How to boost health and wellbeing while self-isolating

It’s a very strange and difficult time for many right now. ‘Self-isolation’ and ‘social distancing’ aren’t things that come naturally to a nation of free spirits and social butterflies. Whether you’re embracing your new life or climbing the walls, here are some top tips for keeping your mind and body healthy during lockdown...

Enjoy working from home

A change or lack of rou­tine can be unset­tling and it can be dif­fi­cult to stay focused. The need to sep­a­rate home/​work life is real­ly impor­tant and com­mu­ni­ca­tion is key.

  • Set up a com­fort­able work­sta­tion away from dis­trac­tions and some­where sep­a­rate to your ​‘relax­ation’ area to stop them becom­ing blurred
  • Video calls and group chats are a must – make sure you check in on col­leagues. We’ve set up a dai­ly catch-up at 11am (to avoid the 9am wifi crash!) and a vir­tu­al 3pm brew!
  • Go for a walk in the morn­ing or evening to make it feel like your usu­al commute 
  • Have a lunch break away from your desk so you come back refreshed in the afternoon

Kev L said:

“Work­ing from home with my part­ner means there has to be some bound­aries – we’ve split the desk space with tape and must not cross!”
WFH blog kev l

Have fun keeping fit

Lack of gym or fit­ness class­es and no com­mute to work means you need to find a new rou­tine to keep you feel­ing motivated…

  • Fol­low some YouTube fit­ness class­es either in your liv­ing room or your gar­den. Many don’t need any equip­ment – just your­self! Joe Wicks has some great videos on his chan­nel https://​www​.youtube​.com/​r​e​s​u​l​t​s​?​s​e​a​r​c​h​_​q​u​e​r​y​=​j​o​e​+​wicks
  • Fill a mini-suit­case with books or use tins of beans/​bottles of water; what­ev­er you can find to use for weight exercises
  • Try to fit in a morn­ing, lunchtime or after work walk or run
  • We’ve start­ed a Foundry step chal­lenge (you know how much we love a step chal­lenge) where we’re all aim­ing to do 5,000 steps a day! So, we’re hav­ing to come up with lots of indoor activ­i­ty ideas to reach our goals – up and down stairs, pac­ing when on calls, cir­cuit train­ing in the gar­den – it all counts

Ian said:

“Where pos­si­ble I’ve kept my rou­tine as nor­mal as I can and treat the day like I would in the office. The only dis­trac­tion is our lit­tle dog ​‘Bon­nie’. I sim­ply can’t resist tak­ing her out for a run every morn­ing – but it’s a great way to start the day and gets those impor­tant steps in. It also com­bines my dai­ly exer­cise and walk­ing the dog – efficiency!”
WFH blog ian

Mitals perfect recipe for working from home

1 kitchen setting
1 reti­na dis­play mac
1 pad
2 HB pencils
Lots of cre­ative spices
3 cups of tea, 4 hot waters, 1 spiced cur­ry dish, 2 fruits 5k run every oth­er day
3 extra hours of fam­i­ly life and wellbeing 
1 hap­py wife (so far)
1 very hap­py 5‑month-old child
= 1 very hap­py creative

WFH blog mital

Eat healthy snacks and meals

Being at home, it can be easy to snack on things that might be in your fridge which wouldn’t nec­es­sar­i­ly be in the office. Try to keep healthy in the week then you can look for­ward to indulging a lit­tle at the week­end as a well-earned treat and to make your Sat­ur­days and Sun­days feel a bit dif­fer­ent! Stock up on things like…

  • Car­rot sticks, pep­per, cucum­ber and dip
  • Toast­ed pit­ta and dip
  • Fresh fruit
  • Good selec­tion of hot drinks – nice coffee/​teas – take your mind off biscuits!

Anna said:

“My best tip dur­ing lock-down is mak­ing sure you spend some time doing some­thing you love – To me that is cook­ing and bak­ing. Also – hav­ing my work-sta­tion next to the record player.”
WFH blog anna

Here’s how else we’re keeping our minds and bodies active while working from home…

Vicks said:

“I’m run­ning Mrs Green’s home­school from my kitchen table and fit­ting work in and around it. We do Maths and Eng­lish in the morn­ing and then a ran­dom sub­ject in the after­noon. It was Sci­ence on Fri­day and we did this in the gar­den helped by our fur­ry assistant. 😂 ”
WFH blog vicks

Tracey said:

“In between work, I count­ed all the tiles on the kitchen floor and paced the house for 3 days – now I burn my ener­gy on the tread­mill while watch­ing The Crown, then at lunch it’s meals on wheels time – got to keep my dad fed and healthy… and drunk 😃 ”

Kirsty said:

“Being at home with two lit­tle ones – I crave a tidy right now!”

Sarah said:

“I’m try­ing to go a run or do a mini gar­den or liv­ing room work­out in a morn­ing to start the day! I’ve also turned the cor­ner of the spare room into an office, so I have a qui­et space away from dis­trac­tions – like the bis­cuit cupboard!”
WFH blog kirsty and sarah

Stu said:

“I’m using my com­mute time – typ­i­cal­ly 75 – 90mins each way per day – for rolling, stretch­ing and strength­en­ing exer­cis­es to sup­ple­ment my run­ning. I‘ll often have the tel­ly on too so I can catch up on the news and weath­er. Plus, doing it inside means I’ve still got my dai­ly ​‘out­door exer­cise token’ to spend on a run or cycle!”

Kate said:

“Stick­ing to a rou­tine has been key for me. Plan­ning my day the night before, allows me to do my job and look after a two-year-old.”
WFH blog kate

Elaine said:

“I’m start­ing to under­stand now why dogs try to run out every time you open the front door. That’s why I find get­ting some fresh air through­out day keeps me motivated.”

Mark said:

“Well it appears some things nev­er change, instead of debat­ing radio sta­tion choic­es with the team in the office I’m now doing it with my wife and teenage boys. But 6 music always wins! 😊 ”

Kev O said:

“I’ve been using my lunch hour to get out­side for fresh air and a long walk around the town!”
WFH blog kev o

We hope some of these tips have helped you refo­cus. We’ll be record­ing our steps in our homes, gar­dens and local areas as part of our dai­ly exer­cise allowance and a way to keep moti­vat­ed as we con­tin­ue to work from home. Feel free to join us or keep up-to-date with our progress by fol­low­ing us on Twit­ter or Insta­gram. Stay safe everyone!