Rund's Halloween Makeup TutorialOct.27.2020
Today’s digital infrastructure, though exciting and innovative, tends to involve a lot more sitting and screen time. But this doesn’t have to be a bad thing – there are loads of ways to combat the effects of sitting. It’s all about the ergonomics, listening to your body, and giving yourself the healthiest experience you can in your daily work routine. Here are some simple tips to try out and see if you can make your office environment a healthy one.
Make sure your screen is raised to eye level, so you’re not looking up, down, or at an angle consistently – which avoids uncomfortable eye and neck strains. It’s easy enough to find a few books or a box to stack your screen on – keep it nice and simple.
Try a stability ball – you’ll definitely need to put more effort into sitting up straight, as well as balancing on the ball, which comes from your core stability and engaging the abdominal muscles. Don’t sit on the ball all day, as this will be tiring for the body – but intermittent bursts, and changing things up will hugely benefit your posture and overall stability.
So you’re sitting at your desk for nine hours a day – that’s never going to be healthy in the long run, so be mindful about how you sit and how long you sit for. Standing work stations make great ‘floating desks’ as well as spaces for quick group huddles when you don’t need it to be a lengthy meeting. And if your office doesn’t have one, then make one! It’s so simple to make a standing desk – check out Pinterest DIY, get yourself a large plank of wood and some legs – and voila, you have yourself a standing desk area! (Disclaimer: get the all-clear from a carpenter before using).
You should be getting up and taking a little walk around every 30-40 minutes – even if you’re just going to the water cooler to refill your bottle, or taking a quick bathroom break. If you can get outside for a short stroll around, even better – or take your meetings outside if you can!
Stretching is totally underrated and so important in everything that we do. You wake up, you stretch, you work out, you stretch, you sit on your behind for nine hours a day – you should be stretching. Your muscles become all stiff and tense when they’re in a static position for hours on end, and stretching in your office will help to wake the muscles up, and give them a little boost of energy.
Work can be stressful, particularly around deadline week, which is why taking breaks is so important. It’s also important to take a step back from time to time, to assess the situation and its gravity. More often than not, the situation is not life or death and is unlikely to mark the end of the world. Meditation is an effective way to deal with stressful situations, and it can be done anywhere – you don’t have to be sat in a yoga ashram on top of a mountain (though this may be favorable) – you just need to be mindful, aware, and take the time to breathe. Find an empty meeting room in your office to take a breather in, or even sit in your car for 10 minutes – and don’t forget to crack a window.
These are all super simple steps to keeping a healthy work environment, but they only make a difference if you make them a daily habit. Try changing one or two things at a time to see how they make a difference – you might be pleasantly surprised by how effective they are.
