8 Wellness Ideas for Remote Workers

With an increasing number of people working remotely, the challenges are growing. And one of the most important challenges is dealing with employee well-being. The blurred line between personal and professional life, isolation, and pressure to balance work and home responsibilities can affect psychological, physical, and emotional health. So, it’s essential to offer—and encourage your team to engage in—various wellness activities.

Here are eight ways to embrace wellness and make it part of your team's culture. 

1. Create a “Binder” of Useful Resources

Give your team a shortcut to wellness-oriented information. Curate and regularly update a list of resources that your employees might find useful. This “binder,” “wallet,” or “treasure chest’ will give your team easy access to helpful pages, blogs, podcasts, videos, or tools for wellness. The resources can include information on: mental health, nutrition, sleep, physical health, Interesting online events, Self-care tips

2. Conduct One-on-One Talks

“You are important”—that’s the message your team needs to hear. In those moments, when solitude and stress take over, people need someone to talk to. Be that someone. Regular one-on-one talks that don’t solely focus on work are a good start. Bear in mind that the purpose of the talk isn’t professional counseling. It should simply support your team members, allowing them to speak up about their satisfactions and dissatisfactions. They might struggle with something but are too shy or intimidated to share. The closeness that comes out of eye-to-eye conversation will give them the strength they need.

3. Provide Stress-Relief Techniques

Stress is people’s biggest enemy. It can deteriorate physical, mental, and emotional health. The negative impact of stress has no boundaries. For that reason, you should offer your team some stress-relief techniques. The techniques should target both body and mind. Mix it up and create “an anti-stress movement.” Here are a few ideas you can adopt:

• Start online morning meditation sessions
• Get employees access mindfulness and meditation apps
• Set “physical activity hour” once a week when you exercise together online
• Provide links to free yoga programs, stretching videos, or dance sessions

4. Get Your Team Moving

Turn healthy activities into a priority. Remote working has eliminated even the obligatory activity that comes from commuting. Now, people can become one with their chairs, and no one can stop them—unless you start pushing the importance of physical activity upon them. So, inspire the adoption of a healthy lifestyle by setting aside a wellness budget. The budget can be allocated to their activity of choice. They can opt for a gym membership, swimming, recreational basketball, or whatever they like. The fact that their membership was paid for will motivate the employees to respect your investment and get moving.

5. Support Employees’ Interaction

According to Buffer and AngelList’s State of Remote Work Report, 20 percent of remote workers suffer from loneliness. So, help your team combat loneliness with a wellness chat. Use your Slack channel or another communication channel to set up a personal chat. The only rule should be “no business talk.” The wellness chat can be used for sharing memes, recipes, daily anecdotes, situations that upset the employees, and so on. The purpose of the chat is to bring your team closer together and give them an ever-present sharing outlet.

6. Promote Learning with Free Courses

Remote work cuts down many expenses. Repurpose the funds you saved and spend it on your team’s personal and professional growth. Learning new skills not only keeps the mind sharp but also boosts confidence. Create a selection of useful courses and let your team members pick one. Try to make the courses diversified. Give them a choice. Talk to your team about their interests. Do they want to learn about leadership or time management? Do they want to learn how to improve their presentation or writing skills? Their interests should guide you when picking the courses.

7. Offer Counseling

Providing counseling support can be a notable addition to your wellness package. Sometimes a professional’s help is the right path to a more positive remote culture. There are 24-hour online support lines that you can include in provided healthcare. Or, you can hire a psychologist who will provide online sessions.  Even including an hour-long session every other week can be useful for your team. A confidential talk with an expert can turn someone’s life around.

8. Encourage PTO

Last but not least, it’s important to remind your team to use their paid time off. Remote workers need to reenergize and rest to remain motivated and productive. It can be too easy for remote workers to go months without stepping away from their home offices and taking a break. Even just a single day off, disconnected from their screens and email, can do wonders for mental health, wellbeing, and productivity. So, don’t forget to often remind your team it’s okay to use their PTO. And, of course, it’s important for you to use it as well.

Nicole Garrison is a content strategist, writer, and contributor to several popular publications. She also works for a term paper writing service. Nicole consistently attends different courses, seminars, and conferences that keep her knowledge up to date. In her free time, Nicole is a passionate runner and traveler.