How to Keep Your Workforce Active When Working Remote

Working remotely has its pluses and minuses. Sure, it’s nice to work from a home office while surrounded by creature comforts. At times that means taking a real, live creature out for a much-needed walk (or off your keyboard, meow!). Or, pinch-hitting when a little one has the sniffles. Yes, this even happens for you as the CEO or department head.

You’re also well aware that you get a lot more done working remotely than you had thought possible. There may be fewer interruptions, or you simply feel great working in your T and sweats. Even then, there’s one thing that’s nagging at you. Working at home, most of us are now more sedentary working at home (missing is the parking lot walks, etc.).

All of that sure gets you thinking about your workforce, including those working onsite. As you consider your own recent lapse into becoming more sedentary, you’re thinking about your team. You want all of you to be active and as healthy as possible. You’re coming up to speed with what that means for remote workers. This blog breaks it all down for you. It touches on why you want your workforce to enjoy bursts of healthy physical activity. Then we get into steps for how to make it happen.

Active Breaks + Increased Frequency = Feeling Better

The first element in being healthy while working remotely is to take active breaks. That means physical activity like getting on your feet and moving, or doing chair stretches. The second part of the feel better equation is to increase the frequency of your breaks. Goodbye to sitting for 90 minutes straight. Hello to shorter periods of being sedentary.

The big takeaway here is to get in the habit of taking active breaks every 30 minutes. You read that right, it’s not a typo! Yes, every 30 minutes. Why? Because it’s been found to improve overall health, including a reduction in the aches, kinks, and pain from being sedentary for hours on end. Added to the health goodies, frequent exercise breaks are like breaths of fresh air. You move, hopefully chuckle through your routine, and return to work refreshed. Added to that, your creativity gets a boost!

Now, imagine this being an exponential force for your organization! As each member of your workforce engages in active breaks, you’ll see an increase in productivity. Over time, that’s likely to turn into fewer sick days and worker’s comp issues. Oops, time for a break. Be back in a few!

Exercise Breaks Tailored For Your Workforce

One way to keep your workforce active and healthy while working is to offer them exercise breaks they’ll use. Here at Wakeout, we’ve learned the value of making these fun and refreshing. Added to that, we’ve come to value those that are specialized for different needs. This includes all sorts of muscle tension like tight shoulders, back pain, neck stiffness, or leg cramps.

Some exercise breaks are designed to wind down or wake up, other to help with back problems. It’s fun to incorporate props that people have on hand, from couch pillows to their handy water bottle. Even those who work at a standup desk benefit from exercise breaks. Sure, they might be standing. The point is they might not be moving a lot, plus their keyboarding already involves repetitive motions. That’s one good reason to consider exercise breaks for everyone.

It’s Time to Incentivize Being Active

There are quick and easy ways to get your workforce moving every 30 minutes. One is to make it a policy: These breaks are indeed on work time. Another is to create a line item for props to make the breaks fun and engaging. Ask your employees what they need to make it happen? You know how they are. They’ll have ideas and opinions that will help get the ball rolling…or will entice them to do some stretching or give standing boxing breaks a try!