{"id":5350,"date":"2021-06-11T20:00:01","date_gmt":"2021-06-11T20:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveyourlifept.com\/blog\/?p=5350"},"modified":"2021-06-11T20:00:01","modified_gmt":"2021-06-11T20:00:01","slug":"sick-and-tired-of-working-from-home-here-are-3-immediate-ways-to-bring-more-joy-into-your-home-working-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/liveyourlifept.com\/blog\/2021\/06\/11\/sick-and-tired-of-working-from-home-here-are-3-immediate-ways-to-bring-more-joy-into-your-home-working-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Sick and Tired Of Working From Home? Here Are 3 Immediate Ways to Bring More Joy into Your Home-Working Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is safe to say that most working professionals have either stayed home or worked remotely significantly more over the past year. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many companies to require and mandate working from home not knowing the extent of how implementing working virtually over an extended period of time will impact productivity, lifestyle, and team-work. The\u00a0 Global Employee Health Study Data conducted by Aetna International showed that working remotely has had negative long-term effects on employee\u2019s physical (weight gain, neck, and low back pain) and mental health (depression, stress, fatigue), but have also helped employees acknowledge<\/em> the importance of their overall health.1<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I have learned that working remotely has significantly and negatively affected my mental health when my physical environment is void of friendships, sunlight, and outdoor activities. I remember experiencing a period of depression and a lack of motivation. Netflix became a dangerously close friend. However, as a health coach, I remember learning about primary foods and secondary foods. Primary foods are factors that bring meaning to our soul and include things such as: fulfilling work, meaningful relationships, healthy finances, physical movement, spiritual practice, self-care, etc. Secondary foods are the traditional factors that include dietary and nutritional needs for our survival including macro and micronutrients. As a result of learning and understanding primary versus secondary foods, I started incorporating more primary foods to bring more joy into my home-working environment. This blog outlines some ideas that have worked for me in the past year and I hope they work for you too! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Make the time to schedule a group video call with friends or famil<\/strong>y<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With our social interactions kept to a minimum the last year, I have found it extremely valuable to make the time to schedule group calls with the people that I care about and people that care about me. Pandemic or not, making<\/em> the time for group video calls or any other social activity needs to be scheduled. Why? It\u2019s been proven time and time again that social interaction is a critical contributor to physical and mental health and longevity. A study<\/a> published by The New England Journal of Medicine found that among 2,320 male survivors of heart attacks, those with stronger social connections compared to those that lacked social connections had a quarter risk of death within the following three year.2<\/sup> Furthermore, another study<\/a> published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, found that people who lack quality social interaction have a greater risk of physical diseases including, \u201cdevelopment and progression of cardiovascular disease, recurrent myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis, autonomic dysregulation, high blood pressure, cancer and delayed cancer recovery, and slower wound healing.\u201d3<\/sup> By nurturing your social self, you will not only benefit from being more joyful but also benefit physically and mentally! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some suggestions to spice up your group video calls\nand other social interaction with friends or family:<\/p>\n\n\n\n