6 Simple Strategies to Sustain Your At-Home Wellness Routine

Steven Losardo, AMFT

You may be wondering how to sustain a wellness routine at home. The good news is that it is achievable with commitment and accountability. If you are a remote worker, you may have already settled into a wellness routine during the pandemic. Many people have successfully taken up fitness programs at home, and utilized their home environment for their wellness routine. If sustaining a wellness routine is something you struggle with, don’t despair; there are strategies to help you succeed and avoid relapse.  

6 Simple Strategies to Help You Stick with Your Wellness Routine:

Stay organized: When working from home, the most important part of sticking to a wellness routine is staying organized (Indeed, 2021).  It is tempting to not follow a schedule, or become less organized, when you’re at home and not in an office setting. However, being overly laidback about organization isn’t doing you any good. Setting yourself reminder alarms and notifications, and using a calendar are useful for staying organized as a remote worker. 

Relapse prevention plan: In order to successfully sustain a wellness routine long-term, you should develop a relapse prevention plan. This involves identifying your weaknesses as well as what helps you the most, and creating short-term and long-term goals. Identifying weaknesses will help prevent relapse to old habits. A weakness could be procrastination, which could interfere with success. Being aware that you have a (Mindtools, 2021) could help you develop strategies to deal with it. 

Plan ahead for stress: Stress is inevitable in our lives, which is why self-care is one of the most important things you can do to avoid relapse (Paterson & Bilsker, 2006). Self-care involves taking time for yourself, and can include activities such as taking a relaxing bath, doing a meditation, crossword puzzles, or reading an enjoyable book. Practice self-care in order to be present in other aspects of your life, such as your job (Paterson & Bilsker, 2006). Practicing self-care helps you avoid burnout (Paterson & Bilsker, 2006). 

Try out a phone app to help with accountability: There are various phone apps to help keep you accountable with your wellness routine. For example, My Fitness Pal, a free phone application that you can use to track your exercise and calories, if weight loss or general fitness is a goal for you. Or, if you are looking for an app to help you with tracking mental health, you could try the app Sanvello.   

Use incentives: Perhaps there are aspects of your wellness routine that feel like a chore to you. One way to help you get through them is to use (Krauss Whitbourne, 2013). For example, if you are someone who doesn’t want to take the time to do your Zoom yoga class, despite knowing it benefits you, then you can reward yourself afterwards if you follow through and do yoga that day (Krauss Whitbourne, 2013). The reward could be buying yourself a latte, or watching Netflix, for example. 

Keep your living space tidy: You don’t need to be Marie Kondo, the famous tidying expert, to make an effort to keep your living space organized. For some people, staying clean and organized does not come naturally, but making an effort can actually help you feel more relaxed and focused during your workday. It’s possible to organize and clean your space in just one hour and you could make it a goal to do this once a week (Manneh, 2021). 

Stay Positive

There are many strategies to help you sustain your wellness routine. If you fall off the wagon, you can always try again. Do not stress over your wellness routine; its purpose is to help you feel better mentally and physically. Being a remote worker has many demands and requires considerable discipline, but having a wellness routine will help. Sticking with a wellness routine will benefit you in your work, your relationships, and your overall well-being (Paterson & Bilsker, 2006). 

References

Paterson, R. J., & Bilsker, D. (2006). Self-care depression program: Antidepressant skills

workbook. BC Mental Health & Addiction Services.

Indeed. (2021). How to stay organized when you work at home.

Retrieved from https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-stay

organized-when-you-work-at-home on April 8, 2021.

Krauss Whitbourne, S. (2013). Give your motivation a makeover with a little psychology.

Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any

age/201310/give-your-motivation-makeover-little-psychology on April 7,

2021.

Manneh, E. (2021). Spring cleaning: How to organize your room in an hour. Retrieved from

https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/how-to-organize-your-room-in-an-hour/ on April 8, 2021.

MindTools. (2021). How to stop procrastinating: overcoming the habit of delaying important

tasks. Retrieved from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_96.htm

on April 8, 2021.