How do you care for yourself when working remotely?
Are you also guilty of working at kitchen tables, sitting in bed or hunched over a coffee table?
After nearly two years of skipping remote work best practices, chiropractors are seeing what The New York Times called an epidemic of work-from-home injuries.
While it's impossible to escape your keyboard and monitor, there are some simple changes with the way you approach your workday that can have a big impact.
We explored these small changes and their impacts including:
- Ergonomic setup: keyboard, chair, monitor, lighting
- Moving more during the work day: walking, stretching, standing
- Taking regular breaks: meditation, coffee, talk with colleagues/family
- What have you tried?
- What were you able to stick with?
- What was most impactful?
Photo by Trinity Nguyen on Unsplash
I think all of the above are important, but I voted for regular breaks since I think that's what most people working remotely are the worst at.
Ergonomic stuff is great and essential, but you won't enjoy your time in that chair if you get burned out because you continue working without meaningful breaks.
That's a great point. Have you built regular breaks into your routine? What's worked best for you?
Something I didn't realize until I started working remotely full-time is that office work comes with natural little walking breaks - walking to a meeting, walking to ask someone something, walking to get a coffee on the other side of the office.
I used to think of breaks at home as having to be big (e.g. go walk for an hour). That means I go at some point, or I can miss it entirely. I've found that having short break activities in mind (like a 10 min walk around my block) gets me taking breaks more regularly because, even if I'm deep in the weeds on something, I can take a break and get back to it soon.
I used to have planned breaks, but they just come naturally since I have gotten used to taking some time off my work. But it definitely took some time to get over the whole "I need to be available at all times" mindset.
When people ask me if there is anything they can do to incorporate breaks, I always advise trying a Pomodoro Timer. While everyone thinks it silly to set a "work timer," some still use the timer to this day. 😅
All of the above and now also more memes
I probably do 2 and 3 too often..
I voted taking regular breaks. Working remotely, it can be difficult to "turn off" and spend some time disconnecting from your tasks a bit, it really does wonders for your energy level and state of mind.
I take several breaks a day. Some longer than others. I work a fairly consistent amount of hours per day but if I'm feeling a little overextended I step away and retool.
Other than that, for me personally gym time is incredibly important. Resistance training, running, eating a great diet, good sleep habits. Getting my physical fitness in order has had so many positive effects on the rest of my life, including overall work productivity (and creativity, and a million other things). We aren't really meant to sit in front of monitors all the time!