Whether your work involves physical labour or is mainly sedentary, there are various ways to ensure your optimal health and, as a result, productivity. Advanced Home Care Solutions is a nurse staffing agency, and we rely heavily on the health and wellbeing of our nurses. With that in mind, we always encourage healthy habits in and out of the workplace.
Your Place of Work Needs a Healthy You
Not only does poor physical health impact your overall wellbeing, but also the quality of your work. Your place of work needs you at your best, so it’s important to prioritize health and wellness every day – even while on the job.
The Impact of Poor Health in The Workplace
If you think that simply feeling unwell is the only consequence of deprioritizing your physical health at work, you’re wrong. Spending several days per week engaging in unhealthy habits can take money out of your pocket if you eventually require time off work, physiotherapy, and/or even surgery to correct damage caused by repeatedly mistreating your body at work. If you build small, healthy habits into your daily routine, you can avoid the metaphorical and literal headache that comes with a lot of health-harming habits.
Repetitive Strain Injury
RSIs are common in all kinds of jobs, including those that involve heavy lifting, repetitive movements like typing and using a mouse, and other movements that place stress on certain muscles while neglecting others. Repetitive Strain Injuries can be treated or prevented through specific stretches, correcting the way in which you lift / move heavy objects, and targeted physio practices and/or devices like massage therapy guns and TENS machines.
If you’d like to incorporate some lifestyle changes that can retrain your body and brain to be healthier at work, consider a few of the tips below to remain at the top of your game:
- Consider investing in an ergonomic, adjustable office chair to customize to your ideal posture and placement. Make sure that your feet are firmly rested on the ground, and your thighs are parallel to the floor. Additionally, don’t keep any regular-use items too far out of reach, as repetitive bending and twisting movements can cause further strain on your body and muscles.
- Be aware of your posture – if you find that you’re slouching often or experiencing back pain partway into your workday, try a posture corrector. Check out this article in Women’s Health magazine if you’re unsure of which kind would work best for you.
- Learn how to correctly lift heavy objects. This is a very important point because lifting incorrectly can cause serious injury and/or chronic pain. Here is a great video on how to lift properly to avoid injury.
- Take opportunities to stretch / move throughout the workday. This breaks up repetitive and potentially harmful movements that can cause issues and allows you to engage different muscles. Stretching is extremely restorative and can help protect and prep your muscles, ligaments, and joints.
- Consider using additional best practices in ergonomics, like using your non-dominant hand for mousing. The reduces the burden of work on your dominant hand, and allows your dominant hand to take notes while you mouse with your non-dominant hand.
Let’s all aim to be more cognizant of our physical habits in the workplace and do what we can to maintain healthy bodies and happy minds.