For those of us who spend our days juggling tasks at home, it’s crucial to regularly take stock of how we’re maintaining our physical and mental well-being to stay productive, healthy, and energized.
Anyone will tell you that regular exercise can increase your productivity and boost your overall mood. Yet many of us struggle to implement workout routines and mental health practices into our home office settings.
Just check out this study from Standford University, which says that those of us who work from home spend more hours sitting down than those who don’t, with around 50% of those studied reporting no leisure-time physical activity at all. Ouch.
This jam-packed month of May—representing both Global Employee Health & Fitness Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, along with a dedicated National Technology Day on the 11th—serves as a perfect reminder (and opportunity) to upgrade your home-working health habits.
Our guide today is all about practicality. We’ll explore ways to incorporate healthful practices into your daily work-from-home rhythm, from simple stretches that keep the blood flowing to mindfulness exercises that help clear the mind (plus a little technology to support the grind).
Let’s get into it!
Top Tips for Tip Top Physical Health
Maintaining physical well-being can be tricky when working from home. Yet, embracing regular exercise, even modestly, can massively uplift your efficiency and mental resilience.
Start by scheduling brief physical breaks into your daily routine. These don’t need to be long; even five-minute breaks can make a difference. Activities like stretching, yoga poses, or quick cardio sessions can fit easily between work tasks.
If you often remain seated for hours or can’t leave your office space too often, try getting in a brief workout using office-friendly routines. These bursts of activity will energize your body and refresh your mind. What’s not to love about that?
To make regular exercise a habit, consider setting reminders. Tools like smartphone alarms or scheduling apps work well. They help keep you accountable and ensure you don’t overlook your fitness goals. Another tip is to keep workout gear within sight to serve as a visual reminder and encourage more frequent activity breaks.
Check whether your employer offers fitness-related resources or incentives, such as access to online classes or virtual group exercise sessions with colleagues around the world. Simple initiatives—like challenges to track steps or mindfulness minutes—can also encourage participation and create a supportive environment for all team members.
We all want higher job satisfaction, reduced stress levels, and better performance at work, so if we prioritize fitness, we can tap into all of those benefits and more.
Mental Well-Being for Remote Workers
Maintaining strong, healthy mental well-being requires a proactive approach, as the benefits greatly outweigh the negatives of neglecting your brain.
Establishing clear boundaries is a great way to establish the foundation for mental wellness. With a dedicated workspace, fixed work hours, and communicating your needs with other household members, you can carve out the necessary divisions between professional tasks and your personal life, alleviating potential stress and burnout.
Beyond your physical well-being breaks, mental well-being breaks are just as important. Whether you step outside for fresh air, engage in brief meditative exercises, or simply unwind away from digital screens, these pauses will sharpen your focus and get rid of any unwanted feelings of confinement and monotony.
Choosing an employer who prioritizes mental health is equally important. At Activus Connect, for instance, we do everything we can to support our Ambassadors’ work-life balance, like flexible schedules and robust wellness programs, alongside an organizational culture that promotes open discussions about mental health.
If you work from home, these boundaries, breaks, and company programs are essential and will genuinely improve the quality of your professional and personal life.
Technology to Supercharge Mental and Physical Health
With National Technology Day on the horizon, we recognize how essential technology has become—not just for work but for our health and well-being.
The shift to remote work in recent years has shown how vital digital tools are. Mindfulness apps, virtual therapy, and online fitness and wellness programs now support our health daily. Millions of us rely on these tools as essential parts of our lives, proving that technology can help us stay connected and healthy.
With that in mind, here are our top picks for mental health and physical fitness apps for virtual workers.
- Nike Training Club: Best choice for free workouts
- Calm: Best app for mental clarity, sleep, and meditation
- Sweat: Best workout app for women
- Centr: Best workout app for men
- Sanvello: Best for stress relief
- Headspace: Best for therapy and health coaching
These apps make mental and physical exercises approachable and quick, conveniently matching remote workers’ flexible schedules.
Whichever way you start your journey to better health, start small, stay consistent, and use the tools that work best for you. Then, see how quickly you can transform your regular sitting schedule into a healthier, happier work-from-home life.