ASUS Business Hub

Working from home means overall, a reduction in movement; physically not heading over to the office, but also when you’re in the office. You’re more likely to spend time in your chair, at your desk, doing work. That’s perfect if you’re looking to increase your productivity, but not so much when it comes to your physical and mental health. Here are some suggestions to stay on top of keeping your overall health in optimal shape.

Get Up and Move

It’s easy to forget you spend up to eight hours your chair, working without much movement in between. Try starting your day with some exercise; a short run, some stretching, some calisthenics. Getting your blood pumping in the morning and throughout the day should help keep your body feeling limber and avoid your body feeling locked-up and achy due to lack of movement.

Take Regular Breaks

Following on from getting some movement throughout your day, make sure you take regular breaks, not just to move, but to specifically get away from your desk. As mentioned, it’s easy for an entire day to slip away without you noticing it; back-to-back meetings, urgent deadlines, last-second client calls. Make sure you’re giving yourself time to step back, take a breath, and keep up with your day, rather than it overwhelming you. Ensure you get a dedicated lunch break, and that you take it. Thirty minutes might not sound like a lot of time and you may even be tempted to work while you eat, but taking time away from work will keep you motivated, fresh, and ready to dive back into the fray once lunch is over.

Set a Clear Divide Between Work and Personal Life

It’s not just during the day you need to take time for yourself. When your desk is just a room or flight of stairs away, it can enter your mind that you could get a head-start on tomorrow’s work or answer that evening email that came through from a VIP client. Blurring those lines between your work day and personal life can lead to you never fully switching off and enjoying the time that isn’t you at work. Make sure you set a clear expectation for yourself that once the clock hits 5pm (or whatever time marks the end of work), your computer and work phone switch off, and personal time switches on.

Drink Plenty of Water

A small but simple one; drink more water. Reports show that not getting enough water during the day can lead to poor concentration, headaches, sleepiness, irritability, and other more serious consequences. Keep your body hydrated and avoid the fatigue that typically comes with not drinking enough fluids.

Keep a Routine

You may just be starting your work-from-home career, or you might have been working remotely for years. Either way, it’s important you develop a routine. Much like the routine of getting up, showering, dressing, and heading to work, a routine sets expectations for our bodies and brains, keeping us mentally focused on the day, and what’s to come. If every day, you wake up at different times, do work only when you feel like it and so on, your work will suffer. The human brain loves patterns and trends, so make use of that by setting a regular pattern you can follow almost on autopilot, so when it comes to the more challenging aspects of your day – new work, closing business deals, etc – you have plenty of energy to focus your efforts on those challenges.   Stay Connected with ASUS