7 Work-from-home best practices to stay healthy

Working from home is indeed convenient. You don’t have to spend hours (and money) on commuting to and from the office. You also get to manage your time.

However, while work-from-home is the best, especially for moms, there’s a high probability that you let go of yourself while at it, and it was real, at least for many of my colleagues and me. 

It took me a while to finally get out of the bad habits working from home like not eating properly, not sleeping on time, not minding the time, and generally not taking care of myself. 

Staying healthy while working from home is a challenge, but it is not impossible. 

Here are work-from-home best practices to help you stay fit and healthy.

Have a designated workplace

The problem with working from home is separating workplace practice from homeplace practice. 

Often, those who work from home do their jobs in the same space where they eat or sleep. This setup is not ideal because your body could no longer distinguish between rest time or work time. 

If you work on your bed, for example, any of these two things could happen: you get sleepy while working or you can’t sleep even if you’re done working. 

In my first year of working from home, I had to work on my bed because of my health issue. I was always fighting sleep. When I got better, I set up a table for work. I was able to work and sleep better. I still work on my bed when my body gets weak, but I am more productive at my desk. 

Having space dedicated to work(even if it’s just a table and not a room) will help your body develop a rhythm for work and rest. 

Set an alarm

Another dilemma of many work-from-home individuals would be forgetting the time and date. At first, I didn’t mind this issue, but eventually, it was no longer cute because I even forget to eat or take my medicine.

Set the alarm so that you can monitor important things like taking medicine. I even have an alarm to remind me to eat and bathe. If you are the type who gets too immersed in work, you truly need an alarm. 

Eat properly

I am fortunate because I live with grownup kids who can prepare proper meals. Otherwise, I would be like my other colleagues who only eat cup noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some would call for food delivery. 

Proper meals at proper times of the day are vital to staying healthy. Skipping meals is never healthy, and so is eating fast food. Eating too much is another tendency for some work-from-home individuals, and it is also not healthy. 

Have healthy food available in your kitchen. If you are to eat snacks while working, go for healthy ones like fruits or nuts instead of chips. 

Exercise

A sedentary lifestyle is the number one enemy of people who work from home. They seldom move–I seldom move. However, we must exercise, or our muscles would weaken. 

Since I don’t particularly appreciate exercising (but I know I must do it), and since I easily get tired, I looked for 5-minute exercises on YouTube. I also searched for dance videos. Then, on my good days (my body is not acting up), I would take quick breaks to exercise or dance (yes, I have an alarm for this too!). 

If I’m not in the mood for an exercise or if my body starts feeling too weak to make too active movements, I exercise on my bed (I found a video on this). 

I would also stand up frequently and walk to other spots in the house. I used to go outside and see what’s happening, but not now because of the pandemic.   

Stay clean

Hygiene is also something people who work from home tend to ignore. Take a bath and clean your workplace and home; otherwise, you and your place will be a haven for bacteria. 

You don’t need to take long baths since you don’t leave home frequently, but do take quick showers; brush your teeth; comb your hair.

I know that many people who work from home would joke that they don’t need to brush our teeth and comb our hair before going to work since no one would see them. My friends and I joke about this all the time. However, leave it as a joke and do clean up in reality. 

Clock out

Ending work is also a problem among some people who work from home. Sometimes they work extended hours. I know I used to. However, if you do this, your bosses will take advantage of you for not minding working long hours, or your body will give up and end up sick. 

Know when to stop. Set a time of day when you start working, when you take a break, and when you end work. A routine, while boring for some people, is needed by the body.

Sleep

“If you don’t sleep, you die!” My friend jokingly told me this when I was in the second year of working from home. Back then, I didn’t rest. I was either working on my computer or doing some other chores at home. Then I fell ill (again). That’s when I realized that not resting or sleeping is making me unproductive. I would eventually feel dizzy while working. 

I started managing my time, making sure I sleep at least 6 hours a day. I also set some alone time. 

Working from home should be an opportunity for us to take care of ourselves and not to abuse our bodies. 

I realized that if I work from home because of money and my health, ignoring my health is like defeating my primary purpose. 

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