Creating a healthy workspace is crucial to our well being and provides plenty of opportunity for a positive mental state. In this article we are going to look at ways to improve your workspace, whether it’s in an office or your home. We’ll discover why it’s so important and what can happen if you ignore the basics.
The Need to Create a Healthy Workspace
The Toxic Work Environment
This environment is normally only found within an office or outside business and not something you can easily walk away from. Some studies have shown that people are 10 times more likely to leave their jobs because of a toxic work culture than for any other reason.
When a workplace has low employee morale, it can easily manifest into breakdowns in many areas. Negativity and conflicts come to the fore, which eventually leads to chronic and excessive stress. Gossip often flourishes, resulting in a negative style of communication and in worst case scenarios bullying.
However, if you live somewhere with others and share common spaces, this can lead to toxicity, especially if they are aware of what you do for a living. They may find your chosen career morally wrong, they could be jealous of your plentiful earnings or even feel that your working hours disrupts their life.
The Unhealthy Work Environment
Long working hours, poor management styles, discrimination and company policies can often lead to an unhealthy work environment. However, if you work from home, most of these emanate from a lack of managing ourselves. We envisage impossible deadlines and produce workloads beyond our capabilities. Every single day (which can often be 7 days a week) starts with a mountain to climb which is even higher than the previous day.
Working in an office can at least give you some sort of structure, with enforced breaks where you often physically leave the office. Weekends and holidays do not involve sitting behind a desk or engaging with colleagues. They provide you with peace and solitude.
Undefined workspace at home is often a major player behind creating an unhealthy work environment. You can never just switch off and relax. As a cam model, or content creator this is made worse by using the bedroom to work from. Even using the living room for a cam space can mean relaxing in that space when you are not working becomes difficult.
Safety in the Workspace
Safety in the workspace doesn’t always mean just physical safety, it can also mean mental safety. If you are continually feeling on edge about something, it can cause mental strains which in turn lead to stress. The less concerns you have about your workspace the better.
For example, did you know that according to the National Association of Professional Organisers, the average person wastes over 4 hours a week searching for misplaced items? It might not sound like much but over a yearly period, that equates to over 200 hours, which is equivalent to 8 days!
Ensuring your workspace is ergonomically suitable is crucial to alleviating both physical and mental stress. Everything from having the right chair to organising the tools of your trade leads to a productive and satisfying work life.
Don’t Forget These Simple Tasks
- Make sure the tools of your trade are organised, clean and in working order. For example, making sure all your vibrators are clean and at full battery strength saves embarrassing delays whilst in the middle of a session.
- If you have matching underwear and shoes, put them together so that there is no scrabbling around in the cupboard when a fan asks you to dress in that little black number with the slinky black shoes you were wearing last week.
- If you’re using a computer to access the cam platform, make sure it is fully updated and you’ve done the required virus scans before you start a session.
- Keep up to date with the latest offerings on the cam platform you are operating on. It’s all too easy to miss out on competitions and special notices.
- You should ideally spend at least an hour a day managing your work tools, which not only includes your laptop, webcam, and lighting but also your clothes, make up and accessories.
Easy Solutions for a Healthy Workspace
- Even if you only have a single room to work, rest and relax in, there are still easy solutions to creating a healthier workspace.
- Consider creating a screen to separate your working area from the rest of the room. Even if it’s small, hanging up a sheet or curtain can screen off that part of the room, giving your mind time to relax.
- Try and spend at least an hour a day away from your smart devices and social media. Put them on silent and don’t be tempted to pick them up to check your latest followers comments.
- Maintain a healthy diet with some exercise. Eating 3 balanced meals a day doesn’t mean you have to give up the occasional treats as well.
- Preparing healthy snacks to munch on while you are working is so much better than grabbing unhealthy snacks from the cupboard.
- Exercising doesn’t mean having to go to the gym either. Try Yoga or simply walking to help break up the routine of daily work chores.
- Get a hobby, especially if it’s one that means you must leave the house to engage. Even 30 minutes away from the environment you live and work in can make all the difference.
- Don’t be afraid to seek help if you feel lonely or overwhelmed. On one else expects you to be a superhero, except perhaps you!
Bringing the Outside Inside
Bring some of the outside inside with plants. Look for easy to manage plants which bring life into your workspace. Plants like Ferns, a Money Tree (now that’s a great idea as it will definitely give you focus), Aloe Vera (also has health benefits), Philodendron (there are lots of types in different sizes), Air Plants, Spider Plants, Parlour Palm or Lucky Bamboo to name but a few.
These all have huge benefits to our wellbeing and help with daily tasks and activities.
Find out more ways to keep your life in check by reading some of my other articles on this site, such as How to Ensure Social Media is Your Friend and 8 Top Tips for Looking Great on Cam.
If you’ve got any comments or tips please do get in touch.
Love Carla x
