With the spark in technology over the last few decades, there are more people sitting behind a desk than ever before. While this is great news for company productivity, it’s poor news for physical health. To ensure that your office job doesn’t have any harmful side effects on your body, you should be employing the four tactics below regularly.
Make Office Calls
It’s too easy to get into the habit of calling or emailing a co-worker that works near you. If it will take the same amount of time to send a message as it will to walk to their desk, take the walk. It will let you stretch your legs for a minute, and will give you a brief break.
Whenever you can, find ways to incorporate some movement into your job. Whether that’s walking to your co-worker’s cubicle for a quick question or taking the stairs on the way to a meeting instead of the elevator, make the extra effort.
Opt for a Standing Desk
More often these days, offices are offering their employees options when it comes to their desks. If you have the choice, choose a standing desk or one that convert to a standard desk. Sitting for extended periods of time can lead to any of many health issues including high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Standing, even for a few hours each day can drastically decrease your chances of getting these.
If your office doesn’t provide standing desks, look at a manual option. Like any other standing desk, a manual standing desk will help lower your risk of heart disease and will lessen your back pain. You may also be surprised at how much your productivity increases when you are standing instead of sitting throughout the day.
Take 10 Every Hour
Sitting for long periods is one of the most harmful factors that an office job has. To combat this problem, you should be taking 10 minutes every hour to get up and move. Whether you take a walk down to the water cooler or around the floor, get moving. The more you make it a habit to move every hour, the more refreshed and energized you’ll feel when you sit back down.
Choose A Physical Route to Work
You probably don’t think much about your commute to and from work. However, if you just hop in the car or on the bus to get to and from the office, you may want to consider a more active route. If you live lose enough, try walking, running, or biking to work as much as possible. Do a couple of test runs on the weekend so that you know how much time you’ll need to get there. Then, start to make it a daily habit.
As you can see, it’s not that difficult to incorporate more physical activity into your office job. It really comes down to figuring out what works best for your individual routine. Try to utilize the four above and see how much better you feel moving more throughout the day.
