How to be Mentally and Physically Fit While Working From Home – Home Isolation Tips

The pandemic has turned our lives upside down. We were all caught up in our daily routines revolving around packing lunch, travel, office timings, weekends, and outdoor plans. Then, the COVID-19 outbreak changed our lives overnight, landing us in a situation where we had to stay home, stay safe, and continue working from home.

This has made things difficult in many ways. From our mental peace to physical health, it has impacted a lot and thrown us many challenges in the form of stress, anxiety, isolation and many more.

The Impact and Challenges of Working from Home

Work from home is a phase where the line drawn between work life and personal life is erased. Now, everything has to be managed seamlessly at home, and it becomes quite stressful to handle kids, household activities, family obligations, distractions, and focus on your professional work at the same place, all day long. Juggling all these tasks can become chaotic and strenuous.

Mental Health Challenges

When you are grounding yourself in one place, you won’t be able to get the much-needed shift in physical environments, and human interaction. This affects a person mentally, it leads to the development of anxiety and Cabin Fever over time. So many people have hardly met or spoken to their friends and families in a long time.

Physical Health Challenges

Isolating yourself in one place naturally leads to a sedentary lifestyle with little or no movement during the day. Before the COVID-19 situation, travel to the workplace had used to provide at least some degree of physical activity. In a work from home scenario, even that’s lost. Recent studies have shown that obesity levels have been increasing since the Pandemic outbreak.

These challenges are at a fundamental level. Beyond these, people’s health is being impacted because of this new state of life, in many ways. Therefore, people need to proactively find ways to stay healthy and improve their health care at home. So, we are here to help you with that!

Best ways to stay healthy at home!

When you are hustling and juggling everything from home, it can be quite easy to lose yourself in your work and household chores. This leaves no room for a workout. So, make sure to take some time out for a home workout which can take care of your fitness.

• Workouts for Work-from-home

When you are stuck at your desk, continuously working on a laptop, the muscles in your neck, back, and shoulder tend to get tight and weak.

During the day, take small breaks to stretch these muscles. This is great for maintaining flexibility and mobility in those muscles and joints, in the long run.

For your workouts, you can do these simple exercises at home. You can do Jump squats, Pile squats, Bicep curls, Stair climb, Push-ups, Pull-ups, Hip extensions, Ab exercises, Lunges, and Lunges with Back rows. You can also do Cardiovascular activities like cycling, jogging, and brisk walking. Moreover, there are many varieties of exercises and home workouts out there to choose from.

• Tips for a Healthy Work-from-home Diet

i. Do your grocery shopping in advance. Buy healthy food in bulk, which is sufficient for a week or two. When you invest in advance, it will motivate you to stick to a healthy diet.

ii. To boost your energy and focus, go for the right foods. Having a healthy and balanced diet with vegetables, fruits, whole-grain foods, lean protein, and healthy fats (nuts & seeds), will keep you energetic and productive throughout the day.

iii. In a home environment, it is easy to fall into binge eating, especially on sugary foods, and processed goods. They are unhealthy both for your body and mind. It is always a great idea to avoid them.

iv. In these uncertain times, it is better not to challenge your immunity and put yourself in danger by ordering from outside or eating outside food. Cooking healthy food at home is the best way to go!

v. Frequent late-night snacking will ruin your digestive system in the long run. It is always healthy to have a good dinner and to sleep early.

• Ways to Stay Mentally Healthy

1. Waking up early doesn’t mean you have to wake up at 4 AM or 5 AM. You can wake up between 6 AM – 8 AM, and have a solid morning routine. Waking up early gives you time to plan and prepare for your day. Doing Cardio or Yoga in the morning on an empty stomach is a healthy tip for those looking for weight loss.
2. Going to bed at a fixed time will result in a healthy sleep cycle. Getting a good fixed 6-7 hour sleep every day will keep your body and mind fresh for active functioning throughout the day. Make sure you don’t hit the bed too late at night and don’t use mobile phones right before sleeping.
3. To keep yourself on track to eat on time, you can prepare your meals and snacks in advance, and set reminders on your phone every 3 to 3 and 1/2 hours to get your meals and snacks. This way, you are not deprived of mental energy from lack of proper nutrition. A solid breakfast is always a tremendous psychological booster, so don’t skip it.
4. It is worth mentioning it again! Exercising also has immense positive results on your mental wellbeing. It relieves stress, improves your sleep, and boosts your mind with a refreshing mood. A state of decreased stress levels will also cause you to improve your memory. Overall, exercising is great for your health.
5. The Management of your company may take extra precautions to keep you focused on your work. But, naturally, people tend to overwork in work from home scenarios, where work often tends to extend and spill over beyond regular work hours.

It is always essential to draw boundaries between work life and personal life, especially when working from home. These strict boundaries will protect you from overworking and the stress caused by it.

Maintaining Personal Hygiene

Personal hygiene is good for both – the health and social reasons. It promotes healthy lifestyle and better health. This ultimately prevents catching germs and fall sick.

• Personal sanitization:

Taking the simplest of measures will keep you safe in these dangerous times. Being mindful about not touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with dirty hands, and sanitizing your hands frequently after touching surfaces in public areas is extremely important.

Make sure you avoid the following:

1. Smoking and alcohol consumption
2. Refrigerating cooked foods
3. Sharing cutlery and clothing with family members
4. Overeating
5. Late-night sleeping
6. Overcooking your food, as its nutritional value gets depleted

Make sure you do these following these:

1. Consume adequate healthy liquids (water, juices, soups, buttermilk, coconut water)
2. Practice breathing exercises
3. Eating more fruits, veggies, and salads
4. Consume herbal tea once per day
5. Cook fresh meals
6. Start your day with water or fresh juices

• Environmental Sanitization:

Sanitize your surroundings by cleaning high touch surfaces like remote controls, mobiles, doorknobs, handles, computer mouse, switches, laptops, and toys with disinfectants. Always clean things that are brought from outside.

Sanitize your floorings with detergent water and disinfectants. Clean your bedsheets and blankets with detergent and hot water, and dry them in the sun.

Points to keep in mind while at public places:

• A healthy workplace should have cross-ventilation so that you don’t end up breathing foul-air
• Always use a closed bin
• Do not sneeze into open environments
• Replace cash transaction with online payments
• Avoid overcrowded areas
• Always wear a quality mask, maintain and insist on social distancing

Conclusion

So, these are some work-from-home tips that will keep you safe and healthy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It is quite natural to fall victim to unhealthy habits perpetuated by the work-from-home environment. But, we need to proactively choose a healthier lifestyle with the help of proper and professional guidance.

The Fit Indian is such a one-stop solution to get that professional guidance to all your fitness and healthcare needs. We deliver custom-designed workout programs, expert-driven nutrition plans, organic supplementation, weight gain, and weight loss plans, and effective lifestyle changes.