Sitting at a desk all day under artificial lights, staring at computer screens and breathing in recycled air is far from our natural way of living. We have become a sedentary species and the way a lot of us are working is causing us to become stressed, ill and unhappy at work.
It’s time to break the habits and improve your working day, to help we’ve come up with 3 simple tips to improve your unhealthy work routine.
#1 Get some air.
Whether you can get out for an hour at lunch, a 15 minute stroll or even grab 5 for a cigarette...get outside!
DO NOT look at your phone in this break. Look at a patch of green on the ground or the blue sky and give your brain a break from technology. If you can find a park or small patch of grass, take a seat and breath in some fresh air. Study’s show that getting back to nature and spending a little time each day with the green stuff can reduce your cortisol (the stress weight gain hormone) levels significantly.
Just 5 minutes of your day is worth it.
#2 Stand up.
New and extensive research shows that during your working day you should be standing for at least 2 hours, not including your commute, and realistically should be looking to increase that to 4 hours per day over time.
Some offices actually supply staff with desks at the right height to work out whilst on their feet so that they can switch to standing up when the cheeks get numb. If you don’t have one of these specially equipped offices (not many do) then try and ease yourself into spending a little less time on your bottom if you can. Phone calls can be made on your feet, and taking a quick lap of the office can be a great way to break up your tasks (check out this article for more on breaking up your working day to be more productive).
#3 Tidy your desk.
This may sound simple, but de-cluttering your workspace can make an enormous difference to the way you work. Having a messy desk can instantly stress you out when you sit down in the morning, a little organisation goes a long way. Beth wrote a fab article on how to bring minimalism to the workplace, a great read and huge help when trying to improve your workspace.
Starting with these 3 really simple tips can make all the difference to your working life.
We spend most of our week at work and it’s important to look after our own health and well-being, otherwise we won’t be able to play at the weekends!
