6 Tips for Home Working Health & Wellbeing
29th Mar 2023Posted by Alice Ewens on 29th Mar 2023
Home working can be a great way to achieve a better work-life balance, but it can also present some challenges when it comes to maintaining your wellbeing. We’ve pulled together some tips and inspiration to create a healthy home office environment!
Are People Still Working From Home?
At the start of the pandemic back in 2020 many of us adopted home working during lockdowns. But in March 2023, the number of people opting for some home working has remained higher than pre-2020. Remote work seems here to stay, with advancements in technology making this far more viable than before.
Working from Home Stats
- In 2022 the number of people working remotely in the UK was 30% of the British workforce, whereas only 12% of UK workers claimed to have always worked remotely pre-pandemic.
- 30% of the UK workforce is working remotely at least once a week in 2022
- 1 in 5 Brits want to work full-time remotely.
- The term “remote jobs” is now searched for over 18,000 times per month in the UK on Google – a 410% increase over the last 5 years. [1]
As for the reasons, 78% of those who worked from home in some capacity said that being able to work from home gave them an improved work-life balance and 47% workers recorded improved well-being from working from home in some capacity [2]. Interestingly, though, 1 in 5 workers struggle with loneliness when working from home and 3 in 10 Brits find it hard to separate their home lives from their work lives [1].
Home Working And Home Office Design Is Still A Growing Trend
| Keyword | Google Keywords | Google Keywords | Google Trends | TikTok | ||
| Avg. Monthly Searches | % change over 3 months | Avg. over 3 months (higher no. = higher interest) | Avg. over 3 months (higher no. = higher interest) | Hashtags to date | Views | |
| 'Home Office' | 74,000 | +0% | 68 | 77 | 9.7mil | 6.6bil |
| 'Home Working' | 40,500 | +22% | 40 | 50 | 174k | 13.9mil |
| 'Work From Home' | 40,500 | +22% | 48 | 39 | 20mil | 14.1bil |
| 'Home Office Decor' | 1600 | +50% | 1 | 79 | 479k | 13.6mil |
| 'Home Office Design' | 2900 | +52% | 1 | 70 | 212k | 8.9mil |
| 'Home Office Ideas' | 14800 | +22% | 16 | 76 | 309k | 65.9mil |
All this data tells us that though there is a desire for home working, likely due to the cost and time savings associated with it, there’s a bit of an issue with people knowing how to make it really work for them. People are still very much interested in figuring out how to work from home, even if they are looking for info and inspo in different places (as indicated by the low level of interest in 'Home Office Decor' via direct Google searches - 1 - vs the high level of interest on Pinterest - 79). People want to stay connected when necessary but have boundaries between work and home life.
We’ve taken all this info and got you 6 tips for creating a healthy home office setup that’ll help with your working-from-home wellbeing and health (remember, mental health is just as important as physical health!).
Home Working Wellbeing Tip #1: Create A Dedicated Office Space
Designate an area in your home that is solely for work. This will help you mentally separate work from leisure time. Whether this is a boxroom you’ve jazzed up specially, or a corner of the kitchen, living room or bedroom, try to keep it only for your studies or work. Consider using a folding screen to help carve out space within a larger room.
Featured in the moodboard: Our Oslo White and Grey Faux Leather Office Chair, Scandi-inspired Dawson White Metal Corner Desk with Storage Drawer and our Mystique Linea Laid Back Artsy Rustic Rug in Ochre. Also featuring Link paint in shades Green 04 and White 02.
Home Working Wellbeing Tip #2: Invest in Comfortable & Supportive Office Furniture
Make sure your chair, desk, and computer are all set up in a way that supports good posture and reduces strain on your body. You want your desk chair to be ergonomic so you can sit for stretches and you want your desk to be a comfortable height that doesn't result in you leaning down or stretching up to reach. Elbows and wrists should be parallel. You definitely want your office furniture to be durable as well as comfortable to work at. A wrist rest can also help ease typing strain. Don’t forget some decent lighting so you don’t strain your eyes.
Featured in the moodboard: Our Siena White High Gloss Rotating Computer Desk, Bibi Light Grey Pinned Velvet Tub Vanity Office Chair and Ellwood High Back Black Mesh Office Chair, and the Manu White & Gold Metal Table Lamp Light. Also featuring Lick paint in shades Green 02 and Pink 03.
Home Working Wellbeing Tip #3: Make It A Place You Enjoy Spending Time
You want your home working space to inspire you, help you focus and be creative (even if it’s just a spreadsheet you’re staring at). Product Design Lead and Furniturebox artist in residence Laura Rich knows a thing or two about colour theory and says that there’s a reason green is making a huge comeback in interior design:
“Green’s the perfect blend of invigorating and calming. It makes us think of new beginnings and growing things (great for inspiration and creativity) but is also calming in the way it makes us think of nature (great for helping ease stress). Shades of sage green and forest green are trending for interiors and they’d work great in your office space! Whether it’s a painted accent wall, or accessories, embrace the green trend in your working environment.”
This of course also extends to incorporating some plants into your space. Not only will they inject that green into the space but will also help oxidise the air, which might help with concentration.
Check out our plants and home décor blog! You can also inject some of your personality into your office space too – photos and artwork you enjoy looking at can help you relax, but try to avoid the space being too cluttered. Remember, a tidy space equals a tidy mind! If you have the space, some office storage is a great way to keep things tidy.
Featured in the moodboard: our Vallon Wood & Black Metal Industrial Style Home Office Desk, Parker Black Faux Leather Wood Back Office Chair and Evie Gold Round Wall Mirror. Also featuring Lick paint in shade Yellow 07.
Home Working Wellbeing Tip #4: Take Breaks
It's important to take breaks throughout the day to stretch your legs and give your eyes a rest. A standing desk, also known as a height adjustable desk is a great way to encourage you to stand up for periods of time. This can help improve circulation and get those mood-boosting endorphins flowing with the increased energy being burnt. A change of perspective can help with creative thinking, too!
It's also great to have somewhere comfy to sit away from your desk and screen – if you’ve got the space, a breakout area is a brilliant idea. Consider a small sofa, accent chair or even a squishy moon chair to take 10 minutes to recharge your brain and your eyes. You could even get a small outdoor seating space set up to get some fresh air during your screen breaks.
Featured in the moodboard: our Moon Black Rattan and Light Grey Cushioned Papasan Chair and Belize Outdoor 2 Seat Bistro Set in Brown. Also featuring Lick paint in shade Greige 02.
Home Working Wellbeing Tip #5: Stay Active
It’s really easy when working from home to fall into a more sedentary lifestyle. But investing in some office fitness furniture can be an easy way to incorporate more activity into your working day and allow you to meet your personal health goals.
Types of Office Fitness Furniture
Office Bike Chairs
Our Anneka cycle bike chairs incorporate elements of exercise bikes and office chairs, allowing you to sit in comfort and cycle while you work. Cheaper than a gym membership and easy than cycling to work!
Height Adjustable Standing Desks
We already mentioned standing desks but let’s take a more detailed look. Our Atticus standing desk lets you sit and various heights or stand while you work, at the push of a button. Perfect for combining with our Anneka cycle bike office chairs!
Walking Treadmill Desks
A popular option for getting in your steps during the working day! A treadmill, whether self-powered or electric, can be placed beneath the desk so you can walk and work at the same time.
Home Working Wellbeing Tip #6: Stay Connected But Set Boundaries
The stats we shared at the start of the blog really highlighted that striking that balance between feeling connected to your team and not letting your work bleed into your home time is difficult to nail.
Try incorporating regular check-ins with your colleagues via something like Teams or Zoom to say hi when you take your screen breaks, similar to chatting at the coffee machine. Weekly (or more frequently if you prefer) video chats can be an excellent way to feel connected and not out of the loop. You can even organise a work 'focus room' video chat with colleagues where you both work as if you were in the office together, chat and bounce ideas off each other but remotely.
At the end of your work day, it’s really important to switch off from your projects. This loops back to tip #1. Having a dedicated office space that you can leave at the end of the day, the same way you’d leave the communal office to head home, helps you switch your brain from work mode to home mode.
How Have You Set Up Your Home Office?
Sources and Methodology
[1] - https://standout-cv.com/remote-working-statistics-uk#sources
[2] - Is hybrid working here to stay? - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
[3] Methodology – We looked at Instagram for top home working and home office hashtags and used these to inform our keyword research. We used Google Keywords to derive 3 month increase/decreases in searches for these terms, and average monthly searches. Next, we looked at Pinterest trends and Google trends for these same keywords – Pinterest and Google weight the search volumes, with 100 being peak interest in this term and 0 being lowest interest for these terms. We took the latest 3 months of data for each search term and averaged it to provide the scores in the table.
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