09 Jan Back to Work Tips to Help You Stay Well
Many of my patients report that their body feels much better while away from work or on holidays. This isn’t really a surprise as we’re usually more active, swimming at the beach and most importantly, less stressed!
If you’ve started back at work this week, check out the following tips to help keep your body feeling as good as it has been while on holidays!
Sit less:
We can improve our health simply by standing up and moving around more. Get up and walk to your colleague’s desk rather than email. Stand while talking on the phone. Ask for an adjustable stand-up desk in your workplace. If you need advice or support on this, just touch base with myself at the clinic.
Studies show that the benefits of having a standing desk at work:
- Can lower blood sugar levels, especially after lunch
- May lower your risk of heart disease
- Can decrease chronic lower back pain due to prolonged sitting
- May improve mood and energy levels, while lowering stress and fatigue
- May boost productivity
Sit correctly:
Your seat…
- Hips, elbows and knees should be at open angles (slightly more than 90 degrees).
- Recline slightly to ease lower back pressure.
- Thighs parallel to floor.
- Ensure feet are flat on floor (or use footrest).
- Sit about one arms-length from the monitor.
Your monitor…
- Position centre of screen at eye level – tilt the monitor upwards slightly.
Your mouse/keyboard…
- Keep wrists in neutral position, not bent up or down.
- Only use wrist rests while resting, not when typing.
- Keep alphabetical section of keyboard centred to you.
Build resilience to help deal with work stress:
A few of my clients have already mentioned the dread of heading back to work. The impending workload, the boss’ demands, the overwhelm!
Have you ever noticed yourself experiencing butterflies or nausea in the stomach when you even think about work? Or maybe your neck cramps up and a headache comes on? This is called a physiological response to stress.
In a perfect world, we would quit our demanding job and be on permanent holiday, or chase that passion we’ve always wanted to do. However, sometimes life isn’t that simple. So, let’s work on ways to reduce your reactiveness to stress.
Mindfulness and meditation practice is fantastic for this. You can start with simple, free applications available on your phone like Smiling Mind, Insight Timer or 1 Giant Mind (see my previous blog post here on some of my favourite phone Apps and Podcasts).
The way I help clients with this in practice is with a technique called NET (Neuro-Emotional Technique). This is a simple stress reduction technique that works to remove the intensity of the emotions or stressors from the body. As a result, you may feel more empowered to deal with the daily stress, or even better, the stress may start to dissipate completely!
It’s very common to suffer from post holiday blues. Hopefully these tips help you get back to work feeling more relaxed, motivated and energised for a great year ahead.
No Comments