Physical well-being in remote working

Table of Contents

What do you think: is it easier to have active breaks (exercise etc.) in the office or in remote work? Do some push-ups, squats, yoga, etc. That’s something to think of for the starters about this topic 😄

The first broad education that I studied for 3 years, was a Sports Instructor degree. I was super active in the physical area and did many different sports like volleyball, track and field, snowboarding, gym, etc. I also coached different sports a lot many years. So I have some experience in this physical well-being field.

Physical well-being is a super important area, and it’s related to so many other areas like mental health, productivity, creativity, etc.

Even though it can be easier to exercise in remote work, people often neglect the possibilities. According to research working from home or remote work can increase passivity and that can lead to different health issues. For example, when your physical health isn’t good it can begin to eat away at stress tolerance and ability to recover. A low amount of exercise weakens performance and function and significantly increases the risk of various lifestyle-related diseases.

And now comes the good news! That kind of poor situation can be easily corrected by taking intentional acts towards taking care of sufficient exercise and breaks during the working day. A remote working environment has the perfect opportunity for doing so, it’s all about making the decision and acting on it.

Breaks

Breaks during working, especially active ones are an effective way to add mobility to the working day. So-called micro activities or other exercises are one great way to energize yourself and have that important active movement throughout your day. These breaks could contain e.g. physical activities and stretching.

There are plenty of good examples of these on the Internet. One is the U.S. News Health site concerning Here’s Why Breaks Are So Important When You’re Working From Home and the Allianz Care site about The importance of exercise in a remote or hybrid world of work. There’s also another good article: Why Breaks Are So Important When You’re Working From Home – https://health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/taking-a-break-from-work.

The best thing is that those active breaks are easy to execute during the remote working day. Remote Work Junkie writes that taking a 5-10 minute break every hour helps the mind and body feel better and stay productive. Of course, it’s not possible always to have the breaks evenly but it’s good to have several breaks to avoid the loss of strength, brain capacity, muscle stiffness, etc.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀/𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀

🥇 6 Micro Activities You Should Do for Your Body Every Day: https://lnkd.in/d-KCmQCj

🥇 Micro Exercise: What is it and More Importantly, Can it Get Us in Better Shape? https://lnkd.in/d2bju_bk

Benefits of exercising

There are several benefits of exercising and having breaks according to the articles in this post:

Enhanced Energy and Focus
Reduced Stress Levels
Enhanced Creativity
Reduction in Physical Discomfort, Such as Back or Neck Pain
Cultivation of Healthier Habits
Increased Motivation for Work
Improved Problem-solving Abilities
Opportunity for Your Brain To Reset
Improved Work-Life Balance

In my experience, it’s good to start to exercise with quite low expectations and goals to simply be able to start and stay in the routine. If you start too massively, you just wear out and get stressed about too much time-consuming workouts. For example, a 15-30-minute workout for starters is enough. Divided into different days e.g. a couple of sets of squats, pushups, abs, upper and lower back, and shoulders. Don’t forget to warm up first and stretch in the end. When you have built a simple but firm routine, then it’s easy to grow it, make it more versatile, and stick to it.

Interesting people

One good way to improve one’s exercise habits could be using a personal coach or such to like make things happen more effectively.

🏃 I connected to one awesome guy on LinkedIn who specializes in helping digital nomads stay fit: Joe Müller – Fitness for Digital Nomads. Check him out, and visit also their NomadStrong LinkedIn site and website at https://nomadstrong.com/.

🏃 Another amazing Nomad Strong guy is Marlon Schadek, who guides digital nomads in the fitness area. Go ahead to the NomadStrong LinkedIn site and website at https://nomadstrong.com/.

🏃 Another interesting concept can be found in My Hoang Nguyen (LinkedIn), whose mission is to help people unlock their full potential through the power of dance. It’s worth checking out because dance relates to the physical aspect closely. Visit her LinkedIn company site and her website can be found at https://www.dancewithmy.com/.

My is giving a Free Guideline to help you shine on the dance floor, it’s a very easy but fabulous step, as My breakdowns and guides you through. Check it here: https://theconfidance.myflodesk.com/

🏃 Check also Aya Aiste Jokub, who specializes in providing healthy productivity and well-being online courses for freelancers, solopreneurs, and digital nomads. Visit her vivoWOW LinkedIn page and website at https://vivowow.com/.

Do you know other remote work or digital nomad well-being people? Add those to the comments section.

Eye health – breaks, lighting, workstation placement

Another thing related to overall physical health, especially your eye health, is taking short breaks from staring displays. One simple advice is: take a 20-second break every 20 minutes and stare out of the window to 20-meter distance. And again, there you have one healthy break to your day, or multiple when you do this several times a day.

Good lighting increases work safety, comfort, and work motivation. Insufficient or inappropriate lighting strains the eyes, is uncomfortable, and can cause mistakes that could lead to a work accident. Adequate general lighting is needed in the workspace and, if necessary, spotlights as well.

A space with indirect natural light can be allowed if the amount of light is sufficient. In this case, protection against glare caused by sunlight must be taken into account, for example with blinds or awnings.

The lighting must be sufficiently strong and even, and there must not be large lighting fluctuations, glare, or disturbing shadows in the field of vision. In indoor spaces where employees are constantly staying, moving, or working, the lighting intensity must generally be at least 150-200 lux.

The work desk should not be placed against the window, because then the eyes adapt to the light coming from the window instead of the computer screen. The screen should not be directly in front of the window, as the pupils react to outside light by limiting too much light from entering the eye. This can affect eye fatigue and reduce work efficiency. It’s advised also to put a blue screen filter on in your laptop and phone to reduce eye strain.

Drinking and eating

In addition to physical exercises, it’s crucial to maintain proper and regular drinking and eating habits to maintain full energy levels. So drink water regularly to boost your day, and remember to eat versatile and healthy food. How much water you should drink in a day? It depends on many things like age, activity level, gender, climate, etc. Some sources say that eight glasses, or 2-3 liters, would be enough for optimal health and digestion. While it’s a useful rule of thumb, the reality is that there is no universally prescribed amount of water that applies to everyone.

These eating and drinking moments also will give you that much-needed small break from your work and give you the strength to work efficiently.

Resources

Here are a couple of good resources for finding workout routines:

📕 Exercises to Keep Employees Active While Working from Home – https://community.virginpulse.com/work-from-home-exercises-to-keep-employees-active-and-healthy

📕 The 8 Best At-Home Workout Routines: The Ultimate Guide for Training Without a Gym – https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/the-7-best-at-home-workout-routines-the-ultimate-guide-for-training-without-a-gym/

📕 30 Moves to Make the Most of Your At-Home Workout – https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/at-home-workouts#beginner-routine

📕 45 of the Best Exercises to Boost Your Home Workout Gains – https://www.menshealth.com/uk/building-muscle/a754099/the-15-best-beginners-exercises-to-do-at-home/

And articles about working spaces and drinking water

📕 Working spaces – https://tyosuojelu.fi/tyoolot/tyoymparisto/tyotilat (in Finnish)

📕 Tips for good vision in display terminal work – https://www.silmaasema.fi/artikkeli/hyva-nakeminen-nayttopaatetyossa.html (in Finnish)

How Much Water Should You Drink Every Day? – https://www.realsimple.com/health/how-much-water-to-drink-day

There are many others also, and YouTube is a great tool for finding more exercises.

To what extent have companies implemented physical well-being in their culture? Do they encourage and motivate employees to train, have breaks, move, etc. enough? I can just imagine that this area needs a large-scale shift of mindset and plenty of development to gain full benefits for the employees’ well-being and for employers.

Check also my material section about well-being.