I talk to more and more people who work from home, at least part of the time. There is a ton of information out there to make sure your monitor is at the right height, your keyboard sits at the perfect level, your chair has the proper support. I’ve even read blogs about how to decorate your home office to boost your mood and productivity. I’ve written about taking breaks during the day to increase your metabolism. There is one thing I have noticed as more people work from home. You all are actually working more hours, not less. Checking email all kinds of hours. Meetings before you used to get into the office. Logging back on after dinner. Instead of having a flexible midday hour to get in a workout, you are need of ways to squeeze exercise into your time in the office.

If you can carve out some time in your office, doing a simple, body weight workout is most ideal. I just so happen to have a 28 minute video that fits that bill. One of my favorite challenges to give people, do 10 squats and 10 wall push ups every time you go to the bathroom. It works well even for those in an office, as no one wants to put their hands on the floor of their public bathroom. It is a great way to get a little more movement in when you work from home, since we often don’t have to walk as far to get to our home bathroom in comparison to the office.

Those fortunate to have conference calls with their video off have a great opportunity to stand during the call. It doesn’t matter if you have a standing desk or not. You may even be able to pace your room a bit, while listening to those presenting. If you are waiting for something to load or process, take that moment to march in place.

In addition to getting in some movement, you want to take time to make sure your posture is improving. So many aches and pains are a result of our poor desk posture. I found a YouTube video with some stretches to do. If you are a post-it note type of person, put reminders up around your monitor for yourself. When you return to your desk, hang up the phone, sit back down, draw attention to your spinal alignment. Sacrum tucked a bit, shoulders drawn down and back, pelvic floor lifted, belly button up and in to your spine chin down and in.

How do you create time for exercise during your work from home days? I’d love to hear your tips in the comments.