Working From Home – Stay Healthy and Productive

Keeping hydrated is vital in order for us to optimise our health and performance in everyday life and that extends to our working day. It can be so easy during a busy day to forget or not prioritise taking on fluids during regular intervals.

Taking those little moments, although you feel you may not have time at some points in your day, are definitley worth it. Studies show that dehydration will affect concentration levels, mood, clarity of thought and a huge increase in fatigue.

Here at Wellbeing Group, the home of workplace refreshment, we have put together some top tips for staying well hydrated whilst working from home. Keep yourself healthy and focussed throughout your working day, helping you perform to the best of your ability.

Start the day early

This is critical.  Your morning commute to work usually helps you wake up and ready to take on your daily tasks by the time you get to the office.  Without this commute, the journey from the pillow to your computer could be a struggle!  Starting early will help you by setting off on the right foot.

Carry on with your usual morning routine

What in your usual routine defines the start or your working day?  It may be a heading home after a morning stroll, making the bed or switching on the coffee machine.  Keeping up any task you normally carry out before heading to the office helps put your brain in the right mood.  Where the same clothes that you would in the office, just because no one else may be around, it doesn’t mean you stay in your PJs all day!

Create a Timetable

Without being under the eye of work colleagues, it’s easy to start to drifting off on to other tasks around the house, perhaps the washing machine has just finished or the dog wagging its tail for a walk.  A timetable will help you stay on track allowing you to accomplish more, be flexible and if you do need to carry out a personal task perhaps reduce the lunch break you were going to take.

Have a dedicated work space

Set up a desk or location that you can go to and if possible have a work PC and a personal PC as this will help stay focused on work tasks.  If you only have a laptop, keep a mindset that when it’s on the work desk, its work work then elsewhere its personal.

Set breaks and take them! 

Mirror your company’s break time policy to give you time away from your desk.  Taking these breaks away from the screen is vital as it gives you something to work towards and to recharge your minds.  Don’t short change yourself as this can lead to demotivation.

Minimise distractions

Social media can be the biggest time waster.  Close down any social media tabs and remove short cuts or use incognito browsing to help avoid the temptation of scrolling through the news feeds.  Communicate your expectations with any other company at home so they respect your working hours.

Keep connected

Make contact with other employees at least once a day, they will be glad to hear from you as they’re in the same boat.  Video call is a great way to collaborate and can be used to hold huddle meetings, it also an incentive to get dressed properly!  Customers will want to hear from people too, keep in touch with them so they know everything is still running as normal.

Be positive

A negative mindset doesn’t do anyone any good.  Keep positive, look at motivational quotes, maybe share quotes with the rest of your team to keep the positive vibes flowing.  Make sure your team share any wins they have, Whatsapp voice calls to the team work well!

Stay healthy

Being closer to the fridge and cupboards makes it easy to snack throughout the day. Before you open the fridge door, keep in mind what you are going to eat otherwise once that door opens you will be tempted to grab the tastiest (but not necessarily the healthiest) item in sight. Drink plenty of water, maybe even consider a plumbed in water cooler so you have access to chilled, filtered drinking water at all times.  

Plan your food in advance, it can be much quicker to prepare double quantity of food so you have something ready for the next day too. Look after yourself with good coffee too, many employees have access to an office coffee machine and if you don’t have a bean to cup machine at home then try a filter brew type coffee with ground coffee.  Make it fun and try different brewing methods like cold drip coffee.

Finish on time

Have a finish time in mind so you finish on time and allow time for the family and other personal tasks.  A set finish time will give you something to work towards and motivate you to complete tasks.  It also means that other staff members are aware of the time you finish work so they don’t interrupt you once you’ve past this time.

Most of all, make it personal so do what works best for you.  It is a good idea to ask friends and colleagues how they get on but not everything they do will work for you.  It needs to be practical and efficient to be able work in the long term. Working from home could become part of the new normal.

We hope you found this article helpful, please don’t forget to share with anyone else in the same boat and feel free to send us your ideas! 

Email: sales@thewellbeinggroup.co.uk

Visit our product pages to how we keep staff across the uk hydrated and fuelled during the working day: wellbeinggroup.co.uk

Stay hydrated at work