Wellbeing in the Workplace: Top Ten Tips
There are many ways we can still maintain and invest in our own wellbeing in the workplace. Ten simple tips as a kind and timely reminder that we really can support our wellbeing wherever we are.
One: Variety is the key
Vary your work position, where possible. Perhaps you have access to a standing table. Even then, I wouldn’t advise standing all day. Alternate between standing and sitting. Standing for too long can also give you lower back strain. If you work from home, you could sit cross-legged on the floor at a coffee table for an hour (knee health permitting). Adjust your sitting posture, feel free to slouch now and again. Sitting upright with “correct” posture can lead to muscle tension too.
Two: Move!
Shift position, go grab a drink, go discuss a question with your colleague in person rather than digitally chatting, None of these things have to eat into your productivity. Little and often is the key. A couple of minutes movement every hour can be more beneficial than a lunch hour in the gym after sitting at a desk for 4 hours.
Three: NEATS
NEATS is short for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. This is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise. I like to see it as little increments of daily activity that can become routine. For example, take the stairs where possible rather than the lift, get off the bus one stop earlier and walk the rest of the way.
Four: Use your office/home equipment as a mini-gym
For example, while seated at your desk, you can take a few seconds to push your hands against the edge of the desk to create resisted protraction and retraction of the shoulder blades. Spin on your chair to activate your abdominals and obliques and loosen off your lower back. Explore, experiment.
Five: Hydrate
Skeletal muscle contain 70-76% water. Hydrating muscles keeps them working properly, thereby reducing tension and congestion in the tissues. The added bonus of hydrating is that you need to make more visits to the toilet, thereby moving your body. It’s a win-win!
Six: Shift your gaze
Staring at a screen for too long at close range has now been shown to increase instances of myopia among all generations. Our eyes need strength training too; they need to experience depth of vision regularly. The simple act of, now and again, looking out a window into the distance (seek out the horizon), can reap great benefits for your vision and your mental health.
Seven: Engage with others
A quick exchange at the water cooler, coffee machine, or the printer (if those things are still used) is all it takes. Face-to-face interactions are important for our emotional and psychological wellbeing.
Eight: Have healthy snacks to hand
In order to keep your focus and energy up, opt for light meals throughout your working day and healthy snacks. That mid-afternoon dip can be a killer. This is often the time to take a couple of minutes from your desk to move your body rather than reaching for a sugary snack.
Nine: Open up and make like a cactus - can we link to some videos and demo this?
Upper back and neck tension is the result of overly contracted chest and anterior neck muscles pulling the upper body into a rounded position. This creates weak and elongated, overstretched muscles in the upper back and posterior neck. A quick and simple way to keep this in check is to perform a chest-opening stretch followed by an upper back strengthening exercise. It can take as little as 30 seconds!
Here is an example:
Chest-opener - find a wall, stretch out your arm against the wall, then turn your body away from the wall. 10 seconds on each arm.
Upper back strengthener - stand with your back against a wall, arms up against the wall at 90 degrees (like a cactus), ensuring everything is flush to the wall (your pelvis, shoulder blades, forearms, back of hands, back of head). This initially will be quite tiring as most of us are not used to such upright posture. Hold for 10 seconds.
Ten: Breathe
Sounds obvious, but we tend to forget. The simple act of closing your eyes (no one will notice) and taking a couple of focused, slow, deep inhalations and exhalations (sigh if you get the chance) stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and can help reset the mind and body. It’s like a micro-meditation.