According to research by Psychology today, the average person spends 90,000 hours at work in their lifetime. That’s a whole lot of time to overlook if you’re in any way concerned about your wellbeing.
Luckily, you don’t need to take any drastic steps to learn healthy habits that can be sustained in the workplace. These small changes in your behaviour and environment are enough to get you started on the journey to a healthier version of yourself:
– Make Water Your New BFF
Staying hydrated seems like a no-brainer, but it is stunning how many people are going about their business without paying attention to their water intake.
Meanwhile, a lack of proper hydration affects your productivity, brings on random headaches and fogginess while reducing your mental (and physical) performance.
Air conditioning is a common cause of dehydration in modern offices.
– Take Standing Breaks
Sitting for long stretches of time can increase your risk for diabetes and heart diseases. It could also be the cause of that recurring back pain. A simple way to protect your health is to stand every 30 minutes.
Even without leaving your desk, a 5-minute standing break helps your back, shoulders, hips and neck.
Including more physical activity in your day where possible will also go a long way. Take the stairs when possible, park further away, have walking meetings and walk to lunch, if possible.
– Embrace Positivity
Whether it’s annoying co-workers or ridiculously busy days, the workplace has the potential to be incredibly stressful.
Infusing some positive imagery and elements into your workspace can help transform it into a relatively peaceful environment.
Decorate your workspace with positive affirmations, pictures where possible. Leave yourself sticky notes with messages that motivate you. Simply getting a desk plant has been shown to help productivity by 12 per cent.