The Health Benefits of Working from Home

by Nov 25, 2018HEALTH

The Health Benefits of Working from Home

by | Nov 25, 2018 | HEALTH

Hey there, beautiful mama!

 

Working from home. It’s a dream come true for a lot of people and with the increase in technology and a change in the point of view of a lot of companies, the ability to work from home is becoming far more viable for a larger number of people.

We spoke with Deborah Lobart, an Independent Consultant & Executive Regional Vice President with Arbonne, who gave us an overview of the benefits she’s found from working from home.

“Prior to owning my own business from home, I worked in the corporate world and was often left thinking, “Is this all there is to life?” I was drained emotionally by my insanely hectic work schedule and completely stressed out financially. I felt like a hamster on a wheel and was desperate for change. Then one day, I bumped into a high school acquaintance at a hair salon. She started to tell me about a new business that she started from home where she could work part-time hours and be able to leverage her time so that she could work smart not hard. I thought to myself, “I want that lifestyle!” So I went home, did my research and learned that many of the most brilliant business minds were endorsing this industry (known as network marketing). Without thinking twice, I jumped in.  Seven years later, my life looks drastically different.  I am a mom of two beautiful children, living the balanced lifestyle I’ve always wanted. Free from stress, more travel, more precious time, feelings of inner peace and fulfillment.  What I love the most, is that I get to help others achieve the same way of healthy living.

Less Stress

This is a big one, and an obvious one. When your commute becomes, walking through your house, you immediately remove one of the most stressful aspects of your work day, the commute. Whether you are driving or taking public transit, that time spent travelling is one of the most stressful parts of your day. From sitting in traffic, to dealing with other drivers, even the shortest of commutes can sometimes be enough to start your day off on an overly stressed foot. Working from home can immediately take that stress and kick it straight to the curb.

Less Snacking

While we are on the subject of your commute, lets face it, one aspect of that time spent sitting in a car maneuvering your way to work is the constant, ever present glow of your potential snacking options. It becomes very easy to think, “If I’m sitting here anyways, and that drive thru is right there, I might as well get a muffin, or a bagel, or a doughnut, or, or, or…” The options are endless and even the most powerful of wills will eventually cave.

It’s also easy to try and save yourself some time and skip your healthy breakfast and grab something on the go and lets face it, if it’s on the go, it’s not going to be something on the healthier end of the spectrum.

Staying on the snacking train, that’s what most offices tend to become. Whether it’s birthdays, special occasions, meetings or just random food brought in, if you work in an office environment, temptation is always staring you in the face.

Working from home, you control the snacks that are in your work space, you are less likely to be tempted and therefore, far less likely to partake in unhealthy snacking.

More Movement

Whether it’s sitting in the car, or sitting at your desk, the average office worker spends a lot of time sitting and finding ways and reasons to move in that sort of setting, which can prove quite difficult. Let’s face it, you aren’t standing up at your desk and busting out some jumping jacks, or dropping for a bunch of push ups. While, if you are at home, with no prying eyes, those little bits of exercise are way easier to fit into your day. It may even be possible to phone into meetings or make important calls from your treadmill. No matter how you slice it , staying active throughout an average work day is much easier in the comfort of your own home.

More Sleep

Sleep doesn’t just make you feel better, it is essential to living a healthy life and to achieving any level of fitness. The extra sleep time you might be able to gain, through cutting your commute down to zero, or if possible, being able to set your own hours, is invaluable. This extra sleep will give your muscles more time to recover and just add general improvement to your overall health.

Healthier Eating

We already touched on the extra boost your healthy eating can get from avoiding the drive into work and all those break room goodies, but the benefits to your attempts to eat healthy don’t stop there. When you’re working from home, you’re eating from home, and that gives you the ability to eat healthy and whole foods. It can also be tough to make a lunch ahead of times, and the instinct and ability to “just grab something”, once again, is less likely to be as healthy as the lunch you can make for yourself.

Time

This is the greatest advantage to working from home. Time. Enough cannot be said about how gaining extra time can benefit your life. How you use that time is up to you but the odds are good that any extra time you gain in this world is going to be used on something that makes you happy, whether it be for fitness, or family time, or the above mentioned sleep. If you use your extra time to make yourself happier, you will feel better and healthier overall.

More sleep, more time, more movement, less stress, less snacking and healthier eating are just some of the benefits that working from home has on your health. If this is an option with your employer, it is definitely something you should look into.

 

You can also follow me on Instagram @deborahlobart.

To health + happiness,

Deborah Xo

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