As much as it has perks, working from home has its perils, too. This work situation can be the right fit for one person and a nightmare for another. However, you shouldn’t worry that much about working from home.
Committing to having healthy habits will help you navigate so much more successfully when working from home, so you can coast through your workday, even when you’re not feeling up to it.
To get you started, here are nine healthy work habits you can build while working from home.
Healthy Work Habits #1: Develop A Morning Routine
A morning routine is a crucial habit that will help you create structure even though you’re working from home. When working from home, the hours can pass right by us without being aware of it.
However, with the help of a morning routine, you can hit the ground running and stay on track with your schedule so you can be more efficient with your time.
A morning routine can help you carve out time to relax instead of waking up and rushing as if you’re late for a work commute. It’s not good for you to wake up and start working immediately before even anything else. Having a well-structured morning routine will help you set boundaries between your private and work life.
Healthy Work Habits #2: Find A Way To Move
Even when working from home, you’ll likely find yourself stuck in front of a desk. When you’re sedentary, your body isn’t is getting the exercise that it needs. In the long run, this negligence will negatively impact your health, making you less productive at work.
With that said, you should make it a habit to move your body around throughout the day in different ways.
For example, you can exercise every morning, do some “stretch breaks” in the middle of work where you spend several minutes stretching your muscles, and you can make it a principle not to eat lunch where you work.
Healthy Work Habits #3: Set Up Your Workspace For Comfort
Comfort and ergonomics are vital elements of a genuinely conducive workspace. Therefore, if you’re working from home, you should try and find ways to make working in your chosen area as comfortable for you as possible.
One of the main ways to facilitate this is to ensure that your workspace is organized and cluttered-free. At Maid Sailors Cleaning Service Chicago, they believe that a clean workspace is a productive workspace. Hence, it would help if you cleaned your desk regularly.
Another thing to look at is ergonomics. After all, you cannot work well when you’re not comfortable.
What’s excellent about ergonomic furniture is that it ensures that your body doesn’t tire itself out or you’re not working in a position that you’re going to regret after an entire workday has passed.
Nowadays, it is easy to find and purchase ergonomic furniture pieces. It’s all a matter of researching before buying to figure out which ones you should be purchasing.
Healthy Work Habits #4: Include Regular Breaks In Your Schedule
Breaks aren’t something that’s “nice to have” when working. They’re a necessity.
If you take pride in working for hours on end, know that this isn’t healthy for your body. Try taking the breaks you usually would when you’re not working from home, such as your lunch break. Don’t skip them.
Aside from that, incorporate other micro-breaks throughout the workday. You’ll find that these breaks, no matter how short, can help you focus.
Healthy Work Habits #5: Gorge On Healthy Food
It’s much easier to grab some chips and nurse them throughout the entire workday. This phenomenon is not new, and many people who work from home find themselves doing this more than they should. If this is an inclination for you, why not purchase or make healthier snacks to leave beside your desk instead?
Healthy snacks don’t necessarily mean that they have to be bland. If you make healthy homemade snacks, you have more control over how delicious they can be, and they will still be good for your health.
Healthy Work Habits #6: Get Rid Of Distractions
Distractions come from expected and unexpected places. Distractions can also come from the people and things that we love.
For example, having too much decor around can distract you because of how cluttered it makes your workspace. Even if it’s photo frames of your family, it might catch your eye and distract you from the task at hand.
Another example is family members walking in on you or striking a conversation while working. It can be the TV turned on while you’re working.
Healthy Work Habits #7: Practice Mindfulness To Reduce Stress
Mindfulness is a great way to stave off stress when you’re working from home.
Since work life and your private life are too close together when working from home, sometimes it can overwhelm you. Mindfulness exercises allow you to be present and to keep your foot grounded.
It lets you live in the now instead of worrying about the future all the time.
Healthy Work Habits #8: Follow Your Office Hours
Working from home won’t exempt you from receiving unexpected tasks. Still, don’t give in to the “hustle” culture that requires you to work non-stop and think about work non-stop.
This habit is not healthy, making you any more or less better in your career. If anything, it shows a lack of time management skills.
Therefore, as you would if you worked in an office, stick to the usual office hours at the very least. Ensure that you reinforce that boundary between your clients and workmates.
Healthy Work Habits #9: Get Some Rest
We’ve talked about taking the breaks that you need between work. Aside from holidays, you should also ensure that you get enough rest. Taking work breaks is not equal to good quality and proper rest or sleep.
Disconnect from your work by not being on your phone while in bed. Relax and be in the moment during the times that you should be away from work. It will make you do better at your job at the end of the day.
You don’t have to isolate yourself just because you’re working from home. By setting up these healthy habits listed above, you’ll find that it’s a lot easier to work from home because of your healthy habits’ structure. That’s why you should build these habits as soon as possible.
