10 self-care at work tips for your wellness at the workplace
Work life can be stressful and overwhelming, and corporate workplaces are very demanding, these often lead to burnout. If you find yourself agreeing to these I have ways to beat these. You need to start taking care of your wellness at work. In this post, I am sharing 10 tips to practice self-care at work to stay healthy, and productive and improve your overall wellness. These tips can be incorporated into your work routine without spending extra time.
Let’s get started.
10 tips for self-care at a desk job
Here are 10 hacks to ensure self-care at work so you can take care of your wellness without burnout.
Tip 1: Take care of your eyes
At the workplace, we spend a lot of time working on computers and this can stress your eyes and can affect your vision with computer vision syndrome. Here are some ways to take care of your eyes while at work.
- Set your computer monitor at a distance of 50 – 71 centimeters from your face.
- Avoid light falling on your computer screen as the glare can cause stress to your eyes, you can also use an anti-glare screen.
- After a long work session on computers rest our eyes and look 20 ft away for 20 sec.
- When eyes free dry and stressed, close them for a few minutes or blink more.
- You can also use a cool eye mask to relax your eyes.
Tip 2: Take breaks and be active
After deep work sessions at work take a few minute break to refresh yourself. Unlike we think taking a break at work does not waste your time but makes you more productive. Studies have found not taking breaks between work leads to burnout and stress.
Also, studies have found sitting for a long time at work and sedentary behavior at workplaces affect productivity. So in between work take a few-minute break, get off your seat, and walk around the cafeteria or discuss work with team members.
You can also try skipping elevators and climbing around just to get more active.
Tip 3: Ensure your comfort
Another side to sitting for a long time at a work desk is to ensure a comfortable desk and chair setup. An uncomfortable setup can affect your posture and result in neck and lower back stress, reduced flexibility, and blood circulation.
You must ensure good ergonomics at the workplace to take care of yourself.
Here are some simple ways:
- Get an ergonomic chair that provides lumbar support. Adjust the chair as per your height and ensure correct posture.
- You should set your laptop or computers at eye level so that does not make you hunch or cause stress to your elbow.
- Use an external mouse rather than a laptop touchpad to avoid strain on fingers. You can also use the ergonomic mouse to avoid strain on your wrist.
Tip 4: Never miss lunch and snack healthy
Often to meet deadlines we choose to skip lunch. This can lead to fatigue, lack of concentration, and even health issues in the long run. That’s why it is important not to miss lunch at work. By taking the time to sit down for a meal, you can give yourself the much-needed break from your workday and refuel your body with healthy food options. Not only will you feel more energized afterward but it will also keep you productive. If lunch hours conflict with appointment than have lunch earlier or after the task, but never skip it.
Also, our energy level drops towards the end of the day. Make sure to keep some healthy snacks with you to refuel yourself. This helps you to stay focused, active, and productive throughout the day.
Tip 5: Stay hydrated
Staying hydrated is a self-care tip that you must have heard many times. Still, we tend to miss it more at the workplace as we get busy at work and the air-conditioned environment does not make us feel thirsty. I often forget to drink water at work and realize at lunchtime that I had not drunk water till now. Drinking enough water helps to flush out toxins, reduce fatigue and prevent headaches.
Being well-hydrated is especially important if you are working long hours or in a physically demanding job. It helps to maintain focus, reduces stress, and keeps you feeling energized throughout the day. Taking regular breaks to get some water is a simple yet effective form of self-care you can practice at work.
Tip 6: Set healthy boundaries
Ensuring good self-care at work is not just limited to your physical and health care. But you need to take care of your mental and emotional health too. You can do so by setting healthy boundaries at the workplace.
Some ways to set healthy boundaries are:
- Avoid staying up late and ensure to finish your work during the work hour by being productive and well-planned. Here are 12 tips to boost your productivity at work and How to have a productive day.
- Learn to say no to activities that do not fall under your work profile and when you are too occupied.
- Avoid toxic co-workers who may drain your energy and make the work environment difficult. Here are 12 effective strategies to deal with negative coworkers.
Build healthy habits for success at work so that you are an achiever. Here are 10 habits to be successful at work.
Tip 7: Organize your desk
Organizing your work desk will reduce overwhelm at work. Having an organized desk is essential for maintaining wellness at work. It helps you stay focused and motivated, keeps your workspace clutter-free, reduces stress levels, and encourages healthy habits like taking breaks or stretching during the day.
Organizing your desk doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. Here are my 14 Tips to organize your work desk that will help you easily create an ergonomic workspace that will help you stay productive and feel good while working.
Tip 8: Use work planner
To take care of our mental peace and reduce the stress of remembering things. I highly recommended having a dedicated work planner. With many things to remember you often feel overwhelmed and have chaos in mind for all the tasks that you need to do and fear on missing out on something important.
Having a work planner just removes all these and gives you peace of mind and simplifies your life at work. Using a work planner is a form of self-care at work that keeps you relaxed and feel confident and positive at work.You need not use an expensive planner but just a simple notebook can be sufficient. Here are 10 ways to organize a notebook for work.
Tip 9: Appreciate and motivate yourself
The feeling of achieving something makes you satisfied and feel happy, this can help your emotional and mental wellness at the workplace. So one of the ways to take care of yourself at the workplace is to appreciate yourself for even small achievements.
This boosts our confidence and self-esteem. Motivate yourself to do better by inspiring yourself by decorating your workspace with motivational quotes and creating positive vibes.
Tip 10: Be mindful at work
Often at work, you are multi-tasking or chasing deadlines without realizing you are stressed. You may have arguments at work and your day is just not as expected. All these may turn you demotivated and exhausted. It is at these times being mindful is important.
Take a few deep breaths and make a conscious effort to be mindful of the present time, understand your emotions, and remind yourself to not lose your peace with things happening at work. Realign your thoughts and action to being productive and prioritize yourself.
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Conclusion
Working in a corporate environment can be stressful and overwhelming. But it is important to take care of yourself and practice self-care. The 10 self-care at work tips shared in this post are practical and easy to implement. These self-care suggestions will not take extra time during your work and help you stay healthy, and productive, and improves your overall wellness
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