#WellbeingWednesday: Working from home

Welcome to the first of Queensland Rugby League's #WellbeingWednesday series, providing some handy tips and helpful advice to improve overall wellness.

Each Wednesday, Luke Archer, from QRL's wellbeing and education team, will cover a hot topic that people may need some further guidance on.

This week, it's all about working from home.

Working from home

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of people are working from home. Here are some handy tips to help with this. 

Ensure your work space is ergonomic

What does that even mean?

Being ergonomic means to be more efficient and comfortable in the working environment. This will hope to lower stress and reduce injuries caused by awkward positions and repetitive tasks.

A few small and simple changes you can make include:

• Make sure your desk is setup at 'elbow height' so your elbows can rest on the top of your desk - this is for both standing and sitting desks
• Make sure your computer monitor or laptop screen is at eye height - so you're not constantly looking up or down to focus on it
• Try and position your body in an anatomical position so your spine is neutral - that way you aren't leaning back nor hunching forward
• Give yourself some space on your desk - you should be able to use both your keyboard and mouse comfortably
• Make sure you have adequate legroom underneath your desk

Have a healthy mindset

Make your desk a happy place to work. 

This may include ensuring you have adequate lighting and in a space that is positive for you.

Try and make your desk as similar as to what it would be at work - this may include hanging up photos of family and friends on the wall, or a photo of your favourite sports team (the Queensland Maroons, of course).

Maintain activity

Don't forget to get up and move during the day.

Frequently stand up and walk around often - this may include a short walk to another room or outside. It might even include making yourself a cup of tea or coffee regularly.

A good rule of thumb is to leave your desk for one or two minutes at least once every hour.

Keep your routine

Even though you're working from home, it's really important you try and keep a similar routine to the one you had when you were at your place of work.

Although your location of work has changed, your work routine most likely hasn't.

This may include dressing for work and preparing for work. It may also mean trying to keep the same times for your breaks each day and starting and finishing at similar times.

Stay positive

How often is it that we get to work from home?

There are a range of benefits that come with working from home:

• You get to see your loved ones more regularly
• You don't have to travel to and from work (and battle the traffic if you live in the city)
• You get to have your lunch break at home every day

Look at the upside of getting to work from home during this period - it's a luxury that a lot of us probably take for granted.

Alice Morse Earl once said ... "every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day". 

Be sure to visit QRL.com.au or the Intrust Super Cup app every Wednesday for a fresh #WellbeingWednesday episode.

For more information on QRL's wellbeing programs, click here.