How to Keep Remote Work from Destroying Your Health

Rory Zakrzewski
Jul 14
4 min read

A girl struggling with her health while remote working.

Remote work is amazing as it gives you more time, more control, more flexibility, and most of all, freedom! But over time, it can quietly chip away at your overall well-being.

You start strong. You love skipping the commute to work and setting your own hours. But as the weeks go by, your back starts to hurt, your brain feels foggy, and you don’t even want to look at your step count.

This is your sign to reset. Remote work doesn’t need to take such a toll on your health. With better strategies and habits, you can keep your well-being a priority

Here are 9 practical ways to protect your physical and mental health while working remotely:

1. Give Your Day a Real Start (and Stop)

The most productive remote workers don’t roll out of bed and straight into Slack. They create boundaries to protect their work-life balance.

Try this:

Go for a short walk before logging in.
Take time to get dressed, make your bed, and eat a real breakfast (Not a Pop-Tart).
Give yourself a hard deadline in the evening to power down work.

Your brain needs clear cues and boundaries. Without them, you’re always half-working, half-resting, which can become exhausting.

2. Upgrade Your Workspace

The most overlooked productivity tool? Your chair.

Back pain, wrist tension, and headaches are signs your workspace is not cutting it. The issue here is that these pains don’t just affect your workday, but often overflow into your life outside of work as well.

Set yourself up to last:

Use an ergonomic chair or supportive cushion.
Raise your screen to eye level.
Light your space with daylight, not overhead fluorescents.

Or try working from a coworking space a few times a week. You’ll immediately feel the difference in posture, presence, and peace of mind.

A clock to track increments of time to help with productivity.

3. Block Your Time (Not Just Your Calendar)

Remote days disappear fast when every minute blends. Structure brings energy and focus, so that tasks get done faster.

Try this method:

Start with a 90-minute focus block.
Follow it with 10–15 minutes of movement or rest.
Batch tasks by type—meetings, emails, deep work, creative time.

The more intentionally you design your schedule, the more margin you create for both work and life. It’s scientifically proven that when we have breaks, we work much better. So, it’s not pure selfishness, but an intentional productivity strategy. Check out the Pomerado technique to learn more!

4. Add Intentional Movement

The secret to making it through a long workday? Squeeze in some movement throughout the day.

Make it doable:

5-minute desk stretches between meetings.
Walks during phone calls.
Standing desk breaks throughout the day.
Body weight exercises.

Movement resets your brain, lowers stress hormones, and supports long-term focus. While it might take five minutes from your workday, the benefits are worth it.

5. Protect Your Eyes and Your Sleep

Staring at screens all day is the new normal, but that doesn’t make it sustainable.

To protect your focus and rest:

Use the 20-20-20 rule (every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away for 20 seconds).
Turn off screens an hour before bed.
Try blue-light filters or glasses in the late afternoon.

Screens are a part of our everyday lives that are here to stay. While we can’t change that, we can change how we use them.

6. Plan Real Meals (Not Just Snacks)

What is one of the fastest ways to lose momentum in the afternoon? Skipping lunch for sure. Or even worse, grazing on whatever is easily accessible (it’s always the potato chips, right?)

Upgrade your midday fuel:

Pack your lunch, despite working at home.
Eat away from your screen (yes, even for 15 minutes).
Stay hydrated—refill your water more than you refill your coffee.

You know the old saying, what you put in is what you put out. So, stop putting in garbage and expecting to have success in your workday.

7. Reconnect With People Who Get It

Despite all its benefits, remote work can feel isolating when you have no in-person contact throughout the day. It becomes hard to stay motivated when there is no one else around you doing the same.

Find a space where focused people gather:

Pop into a coworking space once or twice a week.
Grab coffee with someone else working remotely.
Join a casual accountability group.

You don’t need constant chatter, just a few interactions here and there to remind you what it’s like to hear your own voice.

8. Step Into a New Environment (Even for a Few Hours)

Sometimes the fastest way to reset your focus is to physically leave the house.

Change your setting:

Work from a local coworking space.
Book a conference room for a client call.
Sit out on your deck.
Find a local coffee shop (careful, this one can get expensive).

Try switching up your environment and see what happens! Bonus if it’s a place intentionally created for focus!

9. Listen to the Burnout

When you're fatigued and distracted, that’s your body telling you something.

Pause and ask:

What part of this setup isn’t working for me?
What’s draining my energy?
What needs to change—space, schedule, boundaries?

You don’t have to fix everything at once. Pick one thing. Experiment. Repeat.

The most sustainable routines are built in layers, habit by habit, and choice by choice.

Bonus: Want a Shortcut? Work From Here!

If you’re tired of distractions, feeling disconnected, or just need a boost, coworking is one of the simplest shifts you can make to care for your health, without losing your freedom.