Workday Wellness Healthy habits working from home or in the office By Rebecca Myers
Are you at your kitchen table right now, thinking about what snack to grab next? Or, maybe you’re back in the office and feel a little sluggish? No matter where you find yourself doing your job, don’t let your healthy workday habits suffer from a case of COVID-19 fatigue. This spring, City of Dublin employees who had been working remotely returned to the office. Undoubtedly, this brought a change of routine for those workers who had been operating from temporary home offices, their couches or whatever quiet space they could find. With businesses and organizations deciding what’s next for their workspaces during the pandemic (and in the future), what have we learned about our health habits on the job? Janan Hay is one of many people who has had to navigate the changes accompanying a work-from-home experience. But as the City’s wellness and benefits coordinator, she had a few creative ideas up her sleeve. A registered dietitian, Hay knew she needed to focus on consistent mealtimes and incorporating more movement into her day. She says she was used to taking a break at the water fountain or walking more around her office area in City Hall, but being in a different workspace upended some of that daily routine.
Shawn Shipman, a zoning inspector for the City, and his niece Avery took on fishing for the day and shared their photo for the “Ignite Your Well-Being” campaign. 14 • June/July 2021
At one point, Hay says to help her cramped neck, she flipped over an empty laundry basket, placed it on a table and propped up her laptop for a makeshift standing desk. Without those trips for water, she had to be more conscious of drinking fluids. Even if she was hungry, deadlines might eat away at the day, and she might forget a meal. So, she set reminders to step away from the computer: Lunch wasn’t going to eat itself. “At home, it was a whole different atmosphere,” Hay says. “I needed to re-remind myself to stay hydrated to keep my focus and my energy up.” Hay, who also runs the City’s wellness committee, recalls that people she has spoken to have had a mixed outlook on what worked and what didn’t while working from home. Checking emails “really quickly” after dinner has led to more work outside normal hours, and migrating around the house to find the right work spot has meant people aren’t the most comfortable ergonomically, she notes. While not having a daily commute or rushed morning routine benefited some, starting the day at home could easily lead to accidentally skipping meals they normally wouldn’t, Hay says. She says for anyone operating from home, set an alarm for lunchtime and designated periods away from the computer; it’s easier to continue being productive once you’ve had a break. Employees at the office also need to pay attention to their break times and can seek out extra movement by walking out of their way to indoor destinations. Start Small Regardless if you work at a computer or outside, in an office building or at home,
it’s easy to get overwhelmed when thinking about all the do’s and don’ts of health. Your brain might want to view your wellbeing in a “big picture” way, Hay explains. “I’m not drinking enough water, I’m not eating right, I’m not moving in the office, and now I’m stressed!” Hay rattles off the way your mind might try to tackle your wellness to-do list. “It’s too much,” she reminds us. “If you’re tackling one issue at a time, you’re likely to sustain it and make a lifelong habit versus ‘I have to do everything at once.’” “Look at the things you’re doing well and then build upon them.” This applies to people getting reacclimated to the office or people who are worried about languishing routines at home. Hay points to planning as a way to start taking these small steps. Plan Your Prep To integrate planning into her workfrom-home habits, Hay says she stuck to meal prepping at the beginning of the week. She would prep her lunches by cooking in big batches, freezing some, or readying sides and portioning out items ahead of time, even though her own kitchen was within walking distance of her desk. That helped her recognize the need for continued attention to her eating – having it ready when it was lunchtime kept that consistency at home. So, work location aside, planning your meals and snacks before your workweek is critical to following healthy eating habits when you’re busy. “We may put thought into what we’re wearing that day or what we’re doing that day at work,” Hay says. “Try to take some of that time and also plan out what we’re eating so that we have those healthy solutions.” Don’t Forget Fiber What do you do when you forget to plan? Having food in your workspace that www.dublinlifemagazine.com
