Tips for Working from Home Effectively: Healthy Organization

When the pandemic hit us in late March and we were forced to go through a lockdown phase, the “Work from home” norm started. There was panic and yet there was the excitement of getting to work from home, spending more time with family, and being able to avoid the long travels and the hectic mornings. But somewhere, this has impacted our health tremendously. We are now at a lack of routine, the relaxed home environment and the lack of push and pressure of the workplace have made us more carefree and sluggish. For working individuals, one hassle between personal & professional life, and what has all this led to? Eating unhealthy food, poor ergonomic workplace, reducing physical activity, increased stress, etc. Thus, here are some Tips for Working from Home Effectively.

With leisure time especially at night, binge-watching with unhealthy snacking & sleepless nights add on to the lethargic lifestyle. Shifting to a healthier lifestyle has now come under the radar, Boosting Immunity in Corporates has now come into the picture, and Immunity isn’t built in a day. It’s a process that involves the 4 pillars of health.

• Nutrition
• Fitness Activity
• Sound Sleep
• Stress Management

A healthy body or a great immune system isn’t dependent on 1 superfood or a few spices. It’s a way of living every single day, and it’s crucial that we give due importance to managing our routines for better health. Setting a regime for your employee, helping them with a sense of purpose, which is indirectly enhancing one’s productivity! Here are a few ways that can help you form a routine and keep the 4 pillars of health in check.

Tips for Working from Home Effectively

1. Balanced meals

Your food decides 80% of what you feel, what you weigh, your mood throughout the day and your energy levels. A little planning and pre-preparation can serve us for a long term throughout our WFH routine.

• Use the weekend to plan what you will eat the next 5 days of the week
• Keep it simple like vegetable lentil khichdi, dal cheela, stuffed roti’s, soup and sautéed veggies and sprouts chat.
• 2-3 types of soups can be made and stored in the freezer. You can temper them the day you have to eat it.
• Heavier legumes like kidney beans, chickpeas can be boiled and kept. This can be used in salads or quickly sauteed for dinner.
• It can be easy to wander into the kitchen when you know it’s packed with treats, so keep temptation at bay by buying fresh fruits and vegetables, and keeping the candy and junk food out of sight.
• You will find a sample meal plan to get you through the day with the ideal timings at the end of this article.

2. Physical activity

If you are completing 10 thousand steps in a day you are considered a physically active person. Achieving this count is not a herculean task, just like you schedule a task at work, one can reach the target soon.

• Plan a 30-40 minute brisk walk in the morning. This will help you cover up to half the target.
• During office hours make sure you get up from the desk at regular intervals. Walk while you are on calls, get up to fill your water bottles, make time to walk in balcony post lunch and dinner.
• The rest of the steps are usually done while completing the home tasks like cooking, laundry and more

3. Stress

IS REAL and needs taming. All of us have stress. The intensity varies. At times when work stress is all over the head, that indirectly affects physical fitness, mental well-being, digestive issues, mood swings, sleepless nights, etc. Organisations can opt for popular modules like Yoga, Zumba, Meditations, creative experiential learning’s, nurturing sessions, so on and so forth.

4. Sleep

Sticking to the same wake time and bedtime are crucial aspects of self-care because those contribute to sleep quality. Cleanse you’re being by giving your body the right frame of mind through regular sleep cycles and keep up your energy levels throughout the day with this blissful break. If needed, aim for a 20-minute power nap, and set an alarm for it, he suggests.

The four pillars lay the foundation stone of corporate employee wellness. Once you get into this cycle, employees can explore more to streamline their needs with wellness programs & solutions.

Read more on 5 Ultimate Truths of Living a Balanced & Healthy Lifestyle

Make time blocks for everything: Make sure you have charted out the time for a walk, cooking, work and family. Set these expectations right with everyone in the house and stick to these time blocks at least 80% of the time.

Transition time: Create a transition time from home mode to office mode. A demarcation is necessary between work & home during this period of working from home! Fixing on a routine such as exercising between hitting the desk, getting dressed up for office virtual meets, etc.

Make cooking easy and effective: Ensure to plan and pre-prepare on the weekend.

Designated Workplace: If you do no create a designated space, you will in most probability slouch on the sofa or the bed. Such lethargy at work can bring down one’s efficiency levels, along with certain backaches & can reduce productivity drastically.

Have a time-out: Set a time frame to move out of the office zone, change back into pyjamas, put away the phone and laptop and get the dinner ready.

Make time for yourself through the simplest things: It could be reading your favourite book before bed, having a cup of tea in the balcony by yourself, sitting with your thoughts alone. Even 20 minutes in silence with yourself can do wonders for mental health. These are some simple & surreal tips for Working from Home Effectively.

“Building a framework for your Work From Home Journey in an Organisation is important” It’s about creating a sense of purpose and pride, while we are on our way to make healthy choices, by setting priorities, building routines around & at work. Especially now when none of us knows what looms ahead, these things can give you a much-needed sense of control that translates to making working into a meaningful activity — not one more big stressor.

“Self-care is not selfish”