Observe your posture: are you sitting down correctly? Have you stretched your legs in the last hour and a half? It ‘s been months since we got used to work from home. Remote working seems to have arrived to stay but after one year it feels like we still have a lot to learn about it.
There is still room for improvement in our habits, something that would benefit our well being, our productivity and also achieving an excellent balance between our personal and professional life.
A year has gone by since the global practice of remote working started and we want to take this opportunity to go over some good habits that we should look after everyday. Let’s not forget that, in some countries of the VCNI our colleagues have received fabulous kits that we are sure will help them to put into practice all the advice we are giving you down below.
What is your work space like?
- Make sure you have a space that is exclusively associated with work activity, free of noise and external interruptions.
- Pay special attention to the cleaning and ventilation of the place: you are going to spend a lot of time there.
- Make sure you have the perfect lighting conditions: the light source should come from above your shoulders. Avoid light sources that blind your eyes. It is also recommended to have a lamp on your desk.
- Correct temperature: it might seem obvious, but a higher or lower temperature won’t help you concentrate: the ideal temperature would be between 21 ºC and 23 ºC in winter and between 23 ºC and 25 ºC in summer.
What is your posture and the seat you spent so many hours like?
- Appropriate seat and desk: a seat that allows you to rest your back and regulate your height, or at least is adapted to your own height and to the desk you are working on.
- Postural hygiene: it is worthless to have the best table and chair to work if your posture is not correct. Remember: your feet must be completely resting on the floor, your knees should be at the same level of your hips and your back completely resting on the back of the chair. Shoulders relaxed and forearms parallel to the floor, so that the wrists have a minimum flex while using the keyboard.
If you would like to try alternative methods, you can try elevated desks that you can regulate and allow you to work sitting down and also standing up. You can also try a pilates exercise ball as a chair because it makes you pay more attention to your posture and ergonomic chairs for knees.
- Stretchings and exercises: complete 5 minutes of stretching twice a day. Stretch your arms and legs, neck, back and make sure you rotate and exercise your joints. Your body will appreciate it by the end of the day!
Take care of your sight
- Adequate distance to the screen is another important aspect: make sure there is a distance of at least 45 centimetres / 17 inches between your eyes and the screen. You will avoid eye strain, which increases with the constant use of devices (mobiles, tablets, televisions…) once your working hours are done.
- Brightness of your screen: adjust it to make sure there is not much of a difference between the light in your surroundings and the one coming out of your screen.
- Eye rest and exercises. Wink several times on purpose every now and then. You can also apply the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, set your eyes on something 20 feet away (6 metres) for 20 seconds.
- Eye check: do your glasses have the right prescription? Remember to get your eyes tested every two years depending on your age and necessities.
Planning and organization of working hours
Set objectives and accomplishing delivery times helps us being much operative, avoiding distractions and concentrating much better in our work. Some tricks that might help:
- Respect the schedule, as if you were at the office.
- Create checklists with tasks in order of their importance.
- Task Execution. You can apply techniques like Pomodoro.
- Take breaks every now and then, they help you cooling down and get back with a clearer mind for your next tasks.
- Meetings: switching your camera on helps you being “closer” to your colleagues, and also collects information that goes beyond words.
- Check up online tools: from mail, meetings calendars, to even chats that will help you rank the most important tasks of the day and give priority to what’s important.
Other handy aspects for working hours
A good working session, productive, pleasant and healthy starts way before actually standing in front of your computer, so don’t forget to:
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- Sleeping around 8 hours translates into a great rest and a working session full of energy.
- Set aside time to rest, enjoying our social or family life hobbies is essential. Your life is much more than just a job.
- Exercise: having an active life helps good health.
- Hydration and healthy
- Routine previous to work: Starting the day with some exercise or some meditation and mindfulness techniques has changed many people ‘s lives. We suggest you try out the app Headspace available for every VCNI employee.
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