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Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, a lot of people have been forced to work from home. While working remotely has some benefits, it can affect your mental health if you are not very careful.
It would be best if you created a distinction between your work and personal life. Otherwise, they will blend, and you will find yourself in your pajamas in the middle of the afternoon.
Soon you won’t even leave your home (because what is the point), and things will spiral from there. If you don’t have experience working from home, here are a couple of guidelines that will help you maintain a healthy balance.
Soak In That Natural Light
Instead of spending your days like Gollum in a dark cave, put your desk someplace where there is natural light.
Straining your eyes to see your screen in a poorly lit room can cause headaches, affect your sight, and increase fatigue. On the other hand, spending more time in natural light can boost your mood.
Take A Break
Working from home presents many opportunities, but it can also come with a lot of challenges. There’s plenty to juggle when running a business from home, from handling customer service to completing other tasks.
If you’re working from home as a freelancer, it’s easy to forget to take breaks. It would help if you took care of yourself by taking time to pause and take a breather.
Create A Morning Schedule
When you don’t have to get ready for work and commute, it is easy to spend most of your morning in bed. While this can be okay for a couple of days, you should make an effort to create a healthy morning routine.
Therefore, instead of jumping out of bed 30 seconds before you need to be online, wake up when you usually would and use that extra time to complete some cleaning tasks, workout a bit, or drink your coffee in peace while reading the news.
A good morning routine can set the mood for the whole day.
Don’t Forget To Change
Working in your pajamas might seem like a dream come true, but not changing your clothes can affect your productivity. Our brain associates PJs with sleeping, so don’t be surprised if you yawn a lot and have a problem concentrating on work.
Instead of spending the whole day in pajamas, get dressed as if you’re heading to the office. Wake up early, shower with a quality cleanser such as this natural and gentle body wash, brush your teeth, have breakfast, and put on your work attire.
This will mentally prepare you for the day ahead.
Buy Healthy Snacks
One problem with working from home is that your fridge is always close by. You are several steps away from food at any given time. This will only tempt you to snack more often. This could lead to a sudden weight gain and affect your health.
Therefore, make sure you only eat snacks twice a day and swap unhealthy treats for energy-boosting alternatives, such as bananas, whole-wheat toast, or a handful of almonds.
Get Up!
Walking around the room from the bed to the chair and vice versa is not enough to keep your muscles busy. If you wish to maintain a healthy work/life balance, you need to make time for physical activity.
Therefore, squeeze in a quick workout early in the morning, go for a walk around the block during your lunch break or go for a jog when you are off the clock.
You can save money and enjoy life when working from home, but it does come with some challenges. One of those challenges is finding time for exercise. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks of running your business or freelance work. Thus, forgetting to make time for things like exercise and eating right.
Yet aside from taking care of your physical health, looking after your mental well-being also matters. Physical workouts burn calories, give energy, and boost your immune system. However, you can try brain games and exercises to help enhance your memory, improve your focus, and sharpen your cognitive skills.
Set A Sleep Schedule
To keep your mind sharp, you need eight hours of sleep every night. Just because you don’t have a bus or a train to catch in the morning doesn’t mean you should binge your favorite TV show until 2 am.
Try to set a healthy sleep schedule, and you will ensure you have enough energy for the following day.
Switch To Dark Mode
In case you have to work late, switch to dark mode on your computer. This mode is much easier on your eyes, this light won’t disrupt your circadian rhythm, and you will be able to fall asleep afterward much faster.
Although working from home is an enjoyable and exciting opportunity, it can also be a little overwhelming. It’s essential to take the time to relax and refresh yourself throughout the day. Work-life balance is a very delicate thing. If you don’t take care of yourself, you’re at risk of experiencing burnout, resulting in lower productivity and lack of motivation. With these tips, you will be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle while working from home.
Do you have any helpful tips for working from home?
Krystle Cook – the creator of Home Jobs by MOM – put her psychology degree on a shelf and dived into a pile of diapers and dishes instead. She is a wife and mother to two rambunctious boys, sweating it out in her Texas hometown. She loves cooking, DIY home projects, and family fun activities.
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Snacks and sleep are the two biggest things I need to work on! It’s hard to sleep with kids that wake up in the middle of the night.
Hope you can get some much-needed sleep soon!