Hi lovelies,
When it comes to risky workplaces, your own home and home office are not likely to rank very high in your mind, compared to places like oil rigs, construction sites, warehouses, and the like. However, don’t underestimate the health risks that can come with not taking your environment seriously. Plenty of people get injured and ill in the office, and it can happen just as easily in the home office, as well. Whether you’re running a small business from home or living a remote working life, here are some ways to ensure that you mind your health as you do it.
Ensure a good posture
When it comes to the most common injuries in the office setting, whether it’s in an office building or at home, the risk to your skeletomuscular health is the one that might be considered worth paying the most attention to. How you sit, how your hands reach your keyboard, and even how you tilt your head to look at your screen all matter. Good ergonomic office furniture can do a great deal in supporting your back and lower body as you work. You want to make sure that your chair can be adjusted to a height where you don’t have to reach up in order to type, and similarly, you shouldn’t have to tilt your head up or down, your eyes should be level or close to level with the top of your monitor.
Get up once in a while
Regardless of how good your posture is and how much you invest in good ergonomics, it’s not good for your health to spend all that time sitting down, either. While the health panic over simply sitting has largely dissipated over the past few years, the risk of living a sedentary life is very much alive and well. If you take some time to get in some exercise during a break from your work, that’s the best possible option. Otherwise, even if you just get up out of your seat to walk to the local coffee shop to grab a drink before heading back, any opportunity to get up and move around a little should be taken.
Take care of your hands
If you spend a lot of your time typing, then it should be no surprise that the part of your body responsible for all that keyboard work is going to be at some risk. When it comes to common hand ailments, carpal tunnel is the most frequent and typically happens because the hand is resting in a poor position for a long time, or because you’re doing repetitive motions with it. It’s a good idea to give your hands some time to rest every 30 minutes or so. Before and after you work, you can also stretch your hands. Moving them from a position that has your palms facing the air with your arms up, and then lowering your arms as you face the floor with the backs of your hands is a solid stretch for those who type for a living.
Don’t stress your eyes
The potential damage that can be done to your eyes through exposure to light, such as from your monitor, is not considered as serious as it once was. However, if you don’t take care of your eyes, then they can begin to suffer from eyestrain, which can cause them to water and feel sore. Resting your eyes from the screen, and taking the time to look elsewhere for a few minutes every hour is a good idea. You can also reduce the blue light that comes from your screen with screen-tinting apps that can make the color of your monitor screen warmer as the day gets later. Otherwise, make sure that you have other light sources, such as a table lamp, to contrast the light of the screen.
Take care of your work environment
It might not be as prominent a risk as some of the others mentioned here, but leaving your workspace and your home office to become untidy, and not giving it the care it needs can lead to health issues. Diseases are more likely to take hold and spread through environments that are not cleaned on a regular basis. Clutter, in particular, can attract and trap a lot more dust and other allergens, which can reduce the air quality in the room, which can affect your productivity, as well as cause or exacerbate respiratory diseases. Cleaning up the clutter, as well as investing in an air purifier can help to keep your air quality at a decent level.
Mind your work-life balance
For a lot of people, working from home can sound like a dream come true, but the reality can often impose a lot more on your home life than you might think. When you work from home, and you live where you work, it’s easy for the boundaries to blur, and for your ability to enjoy your home life to be impacted by the pressures or work, just as your work can suffer because home life gets in the way. The best way to maintain your balance is to set boundaries. This includes making sure that you have set work hours and a schedule you stick to, as well as strict boundaries with your family when it comes to encroaching on your workspace.
Don’t let isolation sink in
When it comes to your mental health, it’s not just the impact of the home office on your lifestyle that you should think about, but how it impacts your relationships with others, too. One thing about sharing an office with other people is that it can help us make connections and friendships that we may well miss when working from home. Maintaining your personal connections, such as by meeting up with a co-worker for a coffee each day, can help you avoid the risk of isolation.
You need to take your health seriously while working from home because there may not be anyone else to help you do it. Hopefully, the tips above help you be a little more mindful of your well-being.
