More people than ever are now working from home, which can present its own challenges from being outside the office.
It’s a struggle when you’re at home the whole day not to eat all the snacks and food in the kitchen. It can also be difficult to make sure you’re still moving and getting enough exercise, like you might do going to a place of work.
So, it’s important to continue making healthy choices and creating a lifestyle that you can enjoy and stick to. And, if you’re new to working from home- you might be wondering how to carry on with your healthy lifestyle with less of a routine.
Maintaining focus at home for the whole day can be hard too. There are so many distractions at home- from the fridge to cleaning to having partners or kids at home too.
Where some might find they can get on with more work without their colleagues to chat with throughout the day or the odd jobs that pop-up, some people really miss the social interaction you get from going to work. So you might find it more beneficial to your work-from-home routine to schedule in seeing some friends, family or colleagues when you have the time.
We’ve put together our top tips for staying healthy and focused while at home all day.
Eat Right
Eating the correct nutrients is important everyday, regardless of where you work or what you do. But, working from home does bring the obvious distraction of food.
One thing you can do is to continue planning your meals each day, and refrain from stocking up on sugary snacks. When we’re bored or know we have food in the fridge or our bag, you keep thinking about it. If you know you like to graze throughout the day, then plan what healthy snacks you can make or buy. Or, cook a bigger breakfast or lunch that will fill you up and keep you going all day. There are plenty of free recipes online to get you started on a food plan that can work for you.
Eating healthily and consistently moving will keep your body, are the most fundamental when it comes to staying healthy.
Taking multivitamins in the UK is popular and another thing many people find helps them stay healthy. This means you can be absolutely certain you’re still getting in the key vitamins and minerals you need without sticking to a strict plan.
Also, taking multivitamins will definitely help keep you focused. B-Vitamins will improve your energy alertness and concentration- which will help boost your productivity too. Some people that have a deficiency of B-vitamins will find themselves getting distracted more often and much slower at learning.
Get enough sleep
We all know by now that sleep is one of the most important things when it comes to our health. Compromising it by staying up late working, makes us even less productive. When we sleep, it gives our brain a chance to relax. And it’s clear when we get a great night’s sleep because we don’t feel nearly as tired the next day and can stay more focused.
Getting a good quality sleep will improve productivity and stress- which a lot of people get from their job and the never ending tasks. Sleeping for longer will better your problem solving skills and enhance your memory too. However, a lack of sleep ultimately results in more stress, no focus and the brain’s ability to function properly.
Not enough sleep is also strongly related to weight gain and to be detrimental to our immune systems. As well as cell-damage, which can lead to inflammation. Whereas increased sleep can help advance our physical athletic performance.
And not to forget, sleep is beneficial for our mental-wellbeing too. Poor sleep is linked to mental-health issues like depression and a consistent sleep pattern is always advised.
Take frequent breaks
Not knowing how you work best at home can be half the issue. Learning how you prefer to work and what ways of working make you more productive and motivated will definitely help. If you’re not feeling focused or stressing about work, then take a step away from where you’re working for a moment.
If you need to take a break every so often, then do it. Some people realised they worked more efficiently when working in intervals and breaking the day up. Coming back to look at work with fresh eyes can make a difference to what you’re working on too.
But, knowing when to stop and take a break is important too. If you feel you work better, getting tasks done in one go, maybe split the day in two like you might at work. It’s important to still take your lunch break, as you would if you were at work. Working longer hours than you would at your primary place of work can also lead to more stress and fatigue over time.
Talking to people is important too. Not everyone gets the social interaction they would at work when they’re at home, and chatting to colleagues about work or making sure to talk friends and family can be beneficial for your headspace too.
Exercise
You can really use the flexibility of working from home to your advantage when it comes to your routine and sticking to your healthy lifestyle. Not having time constraints or needing to be at your place of work at certain times means you can get out for a lunchtime walk, make it to classes in the day and get to the gym when it’s not totally overcrowded after 5pm.
Getting outside for a walk or a run and some fresh air can be really good for mindfulness, recharging and increasing your focus when you return- as well as getting your exercise in for the day.
Again, ensuring you exercise regularly is always important wherever you work. And key to keeping a healthy lifestyle. It’s recommended we should all be moving for 30 minutes a day. If you were walking or travelling to your primary place of work, you’ll be getting less exercise going to work in your home office- and it counts for more than you realise.
Working from home can also cause aches and injuries if you haven’t set your home workspace up correctly. It’s 10% more likely to cause these than working in an office. Your employers should also be encouraging you to get up and exercising for your health and because exercise can result in more productivity.
Create a plan and a routine
It really helps when you know what you want to achieve that day/week and when you need to do it by. Making a plan for your workload can help you maintain focus to get tasks done in time- and save you having to work over when you finish work. Planning helps productivity and efficiency.
Just because you’re not going into work everyday doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t have your own routine. Starting a routine if you’re new to home working can help you get into ‘work’ mode and keep you focused.
This could just be a morning routine like getting a shower, getting dressed and eating breakfast before you start working at 9am. It can also help you from feeling too relaxed. Not planning your time correctly can also lead to increased stress and mental health issues.
Having your own workspace helps with this too. Sitting on the sofa all day doesn’t help your focus and it can be detrimental to your posture and back. Creating a desk with your computer and things you need will enable you to get into this routine of working. This also helps if you get very easily distracted.
Conclusion
It’s very easy to stay healthy and focused while working from home as you have the flexibility to create your own routine which can help you stick to a plan more easily.
The main factors to any healthy lifestyle are eating well, sleeping and getting enough exercise- and with the freedom that comes with working from home you can use your time to really get on top of these. If you’re following a strict diet or your goal is to lose weight, you have more opportunities to control what you’re eating and when you’re exercising.
Making sure you treat working from home the same as going to work is also really important, because if you feel tired or too relaxed- you won’t be productive and will find it hard to concentrate for long periods of time.
This could be having your own desk at home, taking your allowed time for lunch and planning the tasks you want to tick off your list that day. Just make sure you’re doing what works for you.
