The covid crisis has moved many people’s work location from the office to their homes, whether they like it or not. This change in work environment could cause a lot of issues, such as fatigue, weight gain, headaches and back pain. Are you tired of working from home? In this article, I’ll give you a number of tips to prevent or combat these problems. By taking these measures you can keep working from home energetically!

Do your work while walking

Working from home often or completely means that you exercise less. First of all, you no longer have to leave the house to come to work. No more cycling to the office or walking from the train. In addition, at home you don’t  have to walk to your colleague’s desk or, for example, to another lunch location, and there are many more examples like these. Everything you do, can be done from your own home.

However, exercise is indispensable for the proper functioning of your memory and concentration. With only a few small adjustments you can get a lot more exercise whilst working from home. For example, you can take a walk before and after work, in the time you normally spend traveling back and forth. This is like having an actual commute! Take a walk through your home, the garden or your neighbourhood during phone calls. Or perform some arm or leg exercises (possibly using weights) when you are watching webinars or PowerPoint presentations, brainstorming or reading. Another idea is to try doing some Energizers. Take a look at which options suit you and take as many opportunities as possible to maintain your concentration and feel more energized throughout the day, through enough exercise.

Separate environments

Our brain makes associations with everything we see and use. For example, we have associated our bed with sleeping. This helps us to fall asleep more easily once we lie in it. This association makes it difficult for us to stay awake when we are working from our beds. Therefore, try to maintain an active posture in a pleasant location during your work. Preferably don’t work in your bedroom, but in an office. If you don’t have an office at home, you could use one of the rooms in which you don’t sleep as an enjoyable workspace. If it’s not possible for you to work in a place other than your bedroom, make sure your bed is out of your sight while working. It is preferable to have things in your field of vision that motivate you to work, such as photos that remind you why you do this work or Post-Its with motivational texts.

Take plenty of time for lunch

Many people find it difficult to maintain their weight while working from home. You can try to tackle this by exercising more often with some of the tips I mentioned earlier. But, you can also try to change your eating behavior. Some people take less time for lunch when they are working from home. For example, they have their lunch during meetings and don’t take the time to eat. When you do this, you are unaware of what you are eating which doesn’t allow your hunger to be satisfied . Often you have all kinds of food and snacks at hand at home, and the tendency to snack when you are still feeling hungry can be really big.

Try to take the time for your meals and consciously enjoy what you eat. This will help you avoid the need to snack later in the day. If you notice that you start to snack a lot, write down what you eat for a week so that you become aware of what you eat. Then look at what product could be easily reduced or skipped entirely. It may also help to make sure the food is out of your sight and behind cupboards! Attach Post-Its to the cupboards to help you question yourself if you are really hungry or if you want to snack for another reason.

Watch your posture

Many people suffer body aches when they’re working from home. This can easily be prevented or reduced by a number of adjustments in your home workplace. First of all, it is important to have an ergonomic workplace. This is a workplace in which you can adopt a healthy working posture; preferably an adjustable desk and an adjustable desk chair. In addition, it is important to have a screen or laptop holder so that you can adjust the height of your screen, to make sure that you look down slightly. You also need a keyboard and mouse so that you can keep a distance from your screen.

By taking these measures you can avoid sitting crooked or hanging over your desk. Keep an active posture, with a straight back, your chin slightly tucked in and your knees at an angle of slightly more than 90 degrees. Sitting like this will allow your blood to circulate properly. Try to change positions every now and then and preferably get up for a moment every half hour. If you can get your desk up to standing height or get a standing desk, you can also do your work standing up for a number of hours a day!

Share your knowledge

In addition to the above tips, you or your colleagues may know more tips that can help you to maintain energy and prevent body aches. Be sure to share your tips with your colleagues and ask what they are doing to comfortably work from home. Do you still suffer from complaints despite these tips? Ask the occupational health and safety officer of your company for help. This way you can make sure that your complaints won’t get out of hand!

Want to read more about working from home? Take a look at these blogs!

Every month there is a theme at the center of the NiceDay blog. The month of August this theme was “Vitality”.

Vitality: the energy to live. What ensures that you get more energy in life? And which things can you better leave out? For this theme we focused on all the things you can do to feel more vital; whether this is in the field of nutrition, work, or mental health. Would you like to read more about this? We have listed all recent blogs for you:

• Tension according to the bucket metaphor.

Do you sometimes feel that everything is just too much for you? Do you get upset about the smallest things? Too much tension can break you up and can have a major impact on your vitality. Psychologist Sandra Martens explains how you can look at your stress according to the bucket metaphor.

• Retaining vitality in difficult periods

Difficult periods come and go: they are part of life. We don’t feel so good for a while, and that’s okay! In this blog I will give you a tip to stay vital in difficult times.

• The success of a long-term relationship

In the Netherlands, more than 1 in 3 marriages ends in divorce. As humans, are we made to stay together for a longer period of time? Love, relationships and our happiness therein play a big role in our vitality. In her blog, psychologist Maaike discusses the success of a long-term love relationship.

• The best locations for beach yoga in the Netherlands

An important part of going through life healthy is exercise! Esther from 100% yoga shares some of her yoga videos and the best tips for beach yoga in the Netherlands.

• Take care of yourself

Taking good care of yourself is important, both physically and mentally. It ensures that you stay healthy and vital, that you know what you need and that you can be there for others without passing yourself by. Do you want this too? Then read on!

• This way you’ll get through the dark winter months

The dark winter days are not pleasant for everyone; some people feel lethargic and suffer from winter blues. In this blog I will give you tips on what you can do against winter blues. This way you get through the dark winter months energetically!

• What is Positive Health?

While we are in the midst of a pandemic, it can be all too helpful to have a positive outlook on life. Working on a number of health pillars can make an important contribution to your health, vitality and happiness in a bizarre period. Read more about it in this blog by Martijn.

• Want to remain your vitality working from home?

The new season has also brought new corona rules, and we will be working from home more and more. But how do you ensure that you stay vital, even though you stay at home a lot? Psychologist Alison gives some useful tips in her blog!

• Map your menstrual cycle

Do you have periods when you feel lethargic, get irritated easily and can cry about everything? It may have to do with the menstrual cycle, you can read more about this in this blog!

Due to the corona pandemic, most of us have to work from home as much as possible. This has many consequences for your vitality: you spend more time sitting down, you move less and keeping your focus is difficult when you don’t have a proper workspace set up at home. You can notice the impact on your vitality by your energy levels, your concentration levels, your motivation and maybe even your mood. Do you want to remain your vitality working from home? The following tips can help you with this:

1. Healthy eating and drinking

What you eat and drink has a huge influence on how you feel. Make sure you eat varied meals, with enough vegetables and fruit. Here you can read more about healthy eating and how you can make a habit out of it.

2. Your workspace

For a healthy posture it is important that your workspace is well equipped. Make sure your chair is at the right height (your knees should be at a 90 degree angle). Check if the armrest of the chair is in the right position (so that your arms fall on the backrest at a 90-degree angle) and that your laptop or screen is slightly elevated on your desk, so that you look straight ahead while working, instead of having to look down.

Furthermore, it is very important that you have sufficient daylight in your workspace, and that it is a place without distracting stimuli. Maybe, you have a quiet room in the house where you can set up your workplace. Or, try to put on some noise canceling headphones.

3. Rests and breaks

Taking plenty of rest and taking breaks during the day has a big effect on how you feel. Make sure you get enough sleep and that you take plenty of breaks from your screen. Walk around in the house when you grab a drink, or get up and do some exercises when you call a colleague. Also try to do som after work activities that don’t involve a screen, such as walking, playing a game, cooking, gardening, reading, drawing, etc.

4. Exercising

Exercising regularly has a positive effect on your mood and reduces feelings of fatigue. This doesn’t always have to involve a gym! For example, take a walk during the lunch break, do some stretching exercises in your chair or try some yoga exercises. Also make sure that you keep moving after work, for example take a nice evening walk or bike ride.

Working from home can have a huge impact on your vitality. Take good care of yourself by healthy eating, setting up a good workplace, taking enough breaks and by regularly exercising!

As of the first of June part of the corona measurements have been let go of and others restrictions have been eased: we can go out for dinner, have drinks on a terrace and hang out in the park with a group of friends. As long as we keep a social distance of 1,5 meters. The world is slowly opening back up. But what about your job? According to our Minister President Mark Rutte we are expected to keep on working from home for the foreseeable future, and many have already been told by their employers that their offices aren’t opening up yet. How do you deal with that? Some people might see it as a positive announcement because of less commuting for example, but others find it difficult to keep their work- and private life separate. 

According to research by Nationale Vacaturebank approximately half of the people in the Netherlands who work from home feel the need to go back to the office as soon as possible. They’re having a hard time focussing, feel like their days have less structure and miss socially interacting with their colleagues. The other half also sees quite a lot of advantages to working from home and are planning on doing it more often in the future. Whether you experience it as something positive or negative, for most of us working from home will be our reality for the upcoming months. But how can you make sure this is an efficient and comfortable situation for yourself? We’ve listed some tips for you:

• Having to work and live in the same environment can make it hard to distance yourself from work, but try to keep your work and private life separate. Regularly take small breaks and walk away from your workspace. During lunch, take the time to relax and don’t eat your sandwich behind your desk. Go out, sit in the sun, take a walk or call a colleague or friend. Hug your pets or read a magazine. You need this time to recharge yourself and to distance yourself from your work. 
• Having flexibility in your working hours might sound great, but for some a lack of structure can cause problems. If this is something you experience it is important that you try to regain structure in your life. Of course, working from home increases your flexibility when it comes to working hours, but do try to get up at the same time every day. Allow yourself a daily lunch break, and stop pushing your lunch forward just because you want to finish something. Work will continue anyway, there will always be something new on your plate. 
• While your working you’re using a lot of energy, you’re battery is slowly draining during the day.  Most people need social interaction to recharge their batteries. It is important that, despite working from home, you contact your colleagues or friends regularly. Call your colleagues or friends for an informal conversation that doesn’t involve work, or go on a walk with your friend or neighbours. Besides that, you can also regularly meet with friends or family after work or during the weekend, to fully recharge your battery. Take the time to have a drink in the sun with friends, you earned it!
• Set personal goals. When you were still working in the office that one promotion, or finishing that challenging project may have been more top of mind. The last few months could have had an effect on your ambitions, which is completely understandable since the whole world has been upside down. However, it is important that you keep looking forward: where do I want to be in a year and what will I do to get there? Work on gaining or improving certain skills to make sure you keep developing yourself, or finish up a certain project. This will all help to normalize your working from home situation and to make it more enjoyable.