a quality set of comfortable headphones, with a mic and noise cancelling features will be a good investment. They will improve clarity of calls and can block out surrounding distractions. They can also be used to play your favourite work playlist.
Studies have shown that sounds at work can be used to improve focus, increase productivity and lift your mood. Of course music is very subjective but here are just a few options that could work for you:
A soothing ‘sounds of nature’ soundtrack might aid your concentration.
To enhance cognitive state perhaps something classical from Bach or Mozart.
To get in the zone for tackling that in box you could try something a bit more up tempo, like a video game soundtrack such as Battlefield One or Halo.
If your energy levels need an added boost, a great movie score like Inception might do the trick.
If you’re trying to learn a new skill or focus on a particularly tricky task Lo-Fi may be just the thing to keep you going.
Nutrition to get you through the day
Try to structure your day as you might, as if you were working at the office, plan a start and finish time and schedule in breaks and a lunchtime. Pay attention to what you are going to eat during the day. Planning lunches in advance is a good way to think about eating balanced meals. At snack time why not choose fruit and nuts rather than reaching for the cookie jar.
Remember to drink plenty of water to keep well hydrated, a good tip is to keep a water bottle to hand.
Studies have shown that making decisions about what to eat at the last minute, when you are feeling fatigued, and hungry often leads to unhealthy choices.
Blueberries are full of antioxidants or a banana has magnesium and is particularly good for you, here are some of our other favourite healthy snack suggestions that can easily be prepared in advance:
- A handful of Almonds
- A Hard-boiled egg
- Hummus with carrot sticks
Why not take a poll of favourite snacks of your colleagues and join them online for a virtual break? Touching base with colleagues socially can help with team cohesion and support mental wellbeing.
Giving due consideration, to creating a healthy home working environment in your homework space is vital to your wellbeing and focus. We hope these tips will help you adjust to your new working arrangements. Our range of products to compliment your homeworking space are available for next day delivery to your door. And we’ve even compiled a list of “home working essentials” to get you started.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this healthy home working guide and we’ve