A home office environment can be a great place to work for all sorts of different reasons, not least of all the fact that it allows you more or less complete creative control with regards to how to arrange the furniture.
But while more and more people have been working remotely from home in recent times, that doesn’t mean that everyone’s home office environment is actually a particularly positive or healthy place to be.
Here are just a few tips for making your home office environment better for your health, so that you don’t end up having to deal with the assorted frustrations and aches and pains that many people find themselves contending with.
Experiment with a standing desk
Buying a Standing Desk can be a great thing to try in order to help improve your posture and muscle balance during the working day, while also giving you the opportunity to pace around and move a bit more, and experience elevated energy levels as a result.
These days, there are all sorts of different standing desks available, ranging from affordable “desktops” that you put on top of an existing desk and raise or lower manually, to fully electric standing desk units that raise and lower with a control switch, in addition to treadmill standing desks – for those who really want a bit of extra movement during the working day.
While it’s not necessarily good for you to stand all day, alternating between periods of sitting and standing is likely to be significantly better for your posture, as well as your health and mood.
Optimise airflow and natural light
Good air circulation and natural sunlight both have a range of significant health benefits associated with them, but too many home offices are nonetheless relatively enclosed and stuffy, and rely overly on artificial lighting.
Air out your home office, leave the windows open regularly, dust and vacuum the place frequently, and – if possible – pick a room for your home office that gets a decent amount of sunlight.
This is likely to make you feel a lot more positive, and be a lot healthier.
Don’t stay glued to your workstation all day
No matter how busy you may be with a particular assignment, and no matter how committed to productivity you may be, it’s always going to be detrimental to your health to stay glued to your workstation all day without regular breaks and – especially – without enough time spent outside.
Try to get up and pace around for at least a few minutes every hour – and aim to stroll around outdoors for a bit during your afternoon lunch break, and in the afternoon or evening after work.
Doing so can help you to manage stress more effectively, while also giving you a necessary “reset,” and helping to improve your health, too.
