10 Tips On How To Be Healthier at The Office

10 Tips On How To Be Healthier at The Office
A lot of us now earn our livings by working in an office environment. This may seem like an environment that would be safe and perhaps an environment that would not damage your health, but if you learn the wrong habits it can be exactly that! I have suffered from an injury associated with bad posture and as my physiotherapist said “One has to have a fit body to be able to sit all day!” Other adverse health related issues from working in the office can range from over work and stress to bad nutrition and exhaustion.

With the right strategies, potential dangers to your health can be avoided and the following list is for my own benefit as much as any of the readers of Life is a Journal.

1) Take your breaks.

You do need to take a break for both your mental and your physical well being. Try doing healthier things during your breaks too. Don’t just get up and go for a coffee – go for a walk around the block instead. Try and recruit other people into your walking breaks and make it social thing.

2) Sit properly i.e. good posture.

There are lots of links on the web that will show you how to sit correctly at a desk or workstation. It’s very important to sit correctly to avoid repetitive stress injury (RSI) and neck and shoulder tension. Your health and safety officer at your work might have some information on good posture too.

3) Drink water.

It is important to keep yourself hydrated in the dry air conditioned environment that is the modern workplace. Keep a filled water bottle at your desk and sip it during the day. I noticed a big difference in how I felt with less headaches and tiredness when I adopted this habit. To give you an idea on how little water people drink – current medical advice suggests that you should be drinking about two liters a day although this includes all fluids from food too!

4) Eat healthy.

Bring in your own lunch – that way you have control of what is going into your mouth at lunch time. Substitute snacking on junk food to snacking on nuts, dried fruit or fresh fruit. I know we all need a little pick me up in the afternoon so I won’t recommend not snacking at all! What I will say though is reducing refined sugar based products also reduces the “crash and burn” affect as I like to call it. This comes when the sugar and caffeine effects wear off and you feel a hundred times worse than you did before you went for the sugar fix.

5) Reduce Caffeine Intake.

Coffee and tea can not only set your nerves a jittering but it can dehydrate you too. Again instead, of stopping totally – slowly reduce your intake and substitute something in its place such a herbal teas, red bush tea, fruit juice or even water!

6) Arrive to work early.

A lot of jobs these days allow for flexible working hours. As tempting as it is to lie in bed that bit longer it comes back to bite you at the end of the day when you have to make up the balance at the other end. It is important to have a balanced life so come in early, work when you are fresh and go home on time (with the exceptions of some emergencies of course!)

7) Stretch.

This could go into the point about taking a break but when you are busy, going for a walk round the block isn’t always an option (although you should make time for one of those breaks!!). Stretching at your desk to release tension in your shoulders and neck is very important. Again there are many resources on the web that will show the best exercises to do

8) Go for a lunch time work out.

Instead of sitting in the canteen and then plodding back to your desk, take some time to go work out in a gym or play a sport you like. If you are not a sporty person – try going for a brisk walk. The idea is to counter the inactivity of office work with activity!

9) Work when you are at work.

Don’t surf. Try and be efficient. Do you really need to check your email every five minutes? Or write in a blog that is not work related! J

10) Plan your day.

This can reduce stress, keep you focused on what is important, help with time management and help you get out that office door on time. Work out your long term, medium term and short term goals. Construct a task list that helps you achieve your goals and review the list regularly. Do your goals fit with your organization? Do the goals fit with you as a person? Are they achievable? Do this and your days will run much more smoothly and you will have time to implement all the rest of my tips one through to nine.

What tips can you think of that would help you survive a day at the office? If you think of any, please leave a comment below