Episode 122: Tips to Stay Healthy While Working From Home
Are you unexpectedly now working from home?
Do you find yourself still in your pj’s at 6 pm?
With aches and pains from sitting all day without a dedicated ergonomic workspace?
And feeling frazzled by the disruption of your normal routine?
If so, this episode is for you! Drawing from the past eight years of full-time working from home, I’m sharing eight tips to help ease the surprisingly challenging transition of going from office to remote worker.
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“I had quite the transition becoming a full-time remote worker because I didn’t have regular routines. I’d find myself glued to my laptop in very uncomfortable sitting situations, sitting in my pajamas all day long, which meant that I also started skipping workouts. Before I knew it, my mind my body, all of me, was a hot mess. ”
Read the Episode Transcript:
Hello, my friend, and welcome back to another episode of the Live FAB Life podcast. As always, I'm so happy to be with you here. Now, if you have been following the past few weeks, you know that every other week I've been bringing you a solo episode and most recently taking you through my own personal health journey. But I'm going to pivot on that for the next couple of weeks because I want to bring you some useful information that's going to help you through this period of time that we find ourselves in right now.
So at the time of this recording, I am on Day 16 of my shelter-in-place because of the coronavirus pandemic, and I'm sure you find yourself in a similar situation. Like so many others, you might even find yourself unexpectedly in a situation where you have suddenly become a remote worker, someone working from home. Now, I personally have been a remote worker for a very long time, so I kind of know something about this topic, and that's really what I want to talk about today.
It's kind of funny because I have some family, and friends, and even colleagues who suddenly find themselves in this situation where they normally go into an office every day but are forced to now work from home. It's funny because many of these people, I don't know, they thought that I sat around all day and did nothing or they really thought this was a glamorous life, but they're quickly finding out that it's not all that it's cracked up to be. There's definitely a transition period that comes along with it. And some of them have even told me that they find themselves getting up first thing in their morning, grabbing their laptops, starting their workday much earlier than when they used to, and before they know it it's 6:00 PM. They're still working on their laptops. They're still in their pajamas. They haven't brushed their hair. They really haven't moved at all from when they woke up at 6:00 AM. I'm like, "Yeah, that's kind of the transition that we all start with because that's kind of how it was for me at first."
I started working from home full-time back in 2012. I used to go into an office every day, and my company decided to shut the physical office that I was in and move everyone into our headquarters. Now, the office that I had been going into every day was quite close to where I live, so I didn't have much of a commute, but our headquarters was farther away. It's 24 miles door to door. But in San Francisco Bay Area traffic, it was easily at least two hours in total for the day, at least an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. And if there is bad traffic, it would take much longer. And I wasn't willing to sacrifice that much time in my day to commute. My company was fantastic about it. They were very supportive of it, and I was able to set myself up as a remote worker with a home office. So I've been doing this full-time for a very long time.
However, those first few months, they were rough. I had quite the transition becoming a full-time remote worker, and I didn't have my regular routines. I didn't have a dedicated office space set up. So I would find myself glued to my laptop in very uncomfortable sitting situations. I found myself in my pajamas all day long, which meant that I also started skipping workouts. And before I knew it, my mind and my body, all of me, I was just this hot mess. I was gaining weight because I was skipping workouts. I had all kinds of body aches because I was sitting all day, and there was no sense of the end of a workday. The lines between home and work were non-existent, and I knew that I could not keep up with life that way. For my own health and my own sanity, I needed to make changes. So today I'm hoping to speed up that transition process for you much quicker than it happened for me, and I'm going to share with you some of my top tips that helped me to establish some sanity, and some boundaries, and some structure to create a work-home or home-work life balance.
The first thing that I did was I created a structured schedule. So if you had a morning routine back when life was "normal" before this upheaval all happened, then really try to stick to it as much as possible. We are all in a time right now where we are craving normalcy, right? So if you can find a way to retain some of that routine that you did before our lives changed over the past three weeks or so, stick to those things that you still do have control over.
Now, I'm not a parent so I realize that my struggles are not the same or were not the same as some struggles that some of you who have a partner who is now working from home with kids. Your struggles are going to be different. I can't relate to those things. I stick to my own lane. I don't give parenting advice. But I would imagine that if you stick to some type of routine that everyone was familiar with before this whole upheaval happened as much as possible, if you can stick to those things, I think it can help everyone cope with the situation that we're all figuring out how to maneuver our way through right now. So as much as possible, stick to a structured schedule. And if you didn't have one before, we're going to talk about how to create one now.
One of the best things you can do is to stick to the same wake-up time every day. Now, some of you might be thinking, "Oh, I no longer have to commute. I can get a few extra hours of sleep in during the day." I get it, right? It's tempting. But don't do it. Don't change that wake-up time on your alarm clock. Use the extra time to maybe do some things that you normally didn't get a chance to do before. Like now that you don't have an hour commute, maybe you can spend that time when you get up doing some meditating, which is so helpful to managing all of this anxiety, and uncertainty, and fear, and stress that we're all feeling right now. Use that extra few minutes when you would be commuting, use it for meditating, or doing some journaling, or perhaps even doing some stretching in the morning before you sit down at your desk all day.
Or if you had time fitting in time to work out, use that time to get some exercise in. All of our gyms are closed right now, but you can go for a walk outdoors. Maybe you can go outside into your driveway, into your backyard and do some exercises there or find something to do indoors as well. So use that time wisely.
Maybe pick up some new habits that you've been meaning to do but haven't really had a chance to do before. And even use it to make a proper breakfast. I think I've done past episodes on how breakfast is probably the most unhealthiest meal of the day for some of us. So use that time to figure out how you can make breakfast a little bit healthier. And if you're not eating breakfast, please take the time to do so now that you have that extra time.
Another tip that I have for you is that if you don't already have a morning routine established, take this time to establish one. So what could a morning routine look like? Let me just share with you mine and give you some ideas to see if this might work for you and then figure out what is the one that will work for your situation. So I don't know if you've ever seen that Seinfeld commercial where Kramer talked about his natural body alarm clock. Well, that is me. I have a natural body alarm clock, which is both a blessing and a curse. So while I don't need an alarm to get up in the morning, I still set one in hopes that maybe one day I will sleep up to it.
But normally, I get up pretty early in the morning, like at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. And I don't always get out of bed that early. I'll usually do some reading. But I do set my alarm clock every day, if anything to use it as a signal for me about when it is time to physically get up out of bed. So if you're wondering, I set it for 6:00 AM. So 6:00 AM is when I start to get up. I write in my journal. I have my five-minute journal that I write in. Some days I do some longer writing in another journal. But, I spent some time, do that. I get up, and I wash up. I brush my teeth. I go through my morning skincare routine, which might be longer than some of yours, but it's this whole ritual that I've created. I will brush my hair, and I will change my clothes. I will get out of my pajamas and sometimes put on regular clothes, sometimes put on workout clothes, but I do not stay in my pajamas at all.
Then, by that time, I have to drag my puppy girl, Cocoa Pop, out of bed for her morning walk. She does not like to get up in the morning. She does not like to go on her morning walk, but she doesn't have a choice. She has to. So we go out for a morning walk, which is usually about 20 to 30 minutes. Typically, I might also go out for a run, in which time I'll take her out for a walk, bring her back home to drop her off, and then go out for a run. She can't run with me. She's too little. She has a luxating patella, which is a bad knee. So unfortunately, I don't have a dog that I can run with, but it's fine. So she gets her walk, I bring her back home and drop her off, feed her breakfast, and then I'll go out for my run.
But the reality is, is I actually haven't done that for a few months because I've been battling plantar fasciitis so I haven't been able to run. But my typical morning routine, that's what it would entail. So if I were to go for a run, or even if I don't, after our walk, I come home, I feed Cocoa, I make myself from breakfast, and then I start my day. And if that's the case, then I'll usually save my workout for the afternoon when I actually go into the gym because that's when the gym is usually less crowded, low traffic, and that is what's important to me at a gym. I don't like to be at the gym when it's crowded. I will pick the time of the day and set aside some time on my calendar to go when it's least busy.
So obviously I'm not going to the gym right now. And I'm not going to lie, I'm personally someone that does not enjoy working out at home at all. I really thrive off the energy of being in a gym, most importantly in an air conditioned gym. So I even have trouble following some workouts online. I know a lot of great trainers and professionals are doing workouts online on Instagram and on Zoom. I still find those challenging to do.
I have gone to the park a couple of times, but more recently I dusted off my TRX that I have had for many years, and so I just hang it up. I keep it out. So just in between breaks throughout the day, I will just try and do a set of one set of exercises. Maybe in between meetings I'll get up and I'll do some TRX squats, or I'll do some TRX rows, or some TRX pushups or something. But that's kind of how I'm managing the whole workout thing right now.
So that's a little bit of an off tangent on my morning routine, but that's pretty much how my morning goes from the time I wake up to the time that I sit down at my desk to start working. So I wash up, get out of my PJs, I go out for a walk, and I have breakfast at the very minimum.
Now, another tip is that once you start your day you want to take breaks, and it's so easy to forget that. So set your alarm to take hourly breaks. If you were in your office, you would be getting up away from your desk all the time to walk to the break room, to refill your water bottle, to walk on over to your friend in the next cube to have a chat with them and just see how things are at. You would be getting up to go to the bathroom. So just because you are not in your office doesn't mean that you should stop doing those things.
Even socializing with your friend. Most companies already have tools for internal communication other than email. There are things like Slack, or Jabber, or Google Chat, or Voxer, or simply just iMessaging from your laptop, which is like texting, but you're doing it from your laptop. So use any one of those tools to still stay connected not just to your friends but to your colleagues as well.
And if you have an Apple Watch ... I have my Apple Watch. I don't use it every day. But you know how the Apple Watch is programmed to give you a reminder? Every hour you can set it and it gives you this reminder to breathe or to get up and move and it gives you a timing of how to do deep breathing. I don't use that. I usually ignore those alarms. But you know what? Now is a good time to put those things to use.
So my action this week is going to be to use my Apple Watch every day and to actually take heed to those alarms. I usually just set in an alarm on my phone, but that's another good way to keep yourself reminded as well if you're already using an Apple Watch. The point is to just get your butt out of your chair and move. Stretch, move, walk. Just keep the circulation in your body going.
Now, my next tip is very easy to ignore, even if you do go into the office, and that is to actually take a lunch break. Now, when you were going to work in your office, you would, at least I hope you did, gather your coworkers together, right? You usually typically have your regular lunch crew and you all head to the break room to heat up the lunch that you brought from home together. Or maybe you would go to the cafeteria. Or on special days, like Fridays, maybe you would all go out to lunch. Or maybe you are someone who ate lunch solo, but the point is that you took a lunch break. And just because you work from home doesn't mean that you can't still do that.
Now, for the first few months that I worked from home I actually didn't take a lunch break. And my lunch break varies every day because I work with people across time zones. So sometimes I will have to either take a lunch earlier than normal or take a later lunch. But the point is is I make a point to take that time. But when I first started working from home, I felt guilty because I thought if I wasn't glued to my computer every minute of the workday ... For one, I thought I was being monitored by people wondering like, "Where is she? Is she fooling around and doing something other than work?" Or I felt guilty that may be like, "Oh, I really should be tied to my laptop all this time." But really, that just isn't the case. You have to take your lunch break.
So now, I actually have a 30-minute block scheduled on my Outlook, which is the tool that my company uses for calendaring and scheduling. So I have a 30-minute block scheduled every day, usually at noon. And again, like I said, sometimes I have to move that around depending on my meeting schedule, but I do take that 30-minute block. And during that 30-minute block, I take Cocoa, my dog, out for a lunchtime walk and we go out for 15 or 20 minutes, and then I come home and make myself some lunch. And most recently, it's just heating up some Balanced Bites meals, which is frozen meals that I order online. They come to me already frozen. It's not something that I actually have to make. If I actually find myself having to make a lunch, then I'll make a quick roast beef sandwich or heat up some leftovers from the night before. It's still something that's quick and easy but still healthy.
So we've taken you through your morning routine. We've taken you through your lunchtime. Now for my next tip is that you need to set a time to end your day. It can be very tempting to keep working past 5:00 PM, but you must, and I emphasize this in capital letters, you must have a time to end the workday. When I first started working from home, my desk was in an armoire, and it was a ritual that I had where at the end of the day I would shut down my work computer and I would shut armoire doors and that was my signal to me that it is now 5:00 PM. The workday is done. And that was my separation between home and work.
I don't have that armoire anymore so my ritual now is an alarm that I set on my phone for 5:00 PM. That is when I take Coco out for her evening walk. Yes, my dog gets three walks a day. And that's not just for her. That's just for me just to keep myself moving. So we go out for our evening walk and we're out for about 30 to 60 minutes depending on her mood, depending on my mood, depending on the weather, depending on my schedule. But either way, we are out for a minimum of 30 minutes. Then when we come back from our walk, I feed her dinner, and then I start making my dinner. So this is a ritual that I have set up to mark the end of the workday moving into my personal time in the evening.
So as we move later into the evening, I think another tip that I have is that it's really important to go to bed at the same time every night. Just as important as it is to wake up at the same time every day and have a morning routine, it's equally important to have an evening routine and to go to bed at the same time, even on weekends, even when we aren't sheltering in place and everyone isn't forced to be socially distant, and physically distant, and in "quarantine." This is something that we should do all the time, especially if you're someone who struggles with sleep, which is something that I do, and I've talked about it in many different episodes. Create your ritual around bedtime. I find that so helpful because if you are going to bed at the same time, then you're training your body to know when to expect it and to be prepared for it.
My bedtime routine is usually about 8:30 or 9:00, I go to bed early, is I ... Laptop is off. Because even though my workday is done, I'm on my laptop in the evenings doing my side hustle work or just catching up on some personal things, paying some bills, whatever. But by 8:30, that is shutdown. I am cleaning up the kitchen. I am doing my evening skincare routine, which is very involved. That itself can take up to an hour. And picking up around the house so I don't have so much clutter all the time. Then, I'm usually in bed by like 9:30. Lights out at the very latest by 10:00. Just having that set routine that I follow even on the weekends really helps me get sleep, especially during times when it's so difficult for me to do so for many different reasons. I think it's important even though you're ... Like I said, even though so much of your routines in your life may be in a state of upheaval right now, being able to stick to the things that you are in control in really helps, and that is one thing that you definitely have control over.
Then, my final tip, and I think this is number eight, I'm not quite sure, but don't wear sweats or yoga pants every day. We are all probably in a state where we're doing a lot of mindless eating right now. And if that's the case, it's okay. We all want carbs right now, and we all can't go to our gyms right now. And sure, like I say, you're probably trying to keep up with your workouts doing some online stuff, but it's very likely that we're just naturally spending less time moving around so it wouldn't be entirely shocking if we all gained a few pounds right now, and that's okay. But, be mindful of it, right?
So one way to stay mindful of it is to put on some real clothes every couple days or a few times a week. Put on a pair of jeans every few days. And I'm totally serious about this. Eight years ago when I first started working from home, I either wore yoga pants or running shorts every day, and I did not realize that I was putting on extra L-B-S, extra pounds. Because like I said, I was skipping workouts because I was glued to my desk all the time. So when I actually did have to put on a pair of real pants, some work pants or jeans, they were snug, and it was like this big wake-up call for me. I was like, "Oh no. What is going on?" And that's when I started to force myself to actually wear jeans a few days a week. Even though I work from home, even though I may not see anybody else, I'm still putting those things on. Ladies, I still wear a bra every day.
Don't always get ready on the weekends because I ... Again, it's another way of delineating between our workday and weekend when I spend so much time at home. So a few days a week, like I said, I will put on some jeans. I put on a bra every day. But on Monday through Friday I might also put on some light makeup, like some Dew Skin Tinted Moisturizer, and fill in my brows, and put on some mascara at the very least. Those are three things that take very little time to put on, and they make me look a little bit more polished and not like I just rolled out of bed if I have to be on camera for a conference call or something, or even on Instagram, you know? So put on real clothes three to four or five times a week. It's just a way, like I said, to put separation between the weekday and the weekend.
Okay, let's do a quick recap. Number one, create a structured schedule. Number two, get up at the same time every day. Number three, establish a morning routine if you don't already have one. Number four, set the alarm on your phone to take hourly breaks every day. So important. Number five, take a lunch break. Number six, set a time to end your day, to end your workday. Number seven, go to bed at the same time every night. And number eight, don't wear sweats or yoga pants every day. And you know what? Tips one to seven are things that you can still do even when this is all over and you go back to the office. If you don't have those things in place now, take the time to create those healthy habits so that when you go back to the office you have all of these new things set up to feel healthier about yourself.
So there you have it, eight work-from-home tips to help you stay sane and a little bit healthy during this time of such anxiety and uncertainty. I have an assignment for you for this week. I want you to pick one or two, or all of these things, and put them into practice. Then I want you to come over and share with me how they went. You can come over and share them with me over on the show notes for this episode at www.livefablife.com/122 for Episode 122, or you can come over and find me over on Instagram @livefablifewithnaomi.
And if you are a work-from-home veteran and you have some tips that we haven't covered today, make sure you come over and share them with me, too. I want to hear from you. So like I said, I know this is a relevant topic that so many of you are struggling with right now, struggling to figure out, so I'm shifting the next few episodes after this one and to hopefully bring you more relevant episodes to help us get through this next few weeks. So in the meantime, hang in there. We are all in this together. We will get through it together. And I want you to just have a good week. We'll talk to you next time.
Naomi Nakamura is a Functional Nutrition Health Coach. She helps passionate, ambitious high-achievers who are being dragged down by fatigue, burnout, sugar cravings, poor sleep, unexplained weight issues, and hormonal challenges optimize health, find balance, and upgrade their energy so they can do big things in this world.
Through her weekly show, The Live FAB Live Podcast, programs, coaching, and services, she teaches women how to optimize their diet, support their gut health, reduce their toxic load, and improve their productivity, bringing work + wellness together.
Naomi resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and can often be found exploring the area with her puppy girl, Coco Pop!
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