Many of us in the country’s growing remote workforce are completely new to working from home. Others have been doing it for some time. There is one thing in common among those of us who are new and those of us who are veteran remote workers, however: it is highly important to our health that we remain active. During and away from work hours, it is important to resist a sedentary lifestyle.
The Importance of Being Active
Links between significant health issues – such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and others – and sedentary lifestyles have been found again and again. And these kinds of health issues are becoming epidemic in the U.S. and elsewhere, with pre-diabetic conditions existing in nearly 2 million U.S. teens with inactive lifestyles. These young Americans are at high risk for type two diabetes, serious heart conditions, and other health risks. But the tide is turning. Companies are encouraging employees to be more active, reminding them to be active at their chairs, stand up for two or more hours of their workday, design a more active commute that includes physical activity like walking or bicycling, and participate in active lunches that include structured exercise.
At the Home Office
Some of these can be applied to a remote work lifestyle, but not all of them. So what about those of us whose homes are our workplaces, the remote workers and home workers, new and seasoned, who have no commute, no colleagues to walk or exercise with, who are otherwise very healthy but struggle to reach recommended levels of physical activity every day? Aside from the health risks confronted above, remote workers who fail to maintain healthy levels of activity are at risk for a number of cardiovascular issues, as well as the myriad minor injuries that can result from extended inactivity, such as muscle damage, and sprains. Roughly 25,000 Americans suffer ankle sprains every year. Many of those injuries and health issues are preventable with minimal levels of activity. Even five minutes of brisk activity per day can have a significant impact on your overall health.
How to Stay Active as a Home Worker
It’s a great deal easier to stay active at the office than at home. We tend to associate home with comfort and convenience, and there is great temptation to view it that way even while it is our workplace: staying in casual clothes or undressed, working from bed, and working from the sofa, among other things, are not necessarily bad for your health, but they definitely don’t help promote a healthy lifestyle and are not conducive to being active. In addition, working from home usually lacks the structure and routine that working from an office provides. Set times for starting, breaking, and ending makes integrating physical activity clearer and easier. Without formality and structure, it can be very easy to slip into an inactive lifestyle, long term.
Tips for Staying Active as a Home or Remote Worker
It’s vitally important to your health that you remain as active as possible while working from home. The best way to remain active is to design and adhere to a structured schedule that includes physical activity and opportunities for exercise.
Create a Daily Schedule
If it isn’t dictated by your employer or clients, set start and end times that will make a productive and full day. Allow time for physical activity or exercise. Creating and sticking to a schedule will not only make it easier to incorporate physical activity, but it will also yield a healthy work-life balance.
Be Professional
Even if you won’t be meeting, conferencing, or leaving your house, dress for work. You will feel more formal, more structured, and will be more likely to leave the house for activity or exercise. Ties or pantsuits are not necessarily required, but good semi-professional attire every day – along with the process of getting into it – will help to keep you more active, and more productive.
Decline to Recline
Don’t work from bed; don’t work on the sofa or couch: the temptation to recline and become gradually more horizontal is too great. If you lack a home office, assign a space for work and keep it as exclusive to work as possible. Use timers to remember to stand, walk, stretch. Don’t forget that a lot of work can be done standing, even walking.
Fabricate a “Commute”
Just because you’re already at work when you wake up doesn’t mean you can’t participate in a “commute.” A brisk, 15-20 minute walk, run, or bike ride in the morning is healthy, active, invigorating, and proven to be as effective as caffeine at preparing your brain for problem-solving and intellectual activity. Make it part of your schedule every day.
Incorporate Exercise Equipment
Treadmills, rowing machines, ellipticals, other exercise equipment can seem like moderate investments to make, but if they’ll be used at work they can in most cases be deducted from taxes. And having them on hand is a great benefit to a home worker. Exercise equipment, even if it is more modest and simple such as resistance bands or dumbbells, can turn a 15-minute break into a highly beneficial exercise routine with long term impact. Consider a large medicine or stability ball in place of a desk chair. Invest in a wearable step tracker to monitor your activity, exercise, and progress.
Use Vitamins and Supplements
While using vitamins and supplements won’t directly impact your level of physical activity, it will help you remain healthy and well, and can have a great impact on mood and energy level. Nutritional supplements such as 20 mg per day of biotin have been touted for their impact on diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and other conditions. Supplements can also replace many of the nutrients worn away by extended inactivity.
Keep Your “Office” Clean
Don’t forget that housework is physical activity, especially if you’re tracking your steps. And keeping your workspace orderly, clean, and neat can improve your production, motivation, and energy level, as well as adding hours of activity each week.
Working from home is very different from working in an office or other workspace. There are different opportunities, there’s less interaction, and there’s different or perhaps no real structure or formality at all. But it’s just as important – in fact, more important – to remain as physically active as possible while working from home as it is while at the office. To remain active, be creative: design a schedule that maximizes opportunities for activity, embrace a lifestyle that fosters and utilizes personal energy and keep yourself and your mood ready for exercise by adopting healthy habits during and away from work.
