While the advantages of office work may be less obvious when you’re spending 40 hours a week in one, the disadvantages can be all too apparent. An office environment can be bright, airy, calm, and well-laid-out, but it’s more often the case that they’re claustrophobic, overly bright, too noisy, distracting, too full of people, too cold or too hot. On top of that, sitting down for eight hours a day may be restful, but it’s doing nothing for your body’s well-being. Likewise, staring at a computer screen makes your eyes dry and sore and impairs their function. Read on for some ideas and tips for maintaining the best health possible if you work in an office.
Here are our top 4 Easy Ways to Stay Healthy in the Office:
1. Take proper breaks
These days, breaks that are worthy of the name have been replaced by logging on to Facebook or similar, which certainly isn’t going to do you any good in the long run in terms of well-being. A break should be exactly that – getting up from your desk, going for a walk, getting a breath of fresh air, taking a turn around a nearby park, or reading your book outside a cafe. The longer you sit in front of your computer, the more mentally run-down and exhausted you’re likely to feel at the end of the day – never mind at the end of the week.
2. Consider your eyes
This is another peril of sitting in from of a PC screen for up to eight hours a day. Firstly, you should ensure that you’ve adjusted the workstation according to your needs, with the screen at arm’s length and eye-level. If your screen can’t be as far away as you need it to be, ask your boss for a screen filter.
Make sure you look away from the screen every 15 minutes and try and do some eye-rolling exercises (preferably out of sight of your colleagues). Also, remember to blink – we blink less in front of a PC screen, which can dry eyes out rapidly. This can’t really be overstated, not least given how many people spend their working days like this now. You only have one pair of eyes after all. Optimax laser eye surgery can help with long-term sight problems, but where such things can be prevented, they should.
3. Think about what you eat
It’s all too easy to sit at your desk and scoff cakes, crisps and biscuits – and there’s no reason why you can’t, within reason. But you also need to consider what you’re eating while working in such an environment. You need food that’s relatively low-fat, but high in lutein, for good eye health: try kale, nuts, carrot and avocados.
4. Exercise and posture
Most offices have ergonomic chairs that correct your posture, but not all of them. If you don’t have the pleasure of one, ensure you sit with your back straight; otherwise chronic back pain could follow. Also, try and go to the gym or for a swim during your working day. Ask your boss if you can take half an hour out for this rather than throwing away your lunch break on it. The gym has replaced what we’ve lost through manual work – the majority of people are working in sit-down, non-physical jobs today and as a result, are carrying more weight. Try to prevent or arrest this, and you’ll be glad you did one day.
