Working from your bed or couch all day? Here is what all can go wrong
1. Perils of working from bed or couch
It has been more than a year since a lot of us have taken to remote working due to the coronavirus pandemic. But many people have turned work from home to work from bed. They just get up from the bed in the morning, splash water on their face, settle back under the blanket and deep dive into their daily work. Doing this occasionally is fine, but turning your bed or couch permanently into a makeshift home office may take a serious toll on your mental and physical well-being.
Sitting in the same position all day long is generally bad for health and when you sit for the entire day on your bed, you just make things even more complex. Here are 5 perils of working from bed or couch.
2. Your sleep quality will decrease
Our
minds associate certain activities with certain places and when you mix
them, it gets confused and creates a problem for you. When you work,
read or watch movies sitting on your bed, it starts linking your bed to
work. These activities are associated with wakefulness, which confuses
the mind, making it harder to nod off at night. Your bed is only for
sleeping and intimacy. So, it is better to shift your work table
somewhere else.
3. Your neck and shoulder might hurt
Working
from bed makes it very hard to maintain a good posture. Even if you are
sitting on the bed with your feet tucked one above the other the
incorrect height of the monitor and curvy back may cause neck and back
pain. Besides, you might be always tempted to lay down on my back,
stomach, or side. Persistent pain and sitting in the incorrect posture
can also decrease sleep quality and can lead to musculoskeletal disease.
4. Impacts your mood and energy
We
often have a habit of keeping our curtain and window closed in our
bedroom to make it darker and sleep more peaceful. But working on this
ambience may impact your mood and energy. Sunlight is the natural mood
booster and lifts your energy. Dim lighting in the room makes you feel
sleepy, strain your eyes and even affect your body clock. You should
always sit in a well-lit room where there are more windows.
5. Your productivity might suffer
The
office environment actually helps you concentrate and be more
productive. Most people while working from home do not even take shower
in the morning or stay in their pajamas for most of the day, which
affects their productivity. Sitting on the bed or couch makes you lazy
and sleepy. You may also lose motivation to work and may not be able to
give your best.
6. Your risk of suffering from diseases might increase
Sitting
for an extended period in the same position on a bed or couch can also
be harmful to your overall health. According to a study published in the
American Journal of Epidemiology, those who sat more than six hours a
day were prone to die from all causes, including heart disease, cancer
and kidney disease. That's because living a sedentary life makes you
gain weight, which is associated with several diseases.
7. How to create a healthy working environment
pronCoronavirus
is here to stay for a while and we do not know how long we will have to
continue working from home. You need to maintain a healthy work-life
balance to improve your overall health. Here are a few things that you
can do while working from home.
Sit at a desk and try to keep the screen of your laptop directly at eye level.
Ensure your wrists are straight while working on your monitor.
The room where you are working should be well-lit and try to place your desk next to a window to get some natural light.
Take regular breaks or look away from the screen after every 20 minutes.