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We are all one home office! Tips on working from home healthily
Posted by Claire Boote, on March 20, 2020.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s)
Establish a routine
It’s too easy to let things slide when outside of the constraints of your commute and workplace hours. A lie-in followed by an open-ended day where hour slips into hour without the interruption of meetings and lunch breaks and office conversations may seem attractive at first but establishing a routine can give much needed structure and purpose to your day. It doesn’t have to be strict (cut yourself some slack!) but imposing broad time frames for tasks, phone calls and breaks can help keep productivity high.
Set up a dedicated workspace
When working from home it’s important to set boundaries, otherwise your whole home environment becomes your office. Choose a suitable area (if you don’t have the luxury of a spare room or garden shed, pick a corner of the kitchen worktop or living room table) and set up all the things you need. Make sure you’ll be happy there for hours at time, which means a comfortable upright chair, few distractions and good lighting (natural light and a window view is great). Don’t be tempted to rest a laptop on your bed or lay horizontal on the sofa – temporary comfort means backaches and headaches are not far behind.
Keep active
In a workspace we naturally move more – after our commute to work, we walk to meeting rooms, pop over the photocopier… Being at home encourages us to become a bit more sedentary when physical health is more important than ever. Being outside in natural daylight is a great brain and mood booster, so try and schedule a brisk outdoor walk as part of your day. If you’re self-isolating you could spend part of your lunchbreak (or reclaimed commuting time) doing an online exercise class (Yoga with Adriene, has dozens of free yoga videos to help energise, focus and relax). If time is tight, ensure you’re taking regular breaks away from your screen to stretch and move.
Be comfortable
Regular homeworkers will be aware that everyone thinks you just spend all day in your dressing gown and pyjamas. Please get dressed! You’ll instantly feel like you’re beginning the day with purpose. But relax the dress code a little – the main thing is to feel ‘at work’ but comfortable. And comfort begins with your first layer, underwear. Royce’s wirefree bras are all designed to be ultra-comfortable, but our super soft Supreme Comfort is like a second skin! If you need to stock up, make the most of our free delivery on orders using code FREEDEL at checkout.
Background media
Miss the general workplace hubbub of background chat? TV is too distracting but the radio is a great friend at times like this – whether it’s music or talk, you’ll feel more connected and ‘in the now’ with your favourite radio station playing away at a low volume. It can be tempting to ‘take a break’ by browsing websites and social media but a quick five minute scan can easily end up with an hour lost down the rabbit hole… At times like these, scrolling news and social media can fuel anxiety so only limit yourself to once or twice a day, switch them off, and then focus on work and the practical things you can do. Your own wellbeing depends on it.
Healthy eating
Working from home, in close proximity to your kitchen, can encourage a few unhealthy habits. Resist the urge to raid the fridge every hour – snack times should be built into your daily routine as much as exercise and relaxation. The BBC Good Food website has a whole section dedicated to healthy snacks you can make at home – although if food shopping is a challenge right now you may need to get creative… The site also has a handy list of 10 foods that boost your brain power. Keep well hydrated with water and pep yourself up with your favourite tea/coffee/hot drink (you could even schedule a ‘virtual tea break’ with colleagues for this).
Stay connected
Whether we’re working from home, keeping a social distance or completely self-isolating, staying connected to each other is more important than ever – not least for our own mental health and wellbeing. You’re probably already used to emailing colleagues but swapping an email conversation for a phone call or Skype chat gives us a sense of closer connection and immediacy with our colleagues. You could even set up a work WhatsApp group and share uplifting or funny clips, pics and ideas now and then (not continuously!) to replicate the natural office chat you may be missing. Here at Royce, we’re loving instant messaging platform Slack, as well as Microsoft Teams. We have a virtual all-staff video conference each morning and can share screens easily when working on projects together.
