Many of us tend to overlook the fact that the average person will spend around a third of their life at work or in the office. So, being able to recognise how we can take care of ourselves before we leave for work and during our day is very important when keeping us healthy and on top of our game in the workplace. Here we will look at some practical ways that you can incorporate wellness into your daily routine from some key health aspects, which will help keep your mind and body healthy for years to come!
Many of us tend to overlook the fact that the average person will spend around a third of their life at work or in the office. So, being able to recognise how we can take care of ourselves before we leave for work and during our day is very important when keeping us healthy and on top of our game in the workplace. Here we will look at some practical ways that you can incorporate wellness into your daily routine from some key health aspects, which will help keep your mind and body healthy for years to come!
Physical Attention
Setting yourself up for the day right can be the difference between having a long, tiring day and having an organised, energizing day at work. Firstly, understanding how sleep impacts your lifestyle is crucial when reflecting how you will operate during the day. It’s recommended that healthy adults should get between 7-9 hours of sleep per night to feel fully rested and refreshed. In addition, sleep and exercise has been shown to go hand in hand, getting you into a healthy routine in the morning which can help create a hormonal balance, boost metabolism and get you motivated for the day ahead.
Though, taking care of your mental and physical wellness during the working day is just as important. Incorporating movement into your day can bring about many health benefits, such as improved mobility and increased muscle and joint strength. Alternating modes of transport to work is a great way to stay in shape, switching driving or getting the bus for example to walking or cycling if you can!
Whilst at work, taking the chance to keep your mind and body active throughout the day has also proven hugely beneficial. Having regular walks for fresh air to clear the mind, stretches or even taking walking phone calls can make a huge difference to your wellness during the working day. If you want to kick it up a notch why not use your lunch break to fit in a quick HIIT or even a gym session – getting your workout done for the day and leaving you free to relax in the evening!
Mental Strength
Being able to mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead plays just as an important, if not more important than physically. Setting yourself daily goals can be very helpful for giving yourself manageable targets to work towards during the day. This is important so you don’t get too overwhelmed or burnt-out from stress or from over-working yourself!
One method you can adopt to manage your workload is ‘eating the frog’ at the start of your day, where you identify the biggest or most important task for the day and get that done before anything else... Giving you more ease of mind for the remainder of the day, so eat that frog people!
Another approach you could try is the pomodoro technique, where you would break your workday up into 25-minute chunks separated by 5-minute breaks. These are known as pomodoros and then after about four pomodoros you would take a longer 15–20-minute break. This can be a great technique to adopt for overall productivity and wellness, as this approach may help to prevent getting frazzled from staring at screens all day as well as not taking appropriate breaks
Speaking of breaks – a corporate wellness retreat may be just what you and your team need to rest, revitalise and re-bond as a team. From team away days to incentive breaks, nutritional workshops and more there are plenty of formats to choose from depending on your preferences!
Diet & Nutrition
A healthy diet and nutrition are also very important for sustaining effective wellness at work. Fuelling your body with a balanced, healthy diet will lead to a healthy lifestyle and prolonged wellness at work. Often in our fast-paced working days we can leave little room for thinking mindfully about what we eat and when. There are many ways you could start getting into a routine and changing your habits at work even from today! Choosing to eat less processed or fatty foods and replacing them with nutritional alternatives such as fruit, meat, fish, tofu or nuts.
Reducing your intake of caffeine is also great for your wellness day-to-day. Although it might be tough to start with, reducing caffeine can reduce anxiety, lower your blood pressure, improve absorption of those needed nutrients and give you a better-quality sleep. Ultimately, bettering your diet and nutrition during the work day can give you a powerful immunity boost, preventing you from getting sick and not going into work all together!
Want to take things even further? We offer a range of nutrition-friendly retreats to help you form a positive and healthy relationship with food.
Spiritual Practices
Practicing mindfulness techniques is also a great way to connect your mind and body and level yourself during the working day, to stay grounded and focused on the tasks at hand. There are many reasons why meditation is good for your health and they all translate into the workplace too. Taking just a few minutes or up to half an hour to meditate before work could make all the difference! Meditation can be perfect to help you build skills to manage stress, reduce negative emotions, increase patience and tolerance to name just a few of the benefits!
During your day at work, breathing techniques can also be a good method for managing stress and anxiety. Pranayama breathing is a great technique which consists of slow, regulated deep breathing to help reduce stress, balance emotions and calm the mind. Perfect for a busy or stressful day at work that you can use at any point of the day.
Keeping up with our wellness throughout the working week can make a huge difference to our mood, fitness and even productivity during the day. These approaches aren’t timing consuming and they create much more energy than you are using to carry them out, so they’re 100% worth it! Even just to start with, take some smaller steps by making some diet changes for lunch or try some different breathing techniques during the day and then progress from there... Give it a go and you’ll soon start to see and feel all of the healthy benefits!
