Published on October 30th, 2020 | by Bibhuranjan

4 Essential Health Tips for Freelance and Remote Workers

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, remote work has become our new normal. To stay healthy while working 24/7 in front of the laptop, you should stick to the following tips.

Inherently, freelance as well as remote work possesses several benefits that can contribute to minimizing stress. No more rush hour traffic. No need to ask yourself “What should I wear?” daily. No need to adapt to someone’s temperature preferences at the office. Just regulate the air conditioner at home and enjoy the climate you want. With so many pluses, it is easy to underestimate potential traps that can damage your mental as well as physical wellbeing.

The following four health tips are depicted to support freelance and remote workers in making better choices at times of the pandemic.

Take Care of Your Eyesight

Excessive screen time from day to day with no (or extremely rare) breaks can lead to destructive consequences for your health. In particular, freelancers and remote workers can increase the risk of blurred vision by sixty (!) percent working in front of their laptops for more than five hours daily.

Taking into account the above-mentioned scary statistics, the question “How to improve the thing?” arises. Ophthalmologists recommend patients with poor eyesight (as well as with the aim of preventing) stick to the 20-20-20 concept. Take your eyes off the laptop every twenty minutes; observe something at the distance as of twenty meters for approximately twenty seconds. Your eyes need moisture, so, don’t forget to blink quite often or use eye drops.

Nowadays, there exist a wide range of computer glasses to take the load off your eyes. In case you are intrigued regarding how that works, find out more about anti-glare glasses.

Control Your Posture

While working at the office, employees, as a rule, ask for costly ergonomic chairs. Such chairs minimize backache and neck pain. However, when people start working remotely, they usually don’t have ergonomic chairs at home, thus, crook over their laptops with stooping shoulders. This is a direct path to serious problems with physical health.

Well, what can be done here to prevent the above-mentioned? First of all, buy a quality ergonomic chair. Secondly, recollect your mum’s command from your childhood “Don’t hunch up!” and follow it.

Follow Healthy Eating Habits

We are not kidding saying that remote workers (ok, not only remote ones) can’t have a burrito, donuts, and coke for breakfast and sincerely believe that you will be full of energy all day long. You require meals that make your organism operate better. That bizarre green stuff and several bottles of water are a must-have to stay healthy!

Many employees acknowledge that freelance and remote work provides them with more time for preparing their own food. Again, rather than buying junk food, treat yourself to super healthy meals, cooking it in the cozy kitchen at home. Don’t worry if you are not a French master chef, all you need is to Google several food bloggers and try their recipes.

Go for a Stroll

Recollect times when you worked from the office. Most probably, you got up of your chair four-five (or even more) times per day to have coffee and a chat with coworkers or use the restroom. Well, while working from home, employees also get coffee or go to the restroom, but the distance to the places is much shorter.

Additionally, remote workers sit and work on their laptops (in the same posture, without leaving their seats) for a longer time at home. The reason is there are no identical distractions at home that make them get up of their chairs at the office. That is why taking a walk plays a significant role in preventing problems with health caused by a sedentary lifestyle. Many health experts advise you to go for a stroll for thirty minutes daily. This is an ideal quantity to reduce health risks.

Release your endorphins and take a break to go with your dog for a 30-minute walk, go out somewhere for a lunch, or just take your headphones and walk in the nearest park to clear your head. Those practices help employees to battle against fatigue, anxiety, or just bad mood.

Tags: anti-glare glasses, freelancing, health hazards, remote working

About the Author

Bibhuranjan Editorial Officer, technofaq.org I'm an avid tech enthusiast at heart. I like to mug up on new and exciting developments on science and tech and have a deep love for PC gaming. Other hobbies include writing blog posts, music and DIY projects.