Top health tips for working in the office

The biggest exertion you’re faced with is either flirting at the water cooler, or tackling a flight of stairs to break the day up and raise the heart beat. Here are some quick and easy tips to help unravel your hunched up body and stay limber, alert and working to your maximum capacity in the office or at home.

Water – We will start with the glaringly obvious; but it’s so important to keep hydrated at work for an active brain and replenished skin. It is often easy to think that you are hungry when you are in fact thirsty. Try to drink 4-6 glasses a day to ensure mobility.

Make a health draw – While the Diet Coke commercial was glamorised by advertisers and sparsely clad men back in the day, it’s not going to help you out in the long term. Natural sugars in fruit and good carbohydrates will keep you full for longer and your brain alert. Try bags of dried fruit, Marmite rice cakes and non-salted peanuts.

Keep your blood flowing – Arms and legs act as pumps to push blood around the body so when you are sat at your desk blood from the body can flow to the feet. About every hour try to have a brief walk around the office or do some gentle stretching; this pumps blood back to the heart and brain to keep your mind alert and awake.

Fresh air – Lights, computers, servers and stereos, as well as people, all add to the overall temperature in an office; making it hot and stifling. If possible keep a window open near by, have plenty of green leafy plants around the office to recycle the carbon in the air and ensure that you leave your desk at lunch time, even if it’s just for 10 minutes.  With Facebook calling it’s easy to eat your lunch at your desk, while you watch what the rest of the   online world is doing. Go outside! Breathe in the air, look at the sky and you will come back ready to attack the afternoon’s schedule.

Laugh – It’s nothing new but has again featured in the press recently. Laughing is stress busting, releases serotonin and it’s great to see your colleagues smiling. While we are not in a position to suggest you spam the office, occasionally there is a funny email worth sharing. Lighten the mood and spread a giggle.

Chair – Your chair at work is a piece of furniture that you spend most of your day in and is massively important to ensure that it’s ergonomically placed in relation to your desk, height, weight and various other factors relating to your work.

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