How To Stay Healthy Working A 9-5 Office Job

Working a 9-5 job in an office can make it difficult to stay healthy, with meeting snacks, vending machines, and pizza lunches all providing never-ending temptation. On top of this, sitting at a desk all day staring at a computer screen can negatively impact our physical and mental health, too, so it’s easy to become demotivated and settle into unhealthy habits and routines. In this article, we’ll discuss our top tips for staying healthy while working a 9-5 office job.

Take Regular Breaks

Office jobs can come with a lot of pressure, with the regular need to hit deadlines or manage teams through challenging periods of the business. This can often lead to you sitting at your desk for hours on end, often in a highly stressed state of mind. However, studies have shown that taking regular breaks at work comes with many different benefits, and this is definitely something to prioritise when you feel the pressure building up. Some of the most significant benefits of taking regular breaks away from your desk include increased productivity, better problem solving, and an increased likelihood for building other healthy habits.

Focus On Eating Well At Work

One of the most popular unhealthy habits that office jobs are known to encourage is the easiness of letting your healthy eating habits slide while working a 9-5. With meeting hosts often bringing snacks, or a vending machine available to help you beat those mid-afternoon slumps, eating unhealthily can creep up on you in an office job and leave you struggling to keep up with the changes in your energy levels as a consequence. It’s really useful to prioritise eating well at work, and you can find different meal plan templates online that can help you to plan your meals in advance and make it easier to say no to junk food temptation.

Ask for a Workstation Assessment

If you are sitting at a desk using a display screen for a large part of the working day, your employer must provide a workstation assessment. This will include:

1. A keyboard assessment
2. Suitability of mouse, trackball etc
3. Positioning and type of screen
4. Software that is suitable for your tasks (to avoid stress)
5. Appropriate worksurface and chair
6. The working environment: space, light fresh air, comfortable heat and noise levels

You might be surprised how important this is, how many changes might be suggested, and the role your workstation plays in staying healthy when working a 9-5 office job

Go For Regular Health Check-Ups

Another way to stay healthy while working an office job is to go for regular health check-ups to make sure you’re in tip-top shape. Bigger employers offer various health care options for their employees, so do endure you know what is available.

There are lots of different providers of health treatments, with The Health Suite Leicester playing a leading role in healthcare services that can give you an action plan for the steps you need to take to improve your health.  Some of the services offered by The Health Suite Leicester include a comprehensive health check that can include ECG scans, blood tests, and specialist talks with a qualified GP to quell any growing concerns and provide an action plan for your new healthier lifestyle. There are also complementary therapies available.

Ultimately, although working an office job can make things seem like a healthy lifestyle is out of reach, there are plenty of ways you can take control of your health, by starting with a regular health MOT that will point you in the right direction and supplementing this with a drive to change your daily routine. Eating well and taking regular breaks away from your desk will help you to establish other healthy habits both in and out of the office. You’ll be the healthiest version of yourself in no time!