When we have a lot of things to do for work, we tend to pore over every task and spend hours and hours sitting and not thinking about anything else until we’re done with our goals. However, while we prioritize our work, one thing takes the backseat – our health. Scoff all you want at that, but it’s true. How familiar are these to you? You spend at least 2 hours straight in your seat and not drink a whole glass of water. You have a bunch of things to do for the rest of the day so you grab the easiest thing to eat (could be taken out, could be instant food, or a sandwich). You’re too tired at the end of the day or the end of the week so you’d opt to just sleep or stay at home all day and not do anything. Did any of these ring a bell?
It’s not easy to take care of ourselves and we often neglect our health because we don’t feel anything off. But that’s exactly the problem. Because when we neglect ourselves and we end up starting to feel differently, that can snowball into several health issues that could be serious and permanent. This can include hypertension, heart disease, a permanent hunch or neck injury, diabetes, and even cancer. But did you know all these can be prevented with just a few simple changes in your daily routine without even sacrificing the amount of work you need to do?
Drink lots of water
This is supposedly the easiest thing to do, but it’s also the easiest to forget. So, you can either set an alarm spread throughout your schedule to remind you to take a drink of water. Make it a goal to drink at least 8 glasses, but more would be better. Just because you’re sitting most of the time does it mean you won’t get dehydrated. It’s just as bad. Another good idea is to have a tumbler of water within your eyeliner so you’ll constantly have a visual reminder that you need to drink some now and then.
Make a stash of healthy snacks
Whether you’re working at the office or home, your eating habits will greatly contribute to your overall wellness. So what you can do is to spend a couple of hours each weekend preparing your snacks for the whole week ahead. You can start small: a fruit each day like an apple, banana, or any fruit you like. A can of nuts will work great as well. When you find yourself getting a little more acclimated to this habit, do several portions of baby carrots or carrot sticks, celery sticks, some cheese, or zucchini sticks. Then, later on, you can explore adding other healthy items to the mix. These snacks might seem insignificant, but they will prevent you from snacking on sweets or junk food that will only make you feel sluggish and also ruin your appetite for a proper meal later on.
Breathe and mean it
It’s easy to get so caught up with all the work you need to do and eventually hit a wall. Then you start pushing yourself harder and only get nothing back and end up stressing yourself further. When this happens, remember to stop and do the following: let go of your keyboard and mouse. Next, close your eyes. Just be in that space and start breathing in. Inhale for 5 seconds and hold it in for another 5 seconds, then finally, exhale for another 5 seconds. Do this several times and watch how differently you’ll feel afterward.
Get an ergonomic chair or table (or both)
A simple switch to ergonomic furniture such as an Electric Height Adjustable Standing Desk and BackSupport office chair BS8 can help keep you healthy. Having one of these can give you the following benefits: good posture, prevention of diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart diseases. This can also give you a healthy blood circulation that prevents the development of pain in the body for sitting for long hours each day. Another advantage is that it can give you a good mental boost that will allow you to remain creative, productive, and have constantly flowing ideas. Needless to say, you’ll always be in a good mood, and you can rest easy knowing a simple change in furniture can help you stay away from the development of anxiety, depression, or stress. If you’ve never considered this before, you can visit websites such as Flexispot so you can see all the options that can be available to you.
Take a break and enjoy the mundane
The last thing you need is to get stuck in a loop of monotony. Kick things up a bit, and don’t worry about sacrificing your time that should be spent working. Spend a little time each day to just do something else. You can even schedule it if you want so you don’t think about spending too much (or too little) time doing this. And the good thing here is that you don’t even need to plan about what you want to do. That’s the exact opposite of what we’re trying to achieve. You can do anything available to you at the given time. You can do your hobby, play a game, walk for a few minutes, take a bathroom break and just stay there for some quiet time, you can even just stare outside the window and see what’s outside. This will help you especially when you’re always spending your time indoors.
Based on the aforementioned tips and points, you can’t deny that these are very simple things that you can easily do. But the difference here is that these simple changes can do you a world of good that your body will thank you for. And if that still doesn’t convince you, then think about this: if you make these small changes and it prevents you from getting sick or unable to work later on, then you can work more and reach your goals even faster.