Welcome back, ArchiHacks fam. This may be overdue, but let’s talk about self-care in a remote working/studying environment. The current climate is building up fatigue for everyone (some more than others), and it’s pretty easy to overlook the signs of “burning out” because business and leisure have been mixed into your personal living spaces. Although we can’t pinpoint all the signs of “burn-out,” the simple fact of looking at a screen for long durations regularly is detrimental to your mental and physical health without balance.
Personal care is critical to our team, and hopefully, to you as well! Our team is made up of passionate professionals that work remotely across multiple time zones – so these tips are our saving grace. Without further ado, let’s get into some of our self-care “go-to’s” since remote or hybrid-work style seems to be here to stay.
Embrace The Skies
It’s no surprise this should be first and foremost on the list of taking care of ourselves. We can go on and on about nature, but we won’t. It’s safe to say that after a few years of this digital working environment, we are more appreciative of what nature encapsulates and the tranquility it provides beyond the surface. It’s important to note that you don’t need to be physically in a park or somewhere surrounded by trees and grass to receive the benefits, but just going outside makes a big difference!
I’m a big proponent of physical health, and good physical health can affect the mental health or vice-versa. Utilizing a screen time tracker is a great tool and can offset how much time you spend in the digital world with the physical world. Taking a quick walk outside or working out can significantly benefit your physical and mental health. If physical activity is not your forte, alternatives like meditation can help you ground yourself without the sweat. Do you prefer more physical activities or more meditative practices outside as your choice of escape? Let us know in the comments below!
Work Separation
With COVID-19 cases on the rise, the options for safe and reliable public workspaces continue to be limited. An excellent way to take care of your mental health is to separate workspaces from your personal living space. Avoid bringing your computer into bed with you and take the opportunity to delegate a dedicated workspace within your home. If a dedicated space is not an option, many items can be utilized to create a soft boundary to create work separation. This can be anything – a room divider, a shelf, or a strategically placed lighting setup. Anything that creates a sense of enclosure and separation between spaces for leisure and work. Share with us how YOU utilize materials, furniture, or other elements to create a clearly defined workspace!
Set Worktimes
Working from home gives us some flexibility in our hours. With the definition of work hours blurring with the rise of freelancing, self-promotion, or side hustles it is more important to manage your time at home and avoid pushing work to the last minute. Not just professionals, but students as well with asynchronous class times and online lectures it can get difficult to self-regulate. This is why it is important for students and professionals alike to set clear boundaries; what time should you start work, end work, or what is the cut-off time to respond to calls and emails? Communication and setting boundaries are critical here with your firm, team members, or faculty so that you can rest.
I’ve been utilizing a free software called Grindstone Tracker to track my time spent on tasks or projects for work, and it helped me become more productive, so I can get everything done at the appropriate time. The interface is simple, and it allows enough customization to work with you. Let’s say you want to specify an allotted time to work on something; grindstone will track it like a stopwatch and remind you when to take a break. This can help you visualize the time spent on something and determine if you should be doing something more productive than burying yourself in one task.
Mid-Day Naps
We all could use a little more sleep to rest. If possible, taking a power nap during your lunch break or between classes can significantly improve motivation and focus after long hours. Keep in mind power naps are between twenty to thirty minutes; any more than that, you mind find yourself feeling more demotivated than when you started! Need we say more?
Standing Desk
Research has linked sitting for long periods with some health concerns. They include obesity and a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol levels. It’s no secret that the traditional 9-5-work model perpetuates this by keeping us strapped to our screens. That is why an excellent desk setup is essential for working from home. Today, we’ve partnered up with SOLOS, and they sent me their Quick-install Home Office Standing Desk. I can’t rave enough about this desk! When I received it, I thought it would be a hassle setting up like Ikea furniture because of the parts that go into a standing desk, but it was the opposite. The shipment came with seven main elements, a few screws, and an instruction manual two pages long. If that doesn’t sound simple, I’m not sure what is, granted, I took a little longer to ensure I didn’t miss anything! The desk itself is somewhat heavy but shows the quality of materials SOLOS took to ensure satisfaction, and it allows a high lifting capacity – a total of 110 pounds! The operation to move the desk up and down is simply a click of a button while being quiet. That being said, the SOLOS desk will need an electrical receptacle nearby to power. I have nothing but high praise for SOLOS standing desk, and happy we were able to partner up with them!
When I work, I can switch between sitting or standing, and my body is so grateful. You can stand up as long as you like, but even a thirty-minute standing work session has felt so great on my posture! They even included their Premium Monitor Stand, which is definitely premium quality. Again, you can feel the high-quality aluminum construction and considerations SOLOS took, and its flexible positioning makes this versatile and straightforward to use! Each arm can support between a 17” to 32” monitor, roughly 16 pounds per arm. The monitor stand clears up table space so you can easily work unless you are like me with countless tech equipment. Make sure to check out their website at SOLOS.
Make sure to use our code, YTArchi, to get a $20 coupon at SOLOS!
Proper Lighting
Proper lighting, especially with the long hours staring at a screen, is essential to your visual health. Good lighting not only reduces eye strain, but it could eliminate any potential headaches through fatigue it may cause. This is important for your long-term vision, so save yourself the pain in the future by mitigating the effects. Try using blue light glasses or dimming your monitor to reduce eyestrain.
Ergonomic Chair
The next critical piece of furniture is an ergonomic chair. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have a well-designed chair that provides good posture and comfort for you while sitting more than eight hours a day! This time we partnered up with FlexiSpot, and they sent me their Soutien Ergonomic Office Chair (Gray), and just like SOLOS, I’m so happy with this chair. Before this, I had an aesthetic chair that complimented my office with its sleek lines and minimalism, but it was awful on my lower back. I now understand why many professionals working with poor back support have back pain – I thought it was due to old age.
Combining the SOLOS standing desk and FlexiSpot chair, I can tell a significant difference in my posture, but just overall physical health. The FlexiSpot chair is so comfortable that I almost fell asleep in it, of course, after work. With that being said, all of these tips have helped our team members, myself included, ensure that we are taking care of our health so we can continue to deliver high-quality content to you all. Well, that’s all we have for you today, and if you’ve made it this far, you deserve a cookie. I hope you found this article interesting and took something from it. Sharing is caring! We hope to provide you with valuable insights and share them with someone who might find this helpful. Make sure to follow our YouTube and Instagram for more content.