Working from home sure has its benefits. You set a schedule that’s good for your job, family, and life. You want a setup that helps you stay healthy and fit. You’re well aware of the downsides of being sedentary. It’s time to design a work-from-home setup that’ll help keep you at peak wellness for years.

Boost Your Health With The Right Setup

Okay, you’re ready to jump right into looking at the gajillion setups for your remote space. Hold everything! Your first step is to focus on your desired health outcomes. Here’s a brief summary of how work-from-home setups support health. As you think about the various points, remember that you can purchase items for your setup as you go.

Here’s a plain and simple statement: Being sedentary harms health. Inactivity affects people in too many ways. It increases the risk for workday fatigue, burnout, chronic disease, such as heart disease and diabetes, plus lots of other gloomy outcomes. One way to steer clear of these conditions is activity. As in moving! Even better, doing so with short exercise breaks to move more.

What does that have to do with your work-from-home setup? We can assure you, it means a lot! The right design offers comfort and room to move. Plus, the variety of workstation products now available lets you tailor yours based on preferences and needs. Have a back that aches more than you want? The design of your desk, chair, and monitor setup can help with that.

Stay-Healthy Home Office Setups

First things first! The best guidance is to begin with comfort. You read that right! Being comfortable in your work space boosts productivity and creativity. Being in a comfy setting helps people feel less stressed. That in itself boosts health!

Pick Your Space

Make it your own! Sure, it’s in your home. There are questions to ponder. Does it reflect you as a person? Is it a dedicated space that’s your domain? Are you converting space in the basement, attic, or from a big, old closet? Some places need added extras to be healthy.

Daylight from a window, exterior door, or skylight provides natural light. That’s good for mood and productivity. Maybe you’ll need an air filter to rid nasty mold or adjust humidity levels. Create space to get up and move in an area as small as 50 square feet.

Healthy Decor Do-Dads

Clean, decorated home office
Photo by ergonofis / Unsplash

Decorating can promote health too. Select some plants, particlarly those that detoxify and are low maintenance. Look into the effects of color on mood. Be real about what works for you. Another decor point is to have a corner setup for visitors, like kids and pets.

Your Wondrous Work-From-Home Setup

The layout of your setup is what you’ve been thinking about from the get-go. Focus first on ergonomic points beginning with desk height, chair design, and monitor placement. Once you have a desk and chair combo that provides good leg clearance, it’s time to move on to overall design. Plan to keep the stuff you need within easy reach and clutter-free.

From there you can pick the overall layout. Some home offices are simple, sticking to the basic necessities. Others are more involved with L or U-shaped layouts. Let your primary work functions drive your design.

Standing desk is generally better

man working at a standing desk converter
Photo by JP Lockwood / Unsplash

We'd like to point out however, that our official stance at Wakeout is that it's generally better to work standing up.

There's several factors that make standing desks the premier choice of the active home office warrior. First, when your standing up you're prone to move about. It keeps you much more active. Second, being upright has psychological effects as it make you feel alert, ready for anything.

Lastly, and for some people, most intersting, is that your metabolic rate is naturally increased just by being on your feet. This means more calories burned. One study found that substitting 6 hours of sitting for standing, all else being equal, can result in 5.5 pounds of body fat loss every year!

However, we know standing desks aren't for everyone. Start with an hour per day and slowly increase your standing time gradually.

Keep some weights handy for a quick exercise break

Water bottles, books, cushions, even your chair can function as weights to do a little exercise. A pencil or pen can be used to exercise your hands. Keep some of these items handy for whenever you need a quick booster.

Wakeout provides hundreds of fun exercise breaks that fit into every work-from-home setup. We’ve prepared a bunch of fun, engaging, and healthy routines to perk up your day. Best part is you use your setup and whatever’s handy.

Here’s to your health!

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