It isn’t a rule. Those are just movies. Work isn’t supposed to have you unhealthy and mentally drained. You don’t have to be that staff who constantly goes to the office with a bag full of tissues, a running nose, and chills. You don’t have to be constantly stressed out and anxious and edgy in the habit of mumbling to yourself about how much you hate your job and what it does to you.
You can be perfectly healthy at work, living a hale, hearty, and balanced life. Oh, it’s not so hard. If you need help on how to achieve this, I compiled a list of 15 simple ways to stay healthy at work.
1. Have Breakfast
Yes, it’s that simple—have breakfast. There’s a reason why this meal has been tagged “the most important meal of the day.” Breakfast is what replenishes your body’s nutrient reserves after a long night.
Breakfast means more glucose in your blood—more vitamins, more proteins, and more water. Having more glucose in your blood helps increase your brain power, which means you don’t have to stress too much to be able to grasp ideas.[1] You go out there with more energy and more enthusiasm, and you kill it at work. Please, do not make a habit of skipping breakfast if you desire to lead a healthy life at work.
2. No Snacking
Snacking is a term that describes the act of taking in beverages between meals. This is a “no” for you if you plan to stay healthy at work. Snacks, you see, are usually processed foods and contain a load of calories that can alter your weight in unhealthy ways. They are also able to alter your appetite.
You don’t want to take too many snacks. Doing so puts you at risk of weight gain, stress, and excessive appetite.[2] So, when next that coworker comes around with their snacks, you can smile and say, “Thank you, but no snacks today.”
3. Posture
How do you sit? How do you stand? At work, your posture can be a source of constant stress if it’s a bad one. Bad postures increase strain on muscles and ligaments, and they make you feel sore, tensed, and even agree. The proper way to sit is with your feet on the floor or mat, your ankles uncrossed. Your shoulders have to be relaxed, and your back straight. You shouldn’t lean to one side for long periods.[3] It would also be best if you do not bend your neck, as this can cause Tension Neck Syndrome.[4]
4. Hygiene
Let’s say you have just arrived at the office. You greet your coworkers and walk right over to your desk. Do you clean your desk and table before beginning work? Or do you just jump right in and start working?
If your answer to the first question is yes, then you’ve scored a point. If it is no, then you have scored no point.
If you want to stay healthy at work, you should keep your work environment clean. You don’t want your workspace to become a reservoir of dust and germs. Clean the desks. Clean the computer. Clean! Do not use dirty toilets. Do not go around coworkers’ workspaces if they’re untidy.
5. Lunch
We spoke about breakfast. Now, it’s time for lunch. The last thing you want to do at work stays hungry for long. Listen to your body. If you feel hungry, then it’s time for lunch.
Your lunch should be a nutrient-rich meal—a meal that is rich in carbohydrates to replenish your energy stores and protein to build up your muscles. If you can, you should take homemade meals along with you when you leave for work. This should be your lunch. The goal is to avoid overly processed foods.
6. No Screens For Too Long or Use Eye-Care Mode If You Can’t Help It
Do not use screens for too long. Experts suggest that staring at screens for too long can cause eyestrain and tension headaches. If you have underlying eye defects, this can make them even worse.[5] Staring at screens for too long can also make you less productive. With all the strain on your eyes and the headaches, it’s difficult to concentrate on completing your tasks.
Take occasional breaks from screens. If you aren’t permitted to do this for long, then you should get anti-screen light glasses. It would help if you also endeavor to reduce the brightness of your screens. Most screens have Eye-Care mode this day. Use this.
7. Exercise
Don’t just sit all day while at work. Let’s say you’ve been sitting in the same spot for hours on end. Your back and shoulders feel sore. Your neck and your butt, too. Maybe even your eyes. What should you do to ease these?
Oh, you should exercise a bit. This is quite helpful. Get up. Stretch. Take a short but necessary walk around your work environment. Stretch some more before returning to work. Doing these help reduce tension in your muscles. They can also make you relaxed and improve your mood.
8. Avoid Sick Coworkers
Imagine a coworker walks into the office looking quite sick. They sit in their corner and begin to sneeze really hard and cough a lot. From all indications, they are unwell. What should you do?
Well, unless you’re a doctor or a nurse or some kind of health worker, you should do anything but walk over to this coworker and initiate excessive contact. Call a doctor. Invite a nurse over. Anything but initiate contact.
The workplace can be just the right spot to contact transmutable infections. You don’t want any infections jumping from someone over to you, do you? The answer is “no.”
Then, as much as you can, protect yourself from infections. Wash your hands after using office equipment that doesn’t belong to you.[6] Do not drink from glasses used by other coworkers if they haven’t been washed. Put on a face mask, and use a hand sanitizer if you ever come in contact with a sick coworker.
9. Don’t Push Yourself Too Hard Mentally
You might be a meticulous worker who meets all your goals, but you are surely not a robot. When at work, you may begin to feel as though you cannot continue with doing a particular project. When this happens, it helps to pause for a while and then go back to it later.
Don’t be in the habit of pushing yourself. You don’t have to. You do not fail when you take breaks. You do not become less of yourself or the worst employee in the office.
Let some goals go if you can’t help it. Give yourself more room or more space. This doesn’t only help your physical health, but it improves your mental health, too. Being obsessive about a task can mess with your mental health.
10. No Consecutive Long Days
Your body needs rest. You need rest. If you’ve been at work for consecutive long days, then it may be time to pause. If you wake in the morning and feel uneasy, with a throbbing headache, it’s fine to call your boss and ask for some time off.
You don’t want to keep pressuring yourself, pushing, and pushing. The body is an amazing system. It signals you when something is going wrong or about to go wrong with it.
Listen. When you feel stressed, it’s time to pause.
11. Keep a Healthy Relationship With Coworkers
You don’t have to be grumpy and unhappy and unapproachable. Be friends with your coworkers. Human interactions are a vital part of work that cannot be etched away. When coworkers are in good rapport with each other, the company benefits—but not just the company. The workers themselves benefit, too.
Conversations at work can ease stress. When coworkers tease each other and laugh about non-offensive jokes, an air of safety comes into the room, and anxiety leaves. A safe workspace like this can improve a person’s health.
12. Stay Hydrated
Don’t be too caught up at work that you forget to drink enough water. Drinking enough water helps with concentration. It also increases your energy levels as your body can make use of its nutrients.[7] Water also helps against stress and in keeping your body temperature stable.
Final Thoughts
Work shouldn’t be a constant source of stress to you. You can keep good health while at work and enjoy what you do. All you need to do is improve your posture, your diet, and your relationship with coworkers.
By changing your approach to work, you can improve both your physical and mental health in ways you would come to love.
More Tips on How to Stay Healthy at Work
- How You Can Stay Healthy Even Though You Sit At A Desk All Day
- How to Spend Hours at the Computer and Still Stay Healthy
- 25 Healthy Snacks for Work: Decrease Hunger and Increase Productivity
Featured photo credit: Anete Lūsiņa via unsplash.com
Reference
| [1] | ^ | NCBI: Sugar for the brain: the role of glucose in physiological and pathological brain function |
| [2] | ^ | Harvard School of Public Health: The Science of Snacking |
| [3] | ^ | MedlinePlus: Guide to Good Posture |
| [4] | ^ | Medical News Today: What to know about neck tension |
| [5] | ^ | UW Medicine: 7 Ways Screen Time Affects Adults — And How to Cope |
| [6] | ^ | Better Health Channel: Workplace safety – infection control |
| [7] | ^ | Healthline: 7 Science-Based Health Benefits of Drinking Enough Water |
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