As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have found ourselves working remotely for the past couple of years, and it’s easy to see so many members of the workforce find this arrangement preferable to reporting to a formal workplace each day and adhering to inconvenient office hours. However, if there’s one downside to working from home, it’s that some of us have allowed hygiene and personal upkeep to fall by the wayside. While it’s true that operating from home shouldn’t require the same level of primping as working in an office, it’s important that we abstain from regarding hygiene as an afterthought.
Bathe Every Day
If you work remotely and do a fair amount of your shopping online, it’s understandable that you might adopt an unconventional bathing schedule. Although most of us bathe at least once a day, many people won’t hesitate to skip baths or showers if they know they’ll be house-bound for a while. While missing the occasional scrub is unlikely to cause significant problems, embracing irregular bathing can present a number of issues.
For starters, bathing plays an instrumental role in removing dead skin cells, excess oils, and assorted environmental contaminants. The longer you go between baths and showers, the more these elements are going to build up. Similarly, washing your hair helps remove dead hairs, thus clearing the way for new growth, and ridding your scalp of dirt, skin cells, and product buildup. As such, treating bathing like an afterthought can result in acne, irritated skin, fungal infections, and pungent body odor. So, no matter how cumbersome you find bathing, make a point of doing it every day, regardless of whether or not you intend to go anywhere. Even if your work schedule is jam-packed, you can surely carve out 10 minutes in which to shower.
Regularly Change Your Clothes
Freedom from formal dress is among the main perks of working from home. After all, even if your work attire looks great on you, odds are it’s not particularly comfortable. On the flip side, when operating from home, you can perform your various job duties in comfort-heavy loungewear. However, this doesn’t mean that your work-from-home clothes should be allowed to go long periods between washes. Wearing the same clothes for days on end is conducive to sweat and bacteria buildup and terrible B.O. So, while there’s nothing wrong with working in loungewear, something is very wrong with not bothering to change your clothes on a consistent basis. Regardless of how comfortable you are in a certain outfit, take care to change clothes at least once every 24 hours.
Exercise Every Day
While vitally important, grooming isn’t the only part of maintaining good hygiene. Exercising on a daily basis can be extremely beneficial to both your physical health and psychological hygiene. In addition to helping you maintain a healthy weight and build stamina, daily exercise can help facilitate a positive self-image and improve your overall outlook.
Of course, this isn’t to say that you’ll need to push yourself to your physical limits on a daily basis. For many people, just 30 minutes of moderate physical activity per day is sufficient. Additionally, if you tend to sweat a lot when working out, make a point of bathing and changing clothes at the end of each exercise session. You should also consider investing in activewear that incorporates antimicrobial zinc ion technology, as this can help prevent bacteria infections and other problems that stem from sweat buildup.
Engage in Self-Care
When it comes to mental hygiene, make sure to provide yourself with plenty of self-care. At the very least, this entails ending the workday at a specific time and refusing to do any more work until the beginning of the next workday. Secondly, once you’re finished working for the day, spend your leisure time engaged in relaxing activities that you genuinely enjoy. This will enable you to recharge your batteries and maintain a productive mindset.
When working from home for extended periods, it’s easy to fall into the trap of neglected hygiene. However, not only can this contribute to poor self-image, it can also lead to certain health issues. To be fair, not having to obsess over one’s appearance is among the primary draws of remote work. And while there’s certainly no need for remote workers to dress up to the nines, basic personal hygiene practices should still be adhered to.
Get Ready in The Morning
It may seem silly to get ready in the morning when it is just you sitting at your computer but it actually does change the way you feel when you start your day. It can signal your body that you are ready for the workday and can help you be more productive. It also doesn’t hurt looking good for all of those Zoom meetings you are surely having. No longer do you have to be afraid to be on screen because you didn’t get ready that day. You can be camera ready at any point.
This isn’t just a message for the ladies. Men, grooming yourself can be an impactful part of your morning too. Is your beard getting a little out of control? Grooming it can set you up for success and make you feel proud of the way you are going to look on the Zoom camera. Studies have proven that women actually release feel-good chemicals when they groom themselves so this should be a step that you do not miss every day. Keep it as important as your morning coffee ritual.
Staying Clean in 2022
If you follow the simple tips in this guide, you will stay cleaner and feel better about yourself each day as you log on for work. Your family or housemates will also be very grateful for you following these simple hygiene steps. Make it important for you and do this every day. It takes about a month to build a habit so if you start now you only have 29 more days until it becomes habitual and then you won’t even have to think about it. Just like it’s habitual to walk over to the coffee maker every morning and get your first dose of caffeine. Try it out, you might be surprised at how much better you feel, and look!
