6 Top Tips On How To Stay Active While Working From Home
- Mar 16, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 18, 2024
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1. Find an easy and comfortable stretching routine
Find an easy and comfortable stretching routine that you can do in your workspace that takes you 5 minutes or less and stretch your body each hour. Put the routine into your schedule or set an hourly alarm to create consistency. The movement of the body helps our brain to function at a higher level by increasing the oxygen levels in our cells. Some studies have even shown that movement of the body can aid in synaptic creation and new brain cell creation. Now that is a reason to get moving!
Arliss Dudley Cash, Business and Self Love Coach
2. Be Intentional & Plan
Being active while working from home is super important not just for physical wellbeing but mentally and emotionally as well. I’ve found that being intentional and planning has been the best way for me to stay active while working from home. I set an alarm for every hour to move, stretch, decide and declare what I’m going to focus on for the next hour and I also take a few seconds to look over my vision board to remind me of what I’m working towards.
Angelie Kapoor, Healthcare Career, Leadership & Management Strategist | 'The Healthcare Industry Guru
3. Block your calendar for breaks or "active time" and use colours to label your daily priorities
By the time your active time including activities such as a daily walk or your preferred sport becomes visible and equally important as any other priorities, you will become more committed and motivated to perform.
A useful tool to help you define your priorities and your "what really matters" is the Personal Agility System (PAS), where you manage priorities through a form of a story map with different columns, depending on different levels of importance. Each entry in this column is colour-coded, so you can associate individual items with something that really matters. Each thing you could do becomes a card. Each thing you could do becomes a card. Colour code each card to tie it to something in the “What really matters?” column. Sort the cards by importance, which is also the order you want to get these items done.
Adelina Stefan, Professional Certified Coach (PCC-ICF) | ICF Mentor & Coach Trainer | Career Development Coach
4. Set up an alarm to remember to move!
Seating is the new smoking! Our body is meant to move but not to stay in the same position for a long time.
We are at our desks, often in stiff positions – without realizing it – for hours. This leads to shoulder, neck, and back pains, we do not engage fully our breath as we should, we get headaches…etc.
When you are in flow, focusing on one task, rushing to finish a project on time, it is so difficult to remember to stand up & move.
Set up an alarm - I personally work with an hourglass next to me - and move your position, take a deep breath, stand up, spread your arms wide, open your chest, and walk a few steps every hour as a minimum. This can last one or 2 minutes. It does not have to be long.
I also integrate easy and quick movement into my day to make sure I am always “on the move”.
I do a series of squads waiting for my coffee to get ready! (I have a funny reel on Instagram showing that 30 squads = one espresso!)
I sit sometimes on a gymnastic ball to engage my core while working
I take all my phone calls standing and walking around
I adjust the height of my desk to work standing if my back starts aching
After work, I dance with the kids in the living room, great to have fun, move and get the stress out after a long day!
You got the point! The importance is to move your body, So, I leave it to you and your creativity! Give it a try!
5. Active and Engage
Active and engaged although two different things, are extremely important to keep in mind while working from home. I will give you both from a business position versus a personal position.
Active: Calendar your meetings, networking opportunities, "coffee dates" and personal time (including breaks) and make sure you turn on the reminders, so that you do not miss them
Engaged: for the meetings Turn on your camera(virtual), prepare/participate by coming to the event with a question or comment and your "ask" (if appropriate).
Active: Keep a routine, get up and get moving at the time you normally would if you were going into an office.
Engaged: Get dressed, fully, especially if you have meetings that day. Learn to time block in your routine, making sure you are not just focused on business but also on your personal time as well. Bonus, have some exercises and/or stretching you can easily stand up and do for 10 minutes, to get the blood flowing!
Active: Do not get lost in the black hole of social media, set a timer, or better have it scheduled.
Engaged: Go into the social media Hoel with a purpose, make 5 new contacts, comment on 3 of your strategic partner's posts, and post 1 new inspiring post.
Lynn Howard, Entrepreneurial Coach Consultant
6. Bear in mind your ultradian rhythms
Design your daily working from home (WFH) routine bearing in mind your ultradian rhythms – biological patterns hardwired into your DNA that dictate how your body functions in time. Ultradian rhythms oscillate (go up and down) many times during the day and night. This means that during the day, every 90 minutes of “ultradian performance peak” will be followed by approximately 20 minutes of ultradian healing response, also known as an “ultradian trough” – a dip in the level of your energy and concentration.
So, instead of reaching for a biscuit or a bar of chocolate (or, even worse, pushing yourself through these low-energy dips), take regular breaks from your work for short bursts of exercise – go for a walk, do some push-ups, lunges or simple weight resistance exercises. Your body and brain will thank you for that – and your productivity will improve too! Read about ultradian rhythms here.
