Working all day, five days a week can take a toll if you’re not taking care of yourself.

If you’ve been feeling burnt out and constantly under the weather, you will likely benefit from a workplace habit reset to get your health back on track. You might be surprised by the little things you can do that will make a big difference to your overall health.

1. Stand up and stretch once an hour

For such an easy endeavour, you get stress relief, better blood flow and improved posture. If you have trouble remembering to step away from your workspace, try setting an hourly reminder to take a two-minute standing break.

2. Give your eyes a break

If your work involves looking at a screen all day, you’ll understand how tired and sore your eyes can get. To reduce the strain on your eyes try turning your brightness down, or you can even opt for computer filter (blue light) lenses in your glasses. Plus, it’s always handy to have eye drops nearby for those long days staring at your screen.

3. Find easy ways to get your steps in

Try committing to taking the stairs over the elevator once a day. Maybe not if you’re on the 47th floor, but if you’re below the 5th level it’s surprisingly easy to take the stairs just once a day. No elevator? Go for a walk around the block.

4. Opt to write notes by hand sometimes

You are more likely to retain handwritten notes and it is said to improve your memory and ability to prioritise. This could mean writing out your daily to-do list by hand.

5. Get a work plant

Did you know that studies have found looking at a tree can reduce stress? This can be hard if you are based in a tall building in a metro area, so try a workstation plant instead. Make sure you look after it, which is a nice excuse to take the odd break to water it.

6. Practice deep breathing daily

Set a reminder once a day to take 10 deep breaths. It’s not quite a fully-fledged meditation but is extremely useful and will help you to reset and destress; try 3 pm when you’re hitting that afternoon slump.

7. Go outside on your lunch break

Even if it’s just 10-15 mins, the fresh air, vitamin D, and change of scenery will provide you with a reset so you can be more productive once you step back into your workspace.

8. Dedicate one day a week to ride or walk to work

Technically this isn’t in the workplace, however, finding easy ways to exercise before work is amazing for your overall health and mental well-being. It’s not necessarily achievable for every person every day so try a realistic goal, such as once a week.

9. Ask your employees for advice

Workplace relationships are extremely valuable as you spend an enormous amount of time with your colleagues. Chatting and socialising can help increase your mood, develop better workplace relationships, and break up the workday.

10. Consider if your mindset needs a positive refresh

Try implementing a gratitude practice into your workday. Spend five minutes writing down three things you are grateful for. Whether work-related or not, this is scientifically proven to boost happiness which will give you an increase in positive attitude and productivity.

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