5 Healthy Habits to Help Transform Your Workday in the New Year

We may already be a week into a new year, but we all know that healthy habits can sometimes take a lifetime to master. January is an ideal time to set new goals and habits, and reassess whether your approach to work is as healthy as it can be. It can be a small change, such as investing in ergonomic desk accessories to improve your posture, or ensuring you stay hydrated throughout the day.

Healthy habits in the workplace are vital to master, so you can achieve work life balance and return home with a fresh mind. Nobody wants to crawl back home after a long day and have no energy to spend time with loved ones or do any hobbies. So if you’re keen to discover healthy habits to do every day, keep reading.

Prioritise Movement Throughout the Day

Although January is the month when many of us flood to the gym to get in shape after Christmas, many of us will give up after the first few weeks because we’ve gone in too hard and fast. If you’re struggling to stick to going to the gym, it might be easier to try something else. Incorporating movement into your workday, especially if you have a sedentary job like working at a desk in the office, is vital for your health.

A small amount of regular movement throughout the day, such as standing up and walking up and down the office every half an hour, can boost your energy and mood. The hours can fly by before you’ve realised you’ve been sitting for several hours, but adding just a few minutes of simple activity throughout the working day can keep you focused and energised.

Try these while you are working:

• How to start your day - 2-3 minutes of shoulder rolls, neck stretches, or gentle twists before heading out on your commute or opening your laptop.
• Micro movement breaks every hour - stand up, walk up and down your office, or refill your water bottle.
• Try walking meetings or working - sit stand desks are a great way to stay active and improve your posture.
• Use the stairs instead of a lift - a very simple swap that can increase your step count every day without needing lots of extra time.
• Set movement reminders - many smartwatches will have this capacity built in to help you remember to move. Or, you can set a phone or calendar reminder.

Stay Hydrated Throughout the Day

Many people find drinking water harder throughout the day harder during the colder months, but it’s just as vital to stay productive and focused throughout the day. But cold water isn’t the only way to keep hydrated. Try adding in a hot cup of herbal tea to your breaktimes, or sparkling water. Both of these beverages contain no caffeine and work to keep you hydrated.

It’s easy to get caught up in the flow of work during a busy day, but you are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t keep hydrated. Even mild dehydration can impair concentration, memory and mental clarity, which makes your brain work harder. At the end of a long day, if you haven’t consumed enough fluids, you’re likely to feel shattered. Set reminders on your phone or calendar to help you build the habit.

Organise As You Go

Nobody likes to get to the end of a week, month of year and realise they haven’t done any filing or organising. If you deal with a lot of invoices, documents and paperwork in your job, you’ll want to keep on top of it to rensure important files don’t go astray. It’s far better to file as you go rather than wait until the end of a month or year to organise all your paperwork.

Take some time to organise your paperwork at the end of each work day or week, that way you’re going to be far better at staying on top of it and keeping organised. What’s more, your workplace and desk will be free of clutter. And you know what they say about desks. A tidy desk is a tidy mind.

We have a huge selection of filing and archive solutions, designed to help you organise with lever arch files, document wallets and many more accessories.

Optimise Your Workspace for Comfort and Focus

There’s no skirting around it; you have to be physically comfortable and supported to do your best work. Aches and pains may be physically painful, but they can take a toll on us mentally too. If you spend all day working at a desk without adequate ergonomic support, you’re more likely to pick up strains and injuries that eat into the working day.

Ergonomic chairs, desks and accessories are a long term investment in your health and wellbeing, and they go a long way to contribute to your focus and comfort everyday. The way you sit, work and move is just as important as your mental wellbeing, so it’s worthwhile to take some time at the start of the year to see if your setup is as comfortable and supportive as it can be.

If you are looking to make some changes, we would recommend the Leitz Ergo range, which has osteopath-approved functionality to keep you supported all day.

Set Boundaries to Protect Your Work Life Balance

Switching off is the most important change you can make for improving your overall wellbeing. Gradually, more companies and employees are realising the importance of time away from your desk and actually switching off. This means not looking at emails on your phone after your work day has finished, and not logging on over the weekend.

Although the temptation to log on while you are on annual leave, or desperate to sort something in the evening, can be strong, doing this regularly shatters your hope of achieving a sustainable work-life balance. Set yourself boundaries when it comes to work, and stick to them.

Small steps can lead to great improvements. Although it’s tempting to go all guns blazing and start big for the new year, in reality, it’s the smaller changes that can have a greater, long term impact. We challenge you to choose one of these changes to stick to for the month ahead, and see how it makes you feel at the end of it.

Explore our range of desktop accessories and office furniture to elevate your workspace, whether you’re at home or in the office.