Working from home is becoming more and more popular around the globe, and there are many reasons that this is a good thing. If you’re considering becoming a remote worker or starting your own home-based venture, here’s why it’s good for your health and wellbeing.
You can eat better
When you’re constantly in a rush where you have to be at work on time and stay there for set hours, it’s easy to want to choose convenience foods. Chances are you want things that are tasty and you can grab and go, the problem is that these things aren’t usually the healthiest. It’s easy to give in to the temptation of visiting the local food truck, fast food joint or cafe at lunchtime and in many work environments people pass around things like cakes and sweets which can be difficult to resist. When you work from home, you don’t have to worry about packing up a convenient lunch and you’re not surrounded by the temptation of what other people bring in. You can prepare and eat healthy, fresh lunches every day which are full of flavor and good for you. A soggy salad that’s been lugged to work in a lunchbox and sat going limp for hours probably doesn’t sound appealing, but made from your own fridge on the day and chances are you’ll really enjoy it.
You have more time and energy to exercise
The main reasons people report for not exercising is that they have neither the time nor the energy. When you’re up early every day and in work for a solid eight hours, when you spend up to two hours commuting and another getting ready to go in- it’s no wonder really. When you work from home you get to avoid all of these issues and you have much more time on your hands as a result. If you want to pop out at lunchtime when the gym or the pool is quiet then you easily can, you don’t have the same time limits than you would if you were at a regular job. Because you don’t have to get up early, get ready and travel to work you have hours in the morning where you can get up at your own pace and practice some yoga, stretches or go on a morning jog to refresh your head. When you know you don’t have to panic and rush to clock in for a certain time, you can exercise on your own terms without having to attend a crowded gym before or after work hours.
Flexibility with time means less stress
Having flexibility with your time is always going to mean less stress. We all have more going on in our lives than just work, the problem is that everything else generally has to come second to work as in a normal job we have set hours that we have to be in. So when you have things like doctors’ appointments or want to do things with your family or look after your kids when they’re unwell, it can cause issues as you have to scrabble around trying to arrange last-minute time off. And of course, you’re far from guaranteed to get it. When you work from home, your workdays are generally flexible. Maybe you work for yourself, and run a business using a company like https://physicaladdress.com, perhaps you freelance or are a content creator such as a blogger or Youtuber. In these cases, you’re the boss so it’s completely up to you the times that you work. However, even if you work from home for a company, things are done differently to how they’d be run in an office. You’ll normally be given a set list of tasks and a deadline, as long as everything is done by the deadline you’re free to organize your own day. That means if you need to pop out and get something done, attend an appointment or generally do something in your life outside of work then you can. You can simply make up the time elsewhere, such as early that morning or in the evening.
No commute means smoother running mornings
The way our mornings start generally influences the way we feel for the rest of the day. If you’re always off to a stressful start- rushing to get ready, standing in the rain waiting for the bus, being crammed onto public transport with no seat and then rushing into the office- chances are you experience a fair amount of stress. This can stay with you for the rest of the day, even once things settle down and you get into the swing of your work. If you’re doing this five times a week, it’s no wonder we can all start to feel run down and burned out with work, and that’s on top of any actual work stresses. When you work from home, there’s no commute. You can get up in the morning, freshen yourself up, have breakfast and walk into your home office. There’s no panic, no rushing around and no extra time needed. If you’re escaping the rat race for the first time then this can feel like such a luxury, and it never gets old.
Less illness
When you work in a busy environment with lots of other people, bugs and viruses can easily be passed around- there’s always someone with a cold, flu, stomach bug or other issues. You can get around some problems with regular hand washing but it’s not always possible to avoid these things completely. When you work from home, you’re not exposed to the germs of other people on a day to day basis. In light of the recent Coronavirus pandemic and many companies asking their employees to work from home, it highlights how effective lowering worker illness is.
