It’s challenging to stay healthy and productive and not to mention less stressed in a place that makes you sit all day and do repetitive tasks. But no matter how challenging it is, it’s definitely not impossible! Here are some tips that may help you along the way.
1. Turn Off Your Phone
Your life will go on even if you don’t touch your phone for the next 10 minutes. Don’t feel the need to check for calls, messages, or notifications on whatever social media you’re in every minute of the day.
2. Change Your Screensaver
Do always end up staring at your screensaver when your mind just won’t give you any ideas anymore or your head hurts so much due to that mountain of paperwork? If that’s the case, change it into a screensaver that is soothing or anything that helps you feel better when looking at it. It can be a nice landscape, cute kittens or puppies, or a picture of your loved ones. This way, whatever it is that when you look at it will help you meditate a little and let go of some of that pent-up anxiety.
3. Take A Musical Interlude
Do not underestimate the power of taking a break while listening to some music. Grab a pair of headphones, kick back in your chair, close your eyes and listen to some great music for fifteen minutes. It doesn’t matter what you listen to as long as it helps you relax. But don’t confuse this to listening music while working. Sometimes, you just gotta stop what you’re working on especially if it’s something that’s making you go crazy and really get lost in the music. When you’re done, you’ll see that your head will feel clearer and lighter.
4. 108 Breaths
Sit back in your chair a little, close your eyes and concentrate on counting your own breaths (an inhale and exhale counts as a single breath) Keep going until you have reached 108. As the average person takes 15-20 breaths per minute this exercise will take you between six and eight minutes to complete and you really will feel so much calmer and relaxed once you’re done. Why 108? You probably don’t realize this but the number 108 has, according to many spiritualists and yoga practitioners, great cosmic significance. Therefore many of them practice this exercise in this manner. And in any case, it’s a nice, even number that will give you just the right amount of time to rest during a busy day.
5. Snack On A Banana
Instead of reaching for junk foods or ordering fast food when you get hungry, make a conscious decision to choose healthy snacks and nutritious foods. How? Stock up on fruits and nuts in your office fridge so that you can have a healthy snack ready when your stomach growls. Banana is a great snack that you can always stock up on because it’s rich in potassium, can regulate blood pressure which can help keep stress at bay. Bringing home-cooked lunch at work is great too!
6. Move More
When the phone rings, get up! You almost do your entire work sitting down, take a phone call as an opportunity to stand up and take some pressure off your lumbar disc. Eat your lunch away from your desk. Go to the cafeteria, or eat your homemade lunch at the nearby park. That’s a change of scenery, a little exercise (walking), and breathing fresh air all rolled into one. If you’re stuck on a problem, idea, or a project, get up from your desk, walk around or do some physical task. Moving your body refreshes the brain more than staring at the computer for hours. Get water, stretch, or even walk to your colleague and talk to them personally to discuss work than phoning or emailing. This doesn’t just encourage more productivity at work but also promotes less sick leaves due to back pain by maintaining movement throughout the day. Anything that will make you move from your chair, do it!
7. See A Chiropractor
People say that stress is all in the mindset, but you should know that your body condition plays a big role in it too. Receiving adjustments from a chiropractor here in Singapore can make a significant difference in your stress level by relieving pain or discomfort caused by misalignment, helping you sleep better at night, and even treat other health condition like a constant headache and digestive problems which are without a doubt stressful. Aside from that, you’ll find that when your body is in tip-top condition, your performance at work improves as well and you’re less likely to feel sick and tired of going to work every day.