Dealing with your home office: improving mental health and physical conditions

It's early, you're tired and definitely not in the mood to start another day at the home office. You drag yourself to your desk, wearing your pyjama trousers and a white, formal blouse. You fix your messy hair while starting up your computer. After your first meeting it might be a good idea to have breakfast. There is fresh yoghurt in the fridge. And cookies. And cake. Hmm... Well, we can eat cookies instead of the cereal in the yoghurt, right? Your pyjama trousers are starting to feel a bit too tight around your waist, and you're out of breath while walking back to your desk, with your cookies 'n yoghurt. Finally, you arrived at your desk. You check your phone again, but you don't have any messages from friends or family. Actually, life is a bit lonely, unhealthy and boring at the moment. This doesn't feel good. Time for a change!

plan your day
You might have heard this a hundred times, but this really is the most important thing to create a relaxed, productive and healthy lifestyle. You can just write a timetable down in a notebook or use a handy app. I personally prefer the app called 'Do!'. You can install this app for free and it is very easy to use.
The point of planning your day is the ability to create time for both work and health. You know what you must do for work and how many time is left for doing other things. If you just stick to your schedule, you will be able to look back at a productive and healthy day. This will definitely make you feel good!
It's best to make your timetable the night before. Firstly, think about what would be a healthy and productive day for you, including activities you might not usually do during a day at the home office, like going for a walk or calling your friends. Secondly, add activities which you think might improve your health, for instance, drinking water and eating fruits and veggies. These activities will become habits when you schedule them daily, and you will experience the benefits!
Last but not least, schedule moments of relaxation, like reading a book, watching Netflix or scrolling through your instagram.

Go for a walk
It might not sound very attractive, but going for a walk before starting another day at the home office really has lots of benefits! Walk for about half an hour, listen meanwhile to music or a podcast. Walking frequently is important to maintain the strength of your bones. Without regular movement and sunlight, your bones become weak, they will break more easily.
I highly recommend listening to a podcast while walking. There are lots of podcasts on Spotify; funny ones, serious ones, educative ones and so much more! You will discover topics you might have never thought of before, the podcast might even encourage you to find more information about the topics. TedTalk for instance, is a very horizon broading podcast.
Beside walking alone with your podcast, you should definitely make an appointment with your friends and family to walk together! It's a nice way to keep up with each other.
Make sure you walk at the same moment each day. For example in the before work, while lunch break and after dinner. Walking needs to become a habit, and you can only create a habit by doing it regularly.

Eat healthy and regulary
Boring... I want a milkshake! I deserve a milkshake after these terrible long days at my home office! I know... But that milkshake won't make you feel better. You can improve your quality of life by living a healthy life. Feeling fit and being happy with your body is really important for your mental health. Besides, healthy actually can be very tasty. This is your moment to discover delicious healthy recipes and change your eating pattern. Need some inspiration? I would recommend 'the pam app', it contains lots of healthy recipes, created by a German fitness model. You can install this app for free. Discovering recipes and cooking also is a nice way of relaxation!
Furthermore, it's important to eat at regular times. Don't skip breakfast, lunch or dinner. Skipping meals will make you compensate the missing energy with cookies and candy. Create a regular eating pattern.
Besides, drink enough water. A lack of hydration decreases your focus and has a negative effect on your brain, which uses most of the water intake. Drink water while working, buy yourself a nice water bottle. A new, fresh 500ml water bottle at your desk will have a positive effect on your water intake.
Finally, skip your diet! Strict food rules won't make you happy and will only make you longing for food you're not allowed to eat according to your diet. Just try to eat normal portions of healthy food, make sure you eat enough fruit, veggies, nuts, proteins and other important nutrients. There also is an app to track the amount of nutrients of your food intake. It's called 'fat secret' and you can install it for free.

Hopefully you like these tips and tricks. I have a few more which I will discuss in another blog. I added the links to the apps mentioned below. Thank you for reading this! :)

Do! https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/do-simple-to-do-list/id421819675
The Pam App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.openreply.pam&hl=nl&gl=US
Fat Secret https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fatsecret.android&hl=nl&gl=US