Tips for home office and a healthy lifestyle
Currently, many colleagues at FH Aachen work from home and are confronted with new challenges: The combination of stress at work, simultaneous childcare, contact restrictions with others, insecurity regarding public and own health and organising their everyday life exclusively from home. In other words, the physical and psychological strain has increased significantly for many in times of Corona crisis. Here are some tips and recommendations on what you can do to organise your everyday life positively in terms of maintaining your health and preventing some stressful situations.
1. healthy and varied nutrition for your immune system
A balanced and varied diet with fresh vegetables and fruit, with fibre-rich whole grain products and healthy fats can significantly support the immune system. Furthermore, an additional intake of vitamin D (e.g. fish, eggs, avocado) and zinc (e.g. fish, legumes, nuts, red meat) can strengthen the immune system. Use the time at home to cook fresh for yourself and your family. Enjoy your meals and put aside your laptop or other work equipment. If you don't have as much time at lunchtime, especially in the home office, you can help yourself with healthy and delicious recipes from our "Lunch in a Jar" nutrition workshops. Here, healthy lunch snacks can also be prepared for two days. You can find recipes and suggestions here.
Another small hint: Stock up on healthy snacks (apples, oranges, tomatoes, nuts, bananas, vegetable sticks with dip, etc.) and avoid biscuits, snacks, etc. It is also best to keep all junk food out of reach.
2. provide fresh air and exercise
Fresh air is good for the respiratory tract, especially the mucous membranes. These form an initial protection against pathogens, so to speak. However, if the air is too dry, which is especially the case in heated rooms, the defence cells are hindered in their work. Regular airing for a few minutes can help here. This automatically increases your concentration and performance. It is indispensable to do some movement exercises during breaks to loosen up the tense body. People who work in a very concentrated way often tend to adopt a poor working posture. This can lead to back pain and neck tension. Small movements such as squats, circling your arms or walking up and down at an open flat window loosen tense muscles and stimulate the circulation. You can find more suggestions for exercise in the home office here:
Even if you don't have a permanent telecommuting workstation, there are some tips on how to improve the ergonomics of your workspace at home:
10 tips on home office ergonomics
At least once a day, you should schedule an exercise break in the fresh air. In addition, exercise strengthens your immune system.
3. drink a lot
You should drink 1.5 - 2 litres daily. To make sure you don't forget, you can also set a timer every hour. The best thirst quencher is water, but unsweetened fruit and herbal teas, green tea and fruit juice spritzers are also recommended. Coffee and light drinks are also okay, but it is better to avoid sugary juices. The intake of fluids can also support the mucous membranes.
4. plan and adhere to the daily structure
Those who stay at home and work in a home office need a daily structure. Especially when looking after children at the same time, this is essential. Get up as usual, have breakfast at the same time, set up times for home office and engaging with your children, and take breaks as usual. Take a time slot at least once a day for exercise in between and a walk in the fresh air, whether you live more in the countryside or in the city. Even there, exercise in the fresh air is possible and makes sense, provided you observe the contact restrictions. Sports such as jogging, Nordic walking or similar are allowed alone, in pairs or as a family. Keep to your daily habits as much as possible and try to find a routine for home during this time of crisis, based on your previous routines.
5. set up an information window on the Corona crisis - stop the hype
In order to avoid additional stress, it can make sense to inform yourself specifically about the corona crisis and to integrate an "information window" into your daily routine. For example, in the morning you can find out the latest information on the FH homepage, use the links exclusively to the official pages of the Robert Koch Institute, the Federal Centre for Health Education, the pages of the Ministry of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Foreign Office if necessary. In the evening, there is usually new information on radio and television. You should receive the most important information promptly on these channels. In this way, you avoid being uncontrollably drawn into the omnipresent "information maelstrom" and having an additional mental burden caused by "fake news".
7. abstain from cigarettes and alcohol
According to the Robert Koch Institute, smokers belong to the risk groups for corona infection. This means that the risk of the disease taking a severe course is significantly higher for smokers. If you are thinking about quitting smoking, now is exactly the right time.
Excessive alcohol consumption should also be avoided at this time. Alcohol damages the mucous membranes and makes them more susceptible to viruses. Alcohol also weakens the immune system, as the number of defence cells is reduced.
8. avoid stress and get enough sleep
Too little sleep is detrimental to health - this has been scientifically proven many times over. Studies show that lack of sleep weakens the immune system and makes it easier for viruses to infect. On average, the body needs 7-8 hours of sleep to regenerate and mobilise its defences. Try to "shut down" and switch off. You may and you should take good care of yourself in these times of crisis. If you have learned a relaxation technique, such as autogenic training or progressive muscle relaxation or similar, you can also use this very well now.