Five ways to stay healthy and sane while working remotely
The workforce has gone virtual. Companies are discovering that there are multiple benefits to working at home. But remote working can also lead to some very unhealthy habits which should be avoided. At NK&A we have been working remotely for 20 years, and have learned to recognize and avoid the pitfalls. Here are some ways to stay healthy and sane while working from home:
- Take breaks: Step away during the day. Set an alarm on your computer for every hour to get up and walk around for a minute, or look out a window, or stretch. There are natural distractions at an office that you don’t have when you work from home. You have to be intentional about giving yourself time to breathe, or it won’t happen. If you don’t step away sometimes, it will start to feel like your life is work, and there is much more to you than that. Keep the balance that will see you through this crisis and give yourself breaks during the day.
- Sign off at night: Allow yourself to “leave” work at night. Even though it’s right in the other room, and when there’s a quiet moment you’re tempted to go in and work, it’s important to take the night off. Working from home doesn’t mean that all your time at home should be spent working. There will always be more work to do, but after a full day, it’s okay to sign off until tomorrow.
- Connect with people: This is more important now than it has ever been. Take the time to call someone, or write a letter, or video chat…remember that we are members of the human race and we need connection.
- Communicate with your team: Whether you are the worker or the boss, communication is at a premium right now. Make sure that the other members of your team know where you are and what you need. At NK&A, we send daily summaries of what is happening with clients, and meet once per week to keep us all on the same page and working as a unit. If you don’t keep the communication flowing, it will start to feel like a team of islands, floating independently. In order to move forward you need to act like a unit and support each other, which means more communication.
- Remember your health: You don’t see people very much anymore, so it will be tempting to let yourself go. Don’t give in! Get exercise, enough sleep, and eat right. Shower and get dressed…take care of yourself. It can be tempting to treat this time like an “extended snow day,” but the problem is that your behaviors now will start to change the way you think about yourself. You don’t have as many external forces now encouraging you to be healthy, which is why you have to be that force for yourself. Remember you are important, and the only one who will take care of you, is you. If you do, you will find you perform better at your job, and will be much more capable and ready to handle the current crisis,
