Try adding some of these lifestyle habits to your workday for a healthy daily routine that you can do while working from home! This list of healthy habits will help you keep your mind and body in great shape when working from home is causing problems with your overall health and wellness.
Up until this year, I’ve always had a job with a strict work schedule.
During my years of teaching, I didn’t have much choice in how I went about my day. Every hour had specific tasks that I was required to accomplish.
Even my bathroom breaks were scheduled.
Now that I’m blogging, I get to experience freedom in my schedule for the first time! As exciting as that is for me, this transition has had its difficulties. Because no one is telling me what to do, I have to make these decisions for myself.
For the first few months of working at home, I had terrible habits.
I was eating and sleeping at irregular times, I was skipping all physical activities, I never saw the sun, and I would often let my work replace all of my relaxation time.
Though I wasn’t emotionally affected by these habits, I knew that if I kept up that style of living my body was going to suffer over time. I knew I had to make some changes to my daily routine to make it more sustainable for my health.
Slowly but surely, I started adding small healthy habits to my day to take steps towards a daily routine for a healthy body and mind. Now, 9 months later, I’ve got a collection of 15 lifestyle habits that I believe can help anyone create a healthy daily routine when working from home.
Each healthy habit in this list is meant to be small and manageable.
Every time you add one of these items to your daily routine you are doing your body and your mind a favour and improving your overall health.
I hope that these daily habits can help you enjoy your work-from-home routine a little better and can increase the health of your body and mind in the process!
Related Post: 15 Physical Self-Care Activities Guaranteed To Boost Your Health
15 Healthy Habits to get into When Working From Home for a Better Daily Routine
Healthy Habit #1: Keep a regular eating and sleeping schedule
When working in an office or any job that has a more rigid schedule, your daily routine is basically decided for you, good or bad. When working from home, you have a lot more freedom when you do things. However, that also means that you have no accountability when it comes to keeping things consistent on a daily basis.
Your body responds best to routine, so it is still in your best interest to maintain some sort of schedule for the day.
But here’s the fun part.
Even though you should still try to keep a routine, you get to decide what kind of routine that’s going to be.
If you don’t want to wake up early, then don’t! Get up at a time that works for you. Eat at the optimal time for your body. Sleep at a reasonable hour.
Listen to what your body wants and have fun experimenting with your schedule.
When you find one that works for you, put all your effort into keeping that schedule consistent. You will find that your body functions a lot better because of it.
Related Post: 30 Helpful Strategies to Sleep Better at Night
Healthy Habit #2: Create a morning routine and a night routine that won’t get interrupted
Let me say right now that this morning and night routine doesn’t have to be long and fancy.
I understand that lots of you out there have children that are going to require your attention almost immediately after waking up. Many of you have other circumstances that don’t allow you much autonomy in your schedule even while working from home.
What you do need, though, is a moment in the morning and a moment at night that you can count on.
When everything else in your day is a big question mark, it can be so good for your body to have something in the morning and at night that are reliable and that you know you can predict.
Think of something you can do at the beginning and the end of the day that makes you feel good. Make sure that you know you can do it without being interrupted.
Here are some ideas of small, 5-10 minute activities that you can do in the morning and the evening to simply relax and take a moment for yourself:
- Stretch your body
- Listen to a song you like
- Meditate for a few minutes
- Do a devotional
- Have a quiet shower
- Sit in bed for a few minutes and do nothing
- Write a quick reflection in a notebook
- Sit with a cup of tea or coffee for a few minutes
- Read a few pages of a book
- Do a face mask
- Give yourself a foot massage
There are lots of things you can do with only 5 minutes of time! Make sure that you at least allow yourself a moment for something calm to start and end your day.
Related Post: A Simple Morning Routine When You’re Not at Your Best
Healthy Habit #3: Drink enough water
When working in an actual building with other people around, I found that drinking water was a lot easier because I saw other people doing it. As a teacher, part of my job was reminding my little ones to go drink water. There was no shortage of reminders for me to do the same.
But when those routines went away, it got a lot more difficult to remember to drink water regularly.
Without the routine to remind you, it is a lot harder to fill your quota of water intake each day.
Have you been struggling to have enough water each day? You should try to introduce some new strategies to drink more water to help your overall health.
Related Post: How to Drink More Water- Even When You Hate It
Healthy Habit #4: Wear comfortable but productive outfits
I know a lot of people have differing views on this habit. Some people feel that you should wear your usual business casual outfit while working from home. Others believe that you might as well take advantage of the fact that you’re at home and wear pyjamas or sweatsuits while you work.
I am somewhere in the middle.
I often found that the business casual outfits I was expected to wear at work were detrimental to my productivity. The discomfort I sometimes felt from them often distracted me from my work.
However, I also feel that wearing loungewear during the workday makes it hard to separate your work life from your home life.
I have found a happy balance with more relaxed outfits that still make me look a little more dressed up.
My general rule of thumb is that you should wear something that makes your body feel comfortable but that you would also wear on a trip to the grocery store or the doctor’s office.
More Resources: 5 Things I Never Wear When I Work from Home
Healthy Habit #5: Do exercises to improve your posture
While reading a magazine the other day, I was amused by a new term called ‘Pandemic Posture’. This term referred to the bad posture that we have developed as a result of working from home at our computers. People are noticing a lot more problems in their back, shoulders, and neck than they used to.
Luckily, this is a problem we can fix with some daily exercises!
All you need to do is set aside time after every hour of deskwork to move your body and strengthen the areas that are getting weak and sore. These exercises shouldn’t take long and don’t require a change of clothes. They are perfect daily habits to sprinkle into your day!
There are a few different activities that I would recommend to help keep a healthy body while working from home.
Do a Yoga Session
I’m not a huge fan of aggressive exercises, so yoga is always my go-to when I am looking for healthy active habits to do every day. I do one longer routine in the morning or sprinkle some shorter yoga routines throughout the day. You can choose what works best for you!
You can go out and get some yoga gear if you want (I like to have a mat and two blocks). However, it is also easy to do simple YouTube yoga routines without any gear.
Use a Foam Roller
I just got a foam roller about a month ago and I am absolutely loving it! It is a great tool for massaging hard-to-reach areas that often get ignored. I’ve particularly enjoyed how it helps to open up my back after a day of computer work. Again, you can find lots of great stretching routines on YouTube
18x6IN Yoga Foam Roller High-density EVA Muscle Roller
Stretch Problem Areas
Everyone has different areas that get sore after a day of working at a computer. If you listen to your body, you will quickly learn what areas of your body tend to get sore or weak.
For example, both of my siblings struggle with their eyesight because of computer screens. My mom, however, struggles more with wrist problems from typing.
And I struggle most with neck and back problems because of the way I sit at my desk. I would not benefit much from doing eye exercises, but doing exercises for my neck would work wonders!
You need to find what areas of your body need some extra attention. Try to find exercises that strengthen those areas.
Here are some great YouTube videos that cover some problem areas:
Eyes | Eye Yoga: Five eye exercises to prevent eye strain
Neck and Shoulders | Yoga for neck, shoulders and upper back 15min
Back | 4 Best Stretches To Fix Back Pain From Sitting | Hip Pain & Back Pain
Wrist | Fix Wrist Pain With These Exercises. Stretching Routine for Relief
Do Some Quick Calisthenics
Basically, just get all the parts of your body moving every once in a while. You could do some simple jumping jacks, pushups, or burpees, or you could look up a fun calisthenic video to follow along. They’re easy and they get your heart pumping.
I find I like this activity best when I’m starting to get sleepy and need an energy boost.
This is my favourite video: Quick Calisthenics: Broadcast Gymnastics Bodyweight Exercises
Healthy Habit #6: Spend time outside
At the beginning of my time working from home, I was definitely guilty of hiding away in my house and never coming out to see the sun.
It may feel like the more comfortable thing to do, but I’m telling you, it will wear on you as time goes on! I felt so lethargic after weeks of being inside.
Now I make sure to go for a walk every day and I spend as much time as I can outside on my days off.
Getting some sun and fresh air is really important for a healthy body and mind. Even if you don’t feel any direct benefit from going outside, you can believe that it’s giving you a healthier daily routine!
Related Post: How to Be Happier by Using Natural Remedies
Healthy Habit #7: Create a clear space for work and make it inspiring!
This is another habit that people have differing opinions about. I think it mostly matters whether or not you struggle with separating home and work.
Personally, I like to have separate spaces for different activities. But that doesn’t mean that I always have to work in a makeshift office in order to be productive. I don’t ever think that working in bed is a great idea. However, I definitely like a change of scenery every so often, especially now that I’m at home pretty much all the time now.
While I was teaching, we used a strategy called ‘flexible seating’. This meant that there were many different environmental options for students. This way, they could work in a space that could best contribute to their productivity. We had different sizes and styles of chairs, different table heights, and different decorations in each space.
It was incredibly effective in a classroom setting and I believe it can be just as effective at home.
If it’s possible for you, I would recommend making spaces in your home that feel like different places in the community.
For example, have a more official office space that you use for really focused work AND a space that resembles a coffee shop for creative writing. I also have a portable table that you can move around to change the scenery more easily.
Related Post: How to Stay Focused with One Simple Mind Hack
Healthy Habit #8: Have a cleaning schedule so you are working in a clean space that won’t distract
While working from home, it’s nice to be able to design your own workspace and make it comfortable and conducive to productivity.
However, it can also be a huge distraction because you always have the option to occupy yourself with seemingly productive cleaning activities.
If you have a tendency to be messy at home, then this might be something you struggle with. Every time you sit down to work you will end up distracted by the mess around you.
It is easy to convince yourself that it’s okay to stop working for a little while to do some cleaning.
That’s still productive, right?
The best way to approach this problem is to establish daily and weekly cleaning habits that will help your home stay consistently clean. That way, there will be no mess to distract you when you sit down to work.
Related Posts: A Realistic Cleaning Schedule Anyone Can Manage ||| Try this 5-Step Simple Weekly Cleaning Routine for a Sparkling House
Healthy Habit #9: Find a way to connect with others
Depending on your situation, this habit might be incredibly easy or horribly difficult. As an introvert, I don’t really need that much interaction in my day. But I still try to throw in a range of social interactions.
Here are some ways you can connect with others (even if you are socially isolating right now)
- Share a meal with someone in your household
- Call a friend
- Play online games with friends or strangers
- Join webinars and social groups on Zoom (I still meet new people this way!)
- Connect with a stranger while out on a walk
- Go on a walk with a friend
- Take care of a pet or plant (connecting with any living thing can be good for you)
- Send a letter to a friend you haven’t seen in a while
- Join conversations on social media
There are lots of creative ways to connect with people now that we have the technology. Even if you can’t go out to physically see people, you can find a valuable way to meet up with someone who feeds your soul.
Take time to get out of your own head and hear from someone else!
Related Post: How to Share Your Opinion the Loving Way
Healthy Habit #10: Set aside time for an afternoon coffee break
This break doesn’t actually need to be used on coffee. It’s just important that you establish a time to relax and refresh yourself.
I like to do this at around 2 in the afternoon so that I have new energy for the last few hours of work. It definitely helps make you more productive.
If you have the resources, this is a great time to share a conversation with someone over a nice drink of your choice and a sweet treat.
You can choose what you want! Just make sure it’s something you look forward to during your day so that your workday will be more enjoyable.
Though this lifestyle habit doesn’t do anything for your physical health, it certainly helps give you a healthy mind. It’s good to take a nice break during your workday!
Related Post: The Remarkable Magic of Fika: Why You Need Swedish Coffee Breaks Now!
Healthy Habit #11: Put boundaries on your work life and your home life
When I first started working from home, I struggled a lot with the idea of creating a healthy work/life balance.
Because I was always home, I had trouble creating any semblance of a life outside of work.
There was always a never-ending to-do list. It made it hard for me to stop working at the end of the day. I eventually realized that I needed to make it clear to the people I lived with and to myself that I was going to have consistent work hours. I would stop my work after a certain point in the day so that I could focus on my personal life.
When I finally set the hours, it was a lot easier to respect the time. It ensured that a good amount of time was spent on both work and personal matters.
If you want healthier habits when working from home, you can try setting clear hours for work and then honouring that time. When your work hours are done, close all of the work programs. Spend time away from your phone to enjoy your personal time.
Related Post: How to Find Work Life Balance When You’re Too Busy
Healthy Habit #12: Schedule every little event on your calendar
This is a great thing to add to your daily routine if you are someone who previously stayed up-to-date on events by asking co-workers.
I found myself missing holidays quite frequently when I started working from home. This was because I wasn’t getting reminders about it everywhere.
But a great way to make your time at home special is to make a big deal of every little event.
If it’s someone’s birthday, do something out of the ordinary routine to celebrate! Celebrate anniversaries, public holidays, awareness days, whatever you can think of that would be fun for you and your family!
Related Post: A Helpful Guide of the Best Things to Write in Your Future Log This Year
Healthy Habit #13: Set goals so that you are held accountable
When you work from home, you often don’t have anyone looking over your shoulder to make sure you are staying on task.
This can be both a blessing and a curse.
On the one hand, it helps you work without feeling too much pressure to perform. On the other hand, it means that you won’t have anyone to get you back on track if you lose focus.
To make sure you stay on task while working, try to set goals for yourself and make sure you write them down. You can make daily goals, weekly goals, and quarterly goals to help motivate you to get more done.
Related Post: 7 Reasons Quarterly Goals are Magic for Personal Growth
Healthy Habit #14: Embrace the freedom!
This might sound like an odd habit for a daily routine but it really did make a difference in my life. When you first start working from home, you will probably feel inclined to stick to the routine you’re used to at work- even though you could choose any daily routine you want!
Embrace the fact that you can customize your daily routine to fit your needs and preferences and have fun with it!
Try different combinations of daily habits and schedules and see how your body and mind respond to each one.
Mix and match until you find a daily routine that feels healthy and enjoyable to you.
Make adjustments whenever you feel like something isn’t working perfectly yet. And don’t hesitate to change it as your needs change!
As tempted as you might feel to stick to the typical 9-5, it is worth it to play around with your daily routine. See if you can find something you like better!
Related Post: How to Be Comfortable in Your Changing Identity
Healthy Habit #15: Find creative ways to make moments in your day feel special
This is a daily habit that I would recommend for everyone, even if you are not working.
Covid has left a lot of people feeling like they have nothing good in their lives. But I can promise you that, if you look for it, there is so much to enjoy and appreciate that you can find within the walls of your own home.
Make the effort to look for those simple pleasures and do everything you can to make them special.
Turn your shower into a meditative spa vacation. Make your afternoon coffee a real cafe experience. Read a book by candlelight. There are so many wonderful things you can do to make your day beautiful! It doesn’t even require any extra resources.
Learning to enjoy the simple things will make every day feel special!
Related Post: How to Enjoy Life’s Simple Pleasures
The Healthy Habits Guidebook
If you like this healthy habits list and want more instruction on how to add them to your own daily routine, then this free guidebook is for you!
In this guidebook, you will find a visual to remind you of the 15 healthy habits and will also get a worksheet with prompts and a habit tracker to help you add these habits into your daily routine more easily. Sign up below to try it out for free!
Frequently Asked Questions about Healthy Habits
How do you start a healthy routine?
If all of the suggested healthy habits are new to you, I can tell you right now that it’s not a good idea to start implementing them all at once.
Pick one that you feel is manageable and introduce it into your daily routine. Try continuing with that daily habit until it feels like second nature.
Once it is established comfortably into your routine, come back to this list and pick a second daily habit that you want to try. Keep going until you feel like you’ve got a healthy daily routine that works for you.
Related Post: How to Stop Feeling Stuck and Transform Life
What is the best morning routine for success?
The perfect morning routine is going to look different for everyone. That being said, I have a list of qualities that make up the perfect morning routine for me.
You will know you’ve found the perfect morning routine if it is all of these things:
- A perfect morning routine is easy to do every day
- It is something you look forward to when you wake up
- It has something for your physical health, your emotional/mental health, and your personal hygiene
Check out some seasonal morning routines | Your Perfect Fall Morning Routine for a Better Season ||| How to Make Your Winter Mornings Easier and Cozier ||| A Spring Morning Routine for Success: 7 Tips You’ll Love!
What is the best night routine?
Again, this daily routine will look different for everyone, but I have another set of things that I think make up the perfect night routine for me.
You’ll know you have a good night routine if it is all of these things:
- You can easily make time for it every night
- It can calm any anxiety or worries before bed
- It improves your sleep instead of chasing sleepiness away
Check out some seasonal night routines | Amazing Ideas for a Comfy, Cozy Fall Night Routine ||| 10 Simple Ways to Warm up Your Winter Nights ||| 15 Night Time Routine Tips for the Perfect Spring Evening
How can I change my daily routine?
Slowly.
Let’s start with that.
When changing a daily routine, you definitely have to take baby steps.
Start with one change, whether that is adding something or removing something and see how it feels.
If it works for you, then move onto the next step.
If not, then spend a bit more time playing around with what might work better.
You’ll find that some changes are easier to make than others. For example, it was really easy for me to set aside time in the afternoon for a nice coffee break but I am still struggling to set healthy boundaries on my work. I am playing around with different strategies until I find the right one.
Related Post: How to Set Goals You Can Actually Achieve
Is routine good or bad?
This is a question that depends on the situation. As a person who lives on routine, I’m inclined to believe that a good routine is what allows you to have freedom for things in life. However, I’ve also seen how I used routines poorly in the past, making them a bad thing.
So my best answer is to say that routines are good things with the potential to become bad things.
They are good when they help you stay healthy and happy and when they are designed to give you time for the things you love.
But routines can be bad if they are so rigid that you are stressed by them. It can also be dangerous to get so attached to your routine that you can’t be flexible with it.
You will need to look critically at your own routines. Decide which ones are helping you and which ones are hurting you.
More Resources: The Psychology of Daily Routine
Why do I struggle with routine?
At In Its Season, we’re all about authentic living. I advocate for finding a life that isn’t a battle to live from day to day. I believe that if we start living the way we want to rather than the way society tells us we should, we will discover a life that no longer feels like a daily struggle.
So if you struggle with routine, then find a different one!
Now, I’m not saying that if you struggle to get up in the morning then stay in bed all day. Just consider the fact that maybe you are built for different waking hours.
If you don’t like exercising, don’t use that as an excuse to lie around, but find a healthy activity that you do enjoy that gets you moving.
You definitely need to make the effort to care for your body but you don’t need to do it the way everyone else does.
So if you’ve run into problems with your routine, don’t give up on the whole thing, just keep experimenting with different combinations until you find the one that feels natural to you. It’s not necessarily going to be easy- it will still require effort- but you’ll notice that it just feels more like you and you will want to do it out of interest and not out of obligation.
More from In Its Season: 225 Encouraging Quotes to Make you Feel Inspired Today
My Current Daily Routine (that I’m loving right now but will eventually change!)
Like I said, I’m constantly changing my routine, but I wanted to share the one I’m currently trying because I’ve found it to be particularly enjoyable and thought you might enjoy trying it yourself:
6:00 | Relax in Bed | I like to be awake by six in the spring, but I prefer to stay cozy in the bed for a while before actually getting up.
6:15 | Short Devotional and Warm Lemon Water | At this time I get a warm drink and settle in with a cozy blanket to read a quick devotional for the day. It helps to set my mind on God right away and it gives me something to meditate on during my yoga routine.
6:30 | Yoga and Meditation | I like to leave a full hour open for yoga and meditation. I approach it differently every day depending on how my body is feeling.
7:30 | Get Ready | Here is when I take a quick shower, get dressed, and put on makeup. I usually listen to a Christian or motivational podcast at this time.
8:00 | Quiet Time | This is the time where I like to dive deep into my Bible or pray more thoroughly. I give myself lots of time for all of my morning activities so that I can go slow and not worry about running late.
9:00 | Morning Work | I’m usually pretty eager to start work by now, so I do an hour of work to get the ball rolling.
10:00 | Breakfast | My husband and I make breakfast together and this is our time to chat and enjoy each other’s company before really settling into a longer work period.
11:00 | Work | After cleaning the breakfast dishes, it’s time to dive deep into work.
2:00 | Coffee Break | I have a small snack and a coffee or tea at this time. Sometimes I socialize, but other times I watch a show or read a book.
2:30 | Work | I return to work for another long block. I especially like to work on creative tasks at this time.
5:00 | Walk the Dog | I have a nice long walk with the family dog and enjoy the weather. Oftentimes, I am able to socialize at the dog park, too!
5:45 | Dinner | I prepare dinner and eat with the family.
7:00 | Finish up Work | I like to take an hour here to just finish up with any work items, then I clean up my space and turn everything off.
8:00 | Down Time | This time gets used on anything I want! If there’s a pressing personal matter, then I’ll do it then, but I might just relax with a show or something. I also start getting ready for bed at that time.
9:00 | No Devices | I really enjoy hanging out in my bed, so at this time I will bring a book and just read and stretch while in bed. It makes me feel nice and tired when it’s finally time to sleep.
10:00 | Bedtime
Within my work times, I like to fit in some stretches and exercises, but I’ll openly admit that I’m not great at that one, yet. I am the type of person who has trouble taking breaks from work once I’ve started. But I am getting better! Obviously, this schedule doesn’t work for everyone but I thought I’d share it in case it sparks ideas for anyone!
I hope that these 15 lifestyle habits were able to help you upgrade your daily routine. It can be hard to maintain a healthy body and mind when working from home but adding some of these habits can help! Try out one or two new healthy habits this week and see how they improve your overall sense of wellness!
What healthy habits do you find important for your daily routine?
I admire your discipline! I’ve been following a routine of sorts, not quite as outlined as yours, but have fallen into a good rhythm. The one thing on this list that I need to work on is creating an inspiring workspace since I got kicked out of the office when my husband began working from home. (Or…I just wait until his office opens back up and retake the throne! 😉)
I think it’s less about me having discipline and more that I find a lot of comfort from consistent routines. It is good for situations that require discipline but not so good when flexibility is required :p That’s awesome that you’ve got a rhythm that works on a daily basis- as long as it works for you, then you’ve got the perfect system! I hope you are able to reclaim your inspiring workspace soon! 🙂
Wow, your post was super thorough! You’ve really thought through how to be productive working from home. I like that you mention scheduling everything on your calendar to be thorough, yet on the flip side enjoying the freedom that working from home can bring!
Yes, it can definitely be beneficial to use a calendar since no one around you is reminding you of anything. I’ve definitely enjoyed the freedom of working from home 🙂
So many great tips! I need to start being more intentional about my afternoon breaks.
I’m glad you enjoyed them! A good afternoon break is so underrated- I’d definitely recommend giving it a try!
These are great tips for working from home. I am definitely guilty of adopting many unhealthy habits since I took up blogging. I’ll have to give these a try!
When I started blogging, I had the same issue; I started taking on some not-so-good habits. But these help a lot!
Wonderful advice! These are really great tips that I will need to incorporate into my routine!
I’m glad you liked them! 🙂