Working from home has been a common thing for 10 years, and it first appeared in the last century. In order to become a common thing, first of all, personal computers and the Internet had to reach a high level. Since we overcame this obstacle a long time ago, then various applications like Slack started to appear, which facilitate communication between colleagues and management. What best shows us how far the internet and all forms of business communication have progressed it that even before the pandemic, nearly 50 million U.S. citizens worked from home. That number has tended to grow each year, and we can say it skyrocketed over the past year when everyone was forced to work remotely due to a lockdown.
Although it seems ideal for all of us to get up in the morning, have breakfast, drink coffee and then work in our favorite sweatshirt or pajamas, like some kind of utopia, still not everything is so ideal. While it has many advantages, such as not spending time or money on the commute and much more, it still has certain disadvantages. Better said, these are not disadvantages, but challenges we will face. If we overcome them in the right way, then working from home is the perfect thing. The challenge we are interested in today is how to stay healthy and fit while working remotely.
Eat healthily
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Working from home allows you to eat healthily. You no longer have the excuse of don’t have enough time to prepare meals and take them with you. Now your kitchen and your refrigerator are at your disposal all day long and you must have three healthy meals a day, and preferably at least one snack. Yet many people even though they work remotely ignore the importance of meal prep and rely on food delivery. While we know it’s the easiest option, it’s certainly not the healthiest.
Make the most of the new situation. When you get up immediately prepare breakfast for yourself. The same goes for lunch. At lunchtime, don’t keep working and eating along the way, but take a lunch break, just like you would do in the office. This is also important in order to give yourself time to prepare healthy lunch, and for the brain to register that you have eaten. If you preoccupy your brain with other activities, you will eat more than you need and you will still be hungry. This later leads to eating snacks which should be limited as much as possible.
When you finish the workday, don’t be lazy and just order dinner, but make sure you eat something healthy and tasty for dinner as well. You have so many healthy and delicious things at your disposal, and now you don’t waste time on the commute, so you have no excuses to neglect your health and eat whatever you want just to be full.
Include home workouts in your schedule
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After the workday is over, a workout is what you need. Due to the pandemic, gyms are closed, and even if they are not, going there takes time. That is why a home workout is a solution. You have been sitting all day and in order for your muscles and skeleton to stay in good shape, it is necessary to do at least a few exercises. Include this in your schedule, three to five times a week, depending on your shape and how strenuous your workouts are.
There is so much home workout equipment available, it’s up to you to decide what you want to buy. Our advice is to buy dumbbells, yoga mat and treadmill or something similar intended for cardio. Don’t worry, a treadmill for home use isn’t as expensive as the ones in the gym. You do not need professional equipment, because only you will use it, so the treadmill will not be exposed to much effort. If you don’t have space for a treadmill, we advise you to visit totalfitnessequipment.com and get an idea of what alternative is best for you. Something like ellipticals, rowers and the like will help you do cardio workouts.
Stretch
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We can’t stress enough the importance of stretching for someone who sits all day. The first thing we advise you is to get up from the computer every hour or two, walk around the house or apartment for a few minutes and do basic stretching. This will help not only your muscles, ligaments and tendons, but will also improve circulation, so you will feel that you are better focused on work afterward.
Don’t think that’s enough stretching. It’s just first aid while your workday lasts. After the end of the workday and after you finish your workout, it’s time for a longer stretching routine. You can find many different routines on the Internet, so choose one and do it for a couple of months. Then find a new one. Yoga is a very good choice and it can be the right option to get both mental relaxation and proper stretching.
Choose a standing desk
An increasingly popular option is a standing desk that allows your body to be in a much better position while you work. When you sit, no matter how good your chair is, most of your body will be in the wrong position. A standing desk will solve this problem and is especially suitable for tall people because sitting is even worse for them than for people of regular height. If you do not want to stand all day, then buy an adjustable stand-up desk that will allow you to change position.
Protect your eyes
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Screens emit blue lights which is very bad for the eyes. In addition to tiring your eyes, it has also been shown to cause long-term damage. This problem is somewhat solved by the fact that now the screens have the ability to turn on filters and use warmer lights, but this is still not enough. So you try to limit the time spent looking at the screen, because when we get the job done, most of us use the phone and computer for Facebook and Instagram, for example. Also, consider buying light-filtering glasses that do not have diopters, they only serve to protect your eyes.
Conclusion:
The most important thing in the world for each of us is our health. Once you damage your health, your whole life will only be focused on solving the problem, but it can never be the same again. So think about prevention and take full advantage of working from home.