Staying Healthy in the Office

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It may seem like we are all living more hectic lives, trying to balance our work lives and our personal lives. However, when you think about it, we still spend most of our days sitting in the office (or coworking space or coffee shop for you remote workers). Let's take the standard 8-hour work day plus a 7-hour sleep, that's more than half the day we spend relatively sedentary. Even if you run to catch the bus or are rushing to meet your carpool, it's not enough to offset our relatively sedentary work lives - so here are some of our tips on how you can stay healthy at the office.

1. Take Advantage of Technology

These days smart watches are everywhere. Spanning a range of price points, there are watches that simply track your daily steps or there are those that can do everything from measure your heart beat to letting you answer your texts. So regardless of how much you're willing to spend, you can use these to measure your daily activity and see if you're reaching your targets. You can even set movement reminders if you're sitting still for too long. To make it a bit more interesting, and since everyone loves a good competition, why not connect your smart watch to your friends' smart watches and have a mini-competition for who can do the most amount of steps or run the furthest in a month. And hey, if you don't want to buy a smart watch, a lot of these features are also available on most smart phones, you'll just have to always remember to keep your phone on you.

2. Adjust Furniture

Whether we realize it or not, furniture and your positioning in relation to it, plays a big role in your overall health. Even something as simple as adjusting the height of your chair so that, as experts suggest, your arms are at a 45 degree angle to the table, and are resting naturally when using your mouse and keyboard. This will also will help with your overall posture. Of course, staying in the same position for extended periods of time isn't good for you, so one way of alleviating this is by utilizing a standing table or something you can prop your laptop on so you can work standing up. If you don't already have some, and you have the budget, you can look at replacing old furniture with ergonomic furniture from companies such as Herman Miller.

3. Use Lunch Breaks Wisely

Most of us get an hour or so for lunch, and rather than staying in the office and eating your packed lunch by your desk or in the pantry, why not take the time to do something active. There are plenty of gyms or fitness centers that offer lunch time classes that would give you time to squeeze in a workout and still have time to shower and come back to the office fresh. However, if you're not up for potentially being rushed during lunch and prefer to use this time to wind down, you could take a walk outside to get some fresh air.

4. Post-Work Endorphins

If you're not enough of an early bird to exercise before work, and you're not up for doing it over your lunch break, look at doing something after work. A 45-minute cardio session, whether it's boxing, cycling, running, or circuit training, can kickstart your energy and keep you going for the rest of the week. If you're not up for a sweat session, you can check out something to unleash your creativity such as a painting class or perhaps even night classes.

5. You Are What You Eat

It's a popular adage, and maybe overused, but nonetheless true. What you eat makes an impact on your mood and, of course, your health: a balanced diet can help to regulate your energy levels throughout the day so you don't have to rely solely on caffeine. Of course, the reason a lot of us resort to junk food is to save money. The restaurants we think of as healthy can be expensive, particularly if you go everyday. However, there are alternatives. There are quite a few healthy food delivery services that can provide prepackaged meals for a whole week at an affordable price. Often these can also be customized to any specific dietary requirements you may have to make sure you don't get a weeks worth of meals you won't or can't eat.

6. Quick Boost Workouts

If you're new to working out, or you've taken a long break for one reason or the other, you can start small. Try incorporating quick 3 minute or 7 minute daily workouts into your routine. These can be as intense or as light as you prefer, as long as it gets your heart bumping. Short bursts of activity can boost your metabolism, your energy, and your positivity. They're also easy to stay consistent with as they only require a minimal daily commitment that we think everyone can stick with.

These are just some of our tips on staying healthy in the office, of course there are plenty more: using the stairs as much as possible, making sure you're drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep, knowing when to put your phone away, etc. Many of today's flexible workspaces are designed in such a way to encourage staying active. Whether it's by incorporating stairs centrally to encourage their use, having in-house gyms, or exclusive discounts to nearby fitness centers. If you're interested in a flexible workspace don't hesitate to reach out to us at info@flyspaces.com.

FlySpaces is Southeast Asia's leading online marketplace for workplaces including coworking spaces, traditional office spaces, meeting rooms, and event venues. We provide scalable solutions for multinationals, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SME's, and mobile professionals. Providing transparent pricing and direct communication with over 4,000 spaces, we empower you to book and pay directly to your chosen space.