If you're working from home full-time or even a couple days a week, remind yourself to prioritize self-care while working from home. We have a few suggestions designed to jumpstart your self-care routine and help you live as healthy as possible while working from home.
UPDATED: July 15, 2021
Whether you’re working from home full time, or just a couple days a week, here are some tips on how to prioritize self-care. Finding yourself stress-eating and mindlessly snacking? Struggling with productivity? Keep getting distracted? Stepping back to re-examine and improve a self-care plan that’s tailored to working from home may help. Here are a few ideas to help get you started.
Self-Care Tip #1: Change Your Clothes
This is an easy first step that primes the self-care pump. While the path of least resistance is to stay in your pajamas, start your work day in clothes that are different from the ones you sleep in. No suit required, but something a little more structured than an oversized sweatshirt will set the tone for the day.
A simple wardrobe change will help separate work life from home life. You’ll feel more in control and more focused on the task at hand. Bonus: you can look forward to the treat of changing back into super cozy clothes at the end of the work day.
Have a day free of video calls and want to wear your PJ pants all day? Just do it. Self-care is all about routine, not rigidity and all-or-nothing thinking.
Self-Care Tip #2: Create a Work Day Schedule
Establish a schedule and stick to it most days. You’ll be so happy you did!
Wake up at the same time each day, take regular breaks to move your body and rest your eyes in order to avoid screen fatigue, set a timer for tasks like checking email, and treat mealtimes not as opportunities to multitask but instead as a time of rejuvenation and self-care. Throughout the day, use a productivity app such as Forest or SelfControl in order to stay on task.
Self-Care Tip #3: Incorporate Rituals Into Your Day
Rituals are the icing on your self-care schedule cake. The rhythm of ritual engages all your senses and cues your mind and body for what’s next. Predictability during an unpredictable time, when many things are beyond our control, is comforting.
As you sit down to work in the morning (after changing out of our pajamas, of course), start with some chair yoga poses. Take a midmorning meditation break. At lunchtime, pause to light a candle and reflect on all that’s good in your life, meet up with friends on a video call, or enjoy a socially distanced al fresco meal with fellow neighbors who are also working from home. After lunch, take a brisk walk; it will help stabilize blood sugar levels.
During your afternoon working hours, diffuse an energizing blend of essential oils, such as peppermint and citrus. Or even take a quick nap; rest is an extremely important component of self-care and ritual. Tip: if you drink a bit of green tea or have a small square of dark chocolate just before your nap, the caffeine will hit your bloodstream about 20 minutes later, which provides just the energy you need to wake up refreshed and ready for a productive afternoon.
Self-Care Tip #4: Get Up and Go Outside
Whether you’re a morning, afternoon, or evening exerciser, aim for 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Because it improves focus and boosts immunity, exercise is an important part of a self-care plan, so be sure to build it into your workday schedule. For tips on eating well while working out, check out this post.
Most Americans spend far too much time indoors, and we suffer because of it, with effects like low vitamin D levels, depression, and seasonal affective disorder. Exercise is one form of self-care. Spending time outdoors is another. Combine the two and reap the benefits. A quick walk or jog outside between meetings also helps to break up the day.
Self-Care Tip #5: Designate Separate Spaces for Separate tasks
To feel your healthiest while working from home, workspace ought to be separate from living space, eating space, and sleeping space. It may be a challenge in a tiny apartment or with children underfoot, but even subtle distinctions have a positive impact.
First, avoid working in bed or on the couch. It’s an ergonomic nightmare. It’s bad for your body, and bad for productivity levels. Instead, set up a window-facing desk or designate one end of your kitchen table as your workspace. To avoid neck strain, raise your monitor to eye level, and make sure the keyboard is situated so that your arms rest at a 90-degree angle. Keep both feet flat on the floor,
Second, don’t eat lunch at your workspace! It may seem easier and more efficient to do so, but it’s anything but a self-care friendly habit. A healthy lunch involves an actual break that you take away from your workstation. And with just a bit of prep and forethought, it will feel almost as easy as eating cold pizza over the sink. Check out these tips on enjoying lunches from home.
By adopting just a few of these tips, you’re no longer just thinking about how to practice self-care while working from home, you’re doing it! Congratulations. Here’s to adopting even more healthy work from home habits. What will you try next?
For more information on stress management and self-care, especially as it relates to your eating habits, check out this post, written by a Thistle nutritionist.
If you're working from home full-time or even a couple days a week, remind yourself to prioritize self-care while working from home. We have a few suggestions designed to jumpstart your self-care routine and help you live as healthy as possible while working from home.
UPDATED: July 15, 2021
Whether you’re working from home full time, or just a couple days a week, here are some tips on how to prioritize self-care. Finding yourself stress-eating and mindlessly snacking? Struggling with productivity? Keep getting distracted? Stepping back to re-examine and improve a self-care plan that’s tailored to working from home may help. Here are a few ideas to help get you started.
Self-Care Tip #1: Change Your Clothes
This is an easy first step that primes the self-care pump. While the path of least resistance is to stay in your pajamas, start your work day in clothes that are different from the ones you sleep in. No suit required, but something a little more structured than an oversized sweatshirt will set the tone for the day.
A simple wardrobe change will help separate work life from home life. You’ll feel more in control and more focused on the task at hand. Bonus: you can look forward to the treat of changing back into super cozy clothes at the end of the work day.
Have a day free of video calls and want to wear your PJ pants all day? Just do it. Self-care is all about routine, not rigidity and all-or-nothing thinking.
Self-Care Tip #2: Create a Work Day Schedule
Establish a schedule and stick to it most days. You’ll be so happy you did!
Wake up at the same time each day, take regular breaks to move your body and rest your eyes in order to avoid screen fatigue, set a timer for tasks like checking email, and treat mealtimes not as opportunities to multitask but instead as a time of rejuvenation and self-care. Throughout the day, use a productivity app such as Forest or SelfControl in order to stay on task.
Self-Care Tip #3: Incorporate Rituals Into Your Day
Rituals are the icing on your self-care schedule cake. The rhythm of ritual engages all your senses and cues your mind and body for what’s next. Predictability during an unpredictable time, when many things are beyond our control, is comforting.
As you sit down to work in the morning (after changing out of our pajamas, of course), start with some chair yoga poses. Take a midmorning meditation break. At lunchtime, pause to light a candle and reflect on all that’s good in your life, meet up with friends on a video call, or enjoy a socially distanced al fresco meal with fellow neighbors who are also working from home. After lunch, take a brisk walk; it will help stabilize blood sugar levels.
During your afternoon working hours, diffuse an energizing blend of essential oils, such as peppermint and citrus. Or even take a quick nap; rest is an extremely important component of self-care and ritual. Tip: if you drink a bit of green tea or have a small square of dark chocolate just before your nap, the caffeine will hit your bloodstream about 20 minutes later, which provides just the energy you need to wake up refreshed and ready for a productive afternoon.
Self-Care Tip #4: Get Up and Go Outside
Whether you’re a morning, afternoon, or evening exerciser, aim for 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Because it improves focus and boosts immunity, exercise is an important part of a self-care plan, so be sure to build it into your workday schedule. For tips on eating well while working out, check out this post.
Most Americans spend far too much time indoors, and we suffer because of it, with effects like low vitamin D levels, depression, and seasonal affective disorder. Exercise is one form of self-care. Spending time outdoors is another. Combine the two and reap the benefits. A quick walk or jog outside between meetings also helps to break up the day.
Self-Care Tip #5: Designate Separate Spaces for Separate tasks
To feel your healthiest while working from home, workspace ought to be separate from living space, eating space, and sleeping space. It may be a challenge in a tiny apartment or with children underfoot, but even subtle distinctions have a positive impact.
First, avoid working in bed or on the couch. It’s an ergonomic nightmare. It’s bad for your body, and bad for productivity levels. Instead, set up a window-facing desk or designate one end of your kitchen table as your workspace. To avoid neck strain, raise your monitor to eye level, and make sure the keyboard is situated so that your arms rest at a 90-degree angle. Keep both feet flat on the floor,
Second, don’t eat lunch at your workspace! It may seem easier and more efficient to do so, but it’s anything but a self-care friendly habit. A healthy lunch involves an actual break that you take away from your workstation. And with just a bit of prep and forethought, it will feel almost as easy as eating cold pizza over the sink. Check out these tips on enjoying lunches from home.
By adopting just a few of these tips, you’re no longer just thinking about how to practice self-care while working from home, you’re doing it! Congratulations. Here’s to adopting even more healthy work from home habits. What will you try next?
For more information on stress management and self-care, especially as it relates to your eating habits, check out this post, written by a Thistle nutritionist.
