Remote working is becoming more popular all the time. A recent report by Global Workplace Analytics’ said that 80 to 90% of employees who like to work remotely if given the choice.
By allowing your employees to work remotely, you are showing your trust and letting them work where it feels most comfortable to them. It’s expected that workspaces will continue to move away from an office desk and into home offices.
But working remotely is not as easy as many people think and many employees notice harmful changes to their mental and physical health after only a short time. It’s important to stay in a healthy and productive routine, and many people can adopt bad habits that have serious side effects on their life.
1. Exercising At Home
The first – and probably most important – is the need to stay active for a remote worker. It can become extremely easy for a full-time remote worker to roll out of bed, work all day, and then hit the couch for the evening.
After a few days, you’re going to feel sluggish and the inactivity will quickly catch up with you. Even if you weren’t regularly active before you started working remote, the regular commute to work was a way for you to get your cardio in and be active every day.
All-day, as you get up from your desk and roam around the office, it’s also a way for you to get your steps in. Without this regular activity, you’ll begin to feel out of shape and inactive.
Many remote workers regularly get outside and walk around the neighborhood in the morning before their shift, or as needed – but when the Winter weather hits, this can become difficult.
If you purchase one of the best home treadmills or indoor cycling bikes, you don’t have to rely on the weather. You can get your exercise in whenever you want, at any time during the day as you work from home.
2. Communicate With Coworkers or Other Remote Workers
Remote workers can quickly lose out on valuable communication with coworkers, employers, and friends when they begin working from home. When you go out into the public every day to work, the communication comes to you whether you like it or not.
If you work remotely, you need to seek it out and make an effort so you don’t start lacking necessary conversations with other people.
Whether it’s setting up a communication software where you can regularly communicate with coworkers and managers, or scheduling a time every week to catch up with them, you should plan out a process. A meaningful conversation will keep your mind stimulated and your neural skills in operation.
3. Set Time Limits
As someone who has worked remotely for multiple years, I can confirm that time slips away when you’re working from home and it can be hard to disconnect. You may start on time in the morning and, next thing you know, it’ll be 8 pm at night.
Doing this once or twice isn’t a big deal, but if you start doing this regularly, it’ll take a toll on you quickly. Staring at a screen for more than eight hours every day long into the evening is hard on your head and will leave you dazed after a few days.
It’s important to set up time restraints for when you are going to work and stick them to religiously. Make sure you don’t push the limits too often or your work (and life) will begin to suffer.
4. Clean Yourself Up
It’s important for someone who is working from home every day to stop caring about themselves, and nothing can make you feel worse than continuously cutting out the routine of cleaning yourself in the morning.
Waking up, jumping in the shower, and getting dressed is an important human routine to keep up with, even when you are continuously working from home.
It’ll help you wake up and feel purposeful if you can keep up with this routine on a daily basis.
5. Get Out Of the House
While working from home is a great luxury, it’s nice to get out of the house every now and then.
I recommend heading to a coffee shop or co-working space every now so often to change up your scenery and workspace. By changing your workspace, you’ll inject some excitement into your day just when things are getting a little stale.
Working from home is comfortable and dangerous. Heading out the door in the morning might be just what you need to keep things fresh every few days.