Wondering how you can stay healthy working at a desk for the majority of your day? Then this post is for you, my friend! Watch or read below to discover the top 5 self care habits that will help you stay healthy, nourished and hopefully, pain free!
The first self-care habit that I encourage you to develop is to drink a glass of water right after waking up to:
In other words, water should always be the first thing that you ingest on any given day (i.e. a glass of water before your coffee, tea or breakfast).
How can you make it happen?
Here’s what you can do:
OR
But wait, there’s more!
Rather than jugging a bottle of water right before bed and setting yourself up for multiple nighttime bathroom trips, spread your water intake throughout the day.
Here’s how to go about it.
How much water should you drink daily?
Well, this will depend on personal factors like your size, physical activity, climate, and of course the diuretic substances that you consume. But as a rule of thumb, aim for at least 2 liters of water per day.
CAUTION:
Many people are not in tune with their sense of thirst so watch out for signs of dehydration (dry lips, dry mouth or dark urine).
Moreover, some tend to mistake thirst for hunger so the next time you feel hungry, have a glass of water first to see if that’s what your body was truly craving. Chances are that you were just feeling thirsty!
The second self-care habit will save you a lot of pain and discomfort if you train yourself to give your body and eyes a little rest from your work station.
Basically, the idea is to take little, strategic actions during the day to:
In practice, these seemingly trivial mini-breaks are about:
How can you make sure that you follow through?
Well, you’ll need to set up a system that works for you, and you alone. For example, I like to set my interval timer to prompt me to switch between standing and sitting at my desk every 30 minutes.
In addition, I usually take a break to drink some water, walk outside or stretch on the floor at the top of each hour. Above all, I like to prevent myself from getting distracted so I stick to an old fashioned interval timer.
But what if you prefer some tech-based solution?
Luckily, there are a lot of free options available to you:
The third self-care habit that I’d like you to consider developing is to make yourself a colorful, yummy smoothie in the morning. And guess what? You’ll be able to make it in less than 60 seconds if you have all ingredients ready to go.
Here’s why smoothies are so good for you:
Do you see the value here?
The forth self-care habit is very simple, it doesn’t cost you anything yet we tend to underestimate the power of being organized.
But wait, wait!
If you already feel overwhelmed by reading the word organized, please know that this is not about being obsessive about keeping things clean and tidy.
Let me clarify.
The true essence of being organized is positive, helpful and very resourceful in a sense that it can help you be more productive, focused, calm and grounded. In fact, the science of positive psychology is showing how keeping things clean and organized is really good for us.
For instance, staying organized can help us to make healthier food choices, sleep better, reduce stress, and stay in shape. Moreover, the skill of being organized gives us more freedom, time and ultimately it enables us to live a more balanced life.
How can you become more organized?
A great question! Firstly, focus on being proactive at decluttering your work space, home, emails, desktop, document folders etc. on a regular basis. Secondly, create an easy routine to work on developing the skill of being organized.
Here’s a tip on how you can start today.
Simply take 10 minutes before the end of your work day to:
Sounds good?
The fifth and last self-care strategy goes back to nutrition, which plays a huge part in our health and well being yet, many of us never really take the time to learn how to feed themselves properly.
Here’s how I look at it.
I think of nutrition as a personal affair because we all have our unique nutritional needs depending on our actual health situation, lifestyle and environment.
The bottom line?
Make sure to keep yourself nourished, balanced and far away from the blood sugar roller-coaster, which is a problem that can be very damaging to your health in the long term.
The best strategy? Simply make a plan and stick to it!
And I’ve got 3 options for you: