Whilst it’s important to look after your health and wellbeing during this period of time, it can be extremely difficult to stay motivated and stick to a routine in your own home. Whether you need a home gym or a new hobby, we have provided some tips to help you stay motivated and keep you busy during this uneasy period of time.
1. Sticking to your active routine
Getting up at your normal time is a vital part of setting up your day correctly to be as productive (or more) than usual. As soon as you start falling into the trap of oversleeping, it will be very difficult to overcome and eventually get out of bed. Even if the alarm goes off and you stir for 10 minutes, make sure you’re still waking up at the normal time you would get into the office.
No one likes it, but working out first thing in the morning is an excellent way to establish a routine. Once an exercise pattern is locked in, you’ll be a lot less likely to skip it! According to a recent research article published by the European Journal of Social Psychology, it takes about two months on average for a habit to stick and become repetitive without much thought. Once this period of time is complete you shouldn’t have a problem skipping the gym although if you become a master of the home workout, you may never need to go again!
2. Setting yourself up with the right balanced diet
There are seven essential factors for a balanced diet: carbs, protein, fat, fibre, vitamins, minerals and water. Including these into your daily meals will contribute to the energy and motivation you will have throughout the day. With all your personal favourites just an arm’s length away, snacking is very common whilst working from home. However, be careful, as too much can cause you to quickly drop in both energy and drive.
Staying hydrated is a key factor in all of this. It will reduce tiredness, the strain on your eyes and helps cushion the brain. All of which will keep you productive and stop you from drifting off into a slump! Use this time of self-isolation to expand on your cooking and why not try out something new? Avoid the ease of slipping something frozen from the freezer, to the tray and then the oven, why not explore new recipes? Time may not be a factor if you can tend to it across the day and it could give you an opportunity to gain a good weapon in your arsenal the next time you’re hosting friends or family over for dinner.
For some ideas on meals you can cook in batches why not try these?
3. Daily stretches
Stretching daily has many benefits such as improving your posture and reducing stress amongst many other advantages.
Whilst you may not be in your office with a supportive chair, but at your dining table at home, doing daily stretching will reduce the strain on your muscles and help you to relax and battle any bothering issues you may have as the chair may not be as supportive towards your back as you would have hoped. This type of exercise can also calm your mind and give you a mental break. This could be done during the day to break up your screen time or in the morning as mentioned above to start your day off right!
For some great stretches you can do at your desk, why not try these?
4. Screen breaks
Many studies have found that taking time out for a moment to relax and reboot is essential! This can help increase productivity, motivation, success and making sure you don’t lose your mind along the way. Your body will naturally give you an indication when it’s due a screen break. This could be down to hunger, boredom or even tiredness.
It’s also been found that regular screen breaks can result in feeling more alert and awake. Breaks can be used as a sense of achievement; once a task has been completed you can reward yourself with a break or a moment of recalibration. Stuck on a task? Why not take a minute to break from the screen and clear your mind for a second? A refreshed head is better at tackling problems than one that is jumbled and fatigued!
5. Try a home workout
What’s more convenient than working out in your own home? If you’re struggling to fit a workout in your busy lifestyle. We’ve got you covered.
Working out at home is more flexible and versatile and you can choose when, where and what you do. If you have children, you can even get them involved to burn some energy! Which could work wonders if you also have to look after others during this period in keeping them entertained and occupied.
If you have ever belonged to a gym, you’ve probably wasted a lot of time waiting for equipment. This has meant using machines that don’t necessarily do the trick or settling for another activity because the class you were eager to take was sadly full. Fear not! This problem is solved in your own home as you are the boss of your own gym.
There are some great workout videos that are budget-friendly and a way to tackle staying healthy whilst self-isolating or simply adapt your normal workout routine. Alternatively, the rise of social media has brought home workouts straight to your procrastination zone such as Instagram! Influencers such as Joe Wicks (@thebodycoach) are doing their bit to make sure you can stay fit and healthy from the comfort of your own home.
For some more information on staying healthy whilst at home why not have a look at how others are getting involved in it?
6. Develop a new skill
Keeping your brain occupied is a vital part of getting through self-isolation. It will keep your brain engaged and prevents you from fighting boredom early on. Stimulating your brain will help you to increase your learning speed as this will become normal for your body to cope with learning new skills.
Remember what we said about improving your cooking before? Researchers found that the white matter in your brain is called myelin, and it helps improve performance on a number of tasks. The more people practise a new skill they are learning, the denser the myelin in their brains becomes, which helps them learn even better. Basically, the more skills you learn the more skill you CAN learn! So, use this time in isolation to gain some new tricks you can show off once it’s over. Why not learn Spanish? Do some drawing or pick up that dusty instrument you got bought for Christmas a few years ago that’s become a great, but idle feature in your room.
7. Maintain a hobby that will keep you busy
There are many hobbies you could take up during this time and also continue when normality is back. This will improve your creativity and can be used as a time to relax. Here’s a few suggestions of things you could do:
During times of anxiety, it can be useful to practice breathwork or meditation to help manage your headspace. Thanks to charities such as MIND and Rethink amongst others, support is out there.
This can be a very trying time and hopefully you’ve found this read a little useful to help it get better or improve the situation many of us are facing. Do not be worried by feeling overwhelmed by what is going on, use that energy into something positive and challenge yourself constructively to keep yourself busy and on track. We will be sharing some more blogs and pieces of interest that may interest you over the next few weeks. From all of us at gemsatwork, we send you our best wishes!
We’d love to know what’s been helping you stay healthy. Let us know in the comment box below!