It can be all easy to overlook the importance of self-care, especially when you’re working in a fast-paced environment. However, taking time to care for your physical and mental wellbeing during the workday can significantly improve your productivity, focus and overall job satisfaction.
In this blog, we’ll explore simple yet effective self-care practices that can help you feel better, work smarter and maintain a healthier work-life balance. Whether you're at the office or working from home, prioritising self-care can make all the difference in how you perform and feel throughout your day.
Self-care is often associated with rest and relaxation outside of work. However, it’s equally important to consider self-care during your working day. Self-care at work involves making choices that support your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing throughout the day. This can include taking regular breaks, managing stress and creating a working environment that allows you to function at your best.
Incorporating self-care into your workday positively impacts both productivity and overall well-being. Prioritising practices that keep you physically comfortable and mentally focused means you’ll be better equipped to efficiently tackle tasks with a clear mind. Self-care can also help to reduce stress and avoid burnout, making it easier for you to work to your potential over time. Self-care isn’t just a personal benefit – it enables you to work smarter, stay motivated and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Taking care of yourself can be a key driver of productivity. When you prioritise your self-care, you’re making sure your body and mind are in the best possible condition to handle the demands of the working day. Self-care at work can help to improve focus, increase your energy levels and enhance your cognitive function. This can all result in better performance and improved efficiency.
Mindfulness is a powerful tool to help manage stress and improve mental clarity in all aspects of life, including at work. It involves focusing on the present moment, helping you to avoid feeling overwhelmed and distracted. It can help you to approach your tasks with better focus and levels of calm.
Practicing mindfulness can help you to manage the pressures of the workplace, allowing you to stay grounded and clear-headed even in challenging situations. It will encourage you to take a step back from stressful thoughts and focus on the task at hand, helping to reduce anxiety and improve your decision-making abilities.
One way to incorporate mindfulness into your day is with deep breathing exercises. Taking a few moments throughout the day to practice deep breathing can help to reduce stress and calm your mind. To do this, you can inhale slowly while you count to four, hold the breath for another count of four, and finally, exhale for a count of four. This can be especially helpful when you are faced with a stressful situation and feel particularly overwhelmed.
Another mindfulness technique is a brief body scan meditation. This involves taking a few minutes to mentally check in with each part of your body, from head to toe. This can help to bring awareness to areas of discomfort that might be contributing to your stress levels, so you can adjust to relieve any tension.
Another way to ensure you’re incorporating mindfulness into your working day is to make sure you’re taking on one task at a time. Rather than multitasking, try to stay fully present with just one task. This can help to you work more efficiently and reduce feelings of stress that can often come when you’re juggling multiple tasks at once.
There are numerous ways to stay active at work to ensure you’re taking care of yourself. This can include taking regular breaks to go for a short walk or to stretch. You could try incorporating some desk exercises so you can keep moving and avoid the aches and pains that come from being inactive for too long.
If possible, you could try to take phone calls on the move. If you don’t need to be at your computer, walking and talking can be an easy way to keep active whilst you work. You could either walk around the office or go outside to ensure you don’t disturb your colleagues. This can also ensure you get some fresh air during the day, which can help to boost your mood.
There are a number of ergonomic office accessories that can help you to stay active at work too. This could include a sit stand desk, so you can alternate between sitting and standing throughout the day. You could also consider using an alternative ergonomic office chair alongside your traditional chair, such as a sitting ball or ergonomic office stool with a rocking base, to help strengthen your core and improve circulation.
Eating the right food at work is just as important as keeping active. You should aim to eat snacks that are nutritious and provide sustained energy that will prevent you from crashing during the day.
Opt for snacks that include protein, healthy fats and fibre to keep you energised. This can include mixed nuts, Greek yoghurt with berries, or houmous and vegetables. Whilst you don’t need to cut out treats altogether, it’s important to bear in mind that sugary snacks can result in energy spikes followed by crashes.
It’s also vital that you stay hydrated throughout the day. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water, to ensure you avoid the feelings of fatigue that can come with dehydration. Keeping a water bottle on your desk can help to remind you to drink regularly.
Setting boundaries at work is a key part of self-care, as it allows you to protect your mental and physical wellbeing. By clearly defining your limits, whether it’s saying "no" to extra tasks, requesting flexible working hours or taking time off when needed, you create space to recharge and prevent burnout, ensuring that you can perform at your best both professionally and personally.
One of the most important steps in achieving a balanced schedule is prioritising your tasks. Identify which tasks are urgent and which can be delegated or postponed, allowing you to focus on what truly matters without feeling overwhelmed. Setting clear expectations with your colleagues or manager about your workload and availability also plays a significant role. If you’re stretched too thin, don’t hesitate to speak up and negotiate realistic deadlines or redistribute tasks.
Equally important is respecting your personal time. To create a balanced schedule, try to set specific work hours and stick to them, avoiding the temptation to work late or during weekends. Build breaks into your day and schedule time for activities that recharge you, whether that’s exercise, relaxation or spending time with loved ones.
You could also speak to your manager about the possibility of incorporating flexible hours, when you might move your start time and end time to a schedule that suits your needs better, while still ensuring you work the same number of hours. This can help to ensure you can better manage everything at work and in your personal life, reducing feelings of stress and overwhelm.
You could also discuss the possibility of remote working, perhaps taking a hybrid approach where you spend some time in the office and some at home. This often helps you to regain a better work life balance, reducing commute time and helping you to avoid burnout symptoms that can occur when you are overstretched.
Leitz has a huge range of ergonomic office accessories to keep you comfortable and productive in the office and when you work from home.
You can read more about the importance of ergonomics below:
Possible Neck and Shoulder Pain Causes at Work