Building a Healthy Office
As more and more people work from home, it’s becoming increasingly more important to create an office space that promotes health and productivity. We have put forth our tips for optimizing your home office space in order to stay comfortable and focused.
Healthy Home Office
SITTING IS THE NEW SMOKING
An adjustable desk is a great way to move away from sedentary habits. Between the time we spend sitting at a desk, as well as the time we spend lounging around the house, the majority of most days are spent sitting down. Sitting for long periods stalls your muscles from breaking down sugars and fats, which has adverse effects on your health and cardiovascular structure. Sitting is the new smoking.
Having a height flexible desk that adjusts from a fully seated position to standing is an effective way to get yourself on your feet while working. We know what you’re thinking. Not everyone has the budget or the desire to invest in a standing desk. If this stands true for you, there are always keyword and monitor trays that take your standard desk to an adjustable desk when you feel like standing.
IF YOU MUST SIT, SIT COMFORTABLY
For those who sit for a living, your office chair is as important as your mattress. If you’re desk-bound, we spend about a third of our day sitting on one chair. With all this time spent on a single surface, you have to ask yourself if you’re doing everything you can for your physical health. Are you?
The difference between an ill-fitting, standard office chair and an ergonomic one is night and day. A correctly sized and ergonomic chair will encourage proper sitting posture with a comfortable and supportive structure as well as reduce the risk of physical problems. Without this level of support, we are helping our body to develop poor sitting habits and opening all kinds of doors to the potential neck, back, shoulder, and hip problems.
LIGHT FOR SUCCESS
Let there be light! Natural light creates ambiance, boosts your Vitamin D, wards off seasonal disorders, and is proven to improve health factors such as sleep, mood, and complexion.
As much as we love natural light, if it’s working adversely with the angle of your monitors, this can cause strain on your eyes or cause headaches. Consider your light source and work with it by angling your monitors parallel to windows. The use of desk lamps to soften the brightness of your monitor saves your eyes, head, and increases productivity.
If you are blessed with lots of natural light in your home workspace, work with it to create the best possible space for your productivity and health. If this is not the case, fake it till you make it with mirrors, artificial light, and even bump up the greenery.
GO GREEN
Being in nature or viewing scenes of nature is proven to reduce anger, fear, and stress all while increasing pleasant feelings. Since we can’t be in nature while we’re working—for the most part—the best we can do is try to recreate the beauty of the great outdoors and bring it inside.
Introducing plants into your workspace can create an actively engaging environment and boost performance—as well as happiness—within your space. Not only with they add a soothing presence and beautiful aesthetic to your office, but they also come with many health benefits too. Houseplants provide filtration and removal of harmful airborne toxins by absorbing these gases through their leaves and roots, leaving you with the healthiest air possible.
And who doesn’t love the look of plants?
AVOID DISTRACTIONS
When working from home, it’s inevitable to fall distracted by your to-do list. We tend to let our mind wander on our household duties, such as the dishes or the laundry. It’d be fair to say that breaks in our concentration not only lead to decreased productivity but also frustration. Setting up your workspace in a secluded room, or transforming any space into a secluded room, eliminates distractions and improves your efficiency.
If you do not have the luxury of that far-off room away from all the madness, there are alternative options to creating your safe-space. Installing sound absorbers or having white noise help to absorb and muffle external distractions and provides for a quieter work experience.
There are many things that go into creating a healthy home office. If you have set up camp at home or work remotely, small improvements to your desk, chair, or atmosphere can not only increase your overall productivity but have immeasurable effects on your health—both mental and physical.