How to Stay Physically and Mentally Healthy When You Work Remotely: 12 Habits

I’ve worked from home since 2020. At first I thought the biggest risk would be distraction. It wasn’t. What hit me was everything the office did without my noticing: it made me get up, go out, see people and leave at the end of the day. At home, none of that happens on its own.

That’s how I learned that when you work remotely, physical and mental health go together. Sitting all day wears out your head, and a tired head skips the break and stays in the chair longer. The 12 habits below are how I break that loop. They work whether your team is in your time zone or on another continent. Where research backs a habit up, I link to it.

12 habits for your physical and mental health, in short

1. Have a place that’s only for work, or clothes that are only for work.
2. Clear your desk every Monday.
3. Set a time to start and a time to stop.
4. Do the hardest tasks first.
5. Do a small set of exercises every 1 to 2 hours.
6. Take your coffee break away from the screen.
7. Rest your eyes every 20 minutes.
8. Move outside work hours too.
9. Mute work outside work hours.
10. Put your free time in your calendar.
11. Book your vacation well in advance.
12. Ask for help when the tiredness doesn’t go away.

Why remote work takes a toll on body and mind

More people work this way than ever

I live and work in Brazil, so I’ll start with the numbers here. According to IBGE, Brazil’s statistics institute, 9.5 million Brazilians worked remotely at the end of 2022, 7.4 million of them teleworking with a computer and the internet. They’re experimental statistics, but they show the size of the group: millions of people whose office is their home.

Mental health at work is under strain

In 2024, Brazil’s social security institute granted 472,328 sick leaves for mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. That’s the highest number since its records began in 2014, and about 68% more than in 2023, according to Ministry of Social Security data reported by InfoMoney. The figures cover all workers, not only remote ones, but they fit an older picture: in a 2017 report, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 9.3% of Brazilians lived with an anxiety disorder, the highest share among the countries it analyzed.

It’s a global problem, too. The WHO and the ILO estimate that depression and anxiety cost the world 12 billion working days a year, nearly US$1 trillion in lost productivity. In Brazil, since May 26, 2026, companies can be fined if they don’t manage psychosocial risks at work, such as excessive demands, under the updated NR-1 regulation.

At home, your body stops moving

At the office, the day was full of walks nobody counted: to the meeting room, to the coffee machine, to the bus. At home, it’s easy to go from bed to chair and spend eight hours there. The WHO estimates that 31% of adults worldwide, 1.8 billion people, don’t get the recommended minimum of physical activity: at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week.

And loneliness creeps in

In Buffer’s 2023 State of Remote Work survey of 3,000 remote workers, 23% named loneliness as their biggest struggle. The WHO estimates that loneliness affects 1 in 6 people worldwide and is linked to around 871,000 deaths a year.

A quick check: how healthy is your home office?

Answer yes or no:

• You often sit for more than two hours without getting up.
• You eat lunch or drink your coffee in front of the computer.
• You often work from your bed or the sofa.
• You check work messages before you get up or after you go to bed.
• Your eyes sting or your vision blurs by the end of the day.
• Days go by without you leaving home or seeing anyone in person.
• You can’t remember your last vacation, or you haven’t booked the next one.
• You still feel tired after the weekend.

Three or more yeses? Start with habits 1, 5 and 10: a place that’s only for work, a short set of exercises every 1 to 2 hours, and free time in your calendar. If the last one has been true for weeks, go straight to habit 12.

Your space and your routine

1. Have a place that’s only for work, or clothes that are only for work

Your brain links places to activities. If you work in bed, your bed becomes an office, and it gets harder to rest there. Ideally, have a corner that’s only for work: a desk, a good chair, a screen at the right height.

That isn’t always possible. If your desk is in the same room you sleep in, draw the line another way: wear clothes that are only for work. It really works for me. Putting on my work clothes tells me the workday has started, and changing out of them tells me it’s over, even if I never leave the room.

2. Clear your desk every Monday

Every Monday, before I start, I clean and tidy my desk. Papers, cups, cables, whatever piled up the week before: it all goes. It sounds small, but it helps me a lot. The week starts with a clear desk and a lighter head.

There’s a reason it helps. A Princeton University study showed that the things in your field of vision compete with each other in the brain, and attention has to work to filter out what doesn’t matter. The less there is on your desk, the less there is competing for your focus. Pick a fixed day, and the habit no longer depends on motivation.

3. Set a time to start and a time to stop

At home, work is always two steps away. Without a time to stop, the day ends when you’re exhausted, and that’s usually too late. Set a start and an end time, put them in your calendar and your chat status, and close your work apps when the time comes instead of just walking away.

My workday starts at 1 p.m. and ends at 9 or 10 p.m., because my team is in the United States. If your team shares your time zone, the principle is the same: choose your hours and keep them. I wrote more about this in Work-Life Balance Tips for Remote Workers.

4. Do the hardest tasks first

I put the hardest tasks at the start of my workday, while my head is still fresh. The lighter ones, like answering messages and filing things, go at the end, when my energy has dropped.

Besides getting more done, it takes weight off your mind: the task you dread stops hanging over you all day, and the rest of the day feels lighter. Before you open your inbox, ask yourself which task you most want to put off today. Start there.

Your physical health

5. Do a small set of exercises every 1 to 2 hours

Every hour or two, I get up and do a short set: a few squats, push-ups or a plank. It takes about a minute, needs no equipment and doesn’t make me sweat. The goal isn’t to train; it’s to get my body out of chair mode.

It works. In a Columbia University study, five minutes of walking for every 30 minutes of sitting lowered blood sugar and blood pressure, and cut blood sugar spikes after a large meal by 58% compared with sitting all day. It was a small study, with 11 adults, but the direction is clear: breaking up sitting is good for you.

So I don’t forget, I use MovePoints, an app I’m building to get people who sit all day moving. It sends a reminder inside your work hours with a quick set of exercises. It’s in open testing on Android, so anyone can get MovePoints on Google Play, and the iPhone version is coming soon.

6. Take your coffee break away from the screen

My coffee break is sacred. I get up, go to the kitchen, make coffee and drink it away from the computer. It’s only a few minutes, but my body moves, my eyes rest and my head steps out of the problem for a moment.

Short breaks like this have a measured effect. A 2022 meta-analysis in PLOS ONE, covering 22 samples and 2,335 participants, found that micro-breaks of up to 10 minutes boost energy and reduce fatigue. The effect is small but statistically significant. The trick is that the break has to be real: coffee over your inbox doesn’t count.

7. Rest your eyes every 20 minutes

Staring at a screen all day strains your eyes: stinging, dryness, blurry vision by late afternoon. The American Optometric Association recommends the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something about 20 feet (6 meters) away for 20 seconds. It also helps to blink often and keep the screen slightly below eye level, about 20 to 28 inches (50 to 70 cm) from your face.

8. Move outside work hours too

Short sets during the day help, but they don’t replace real exercise. The WHO recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, half an hour on five days, and notes that regular physical activity reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety. The gym, walking, cycling or dancing: whatever you can keep doing.

Remote work makes this easier: with no commute, there’s time to train before or after work. I go to the gym in the morning, before I start.

Your mental health and your life outside work

9. Mute work outside work hours

If work notifications reach your phone at any hour, the workday never really ends. Outside your hours, mute your work apps or move them off your home screen. Agree with your team on what counts as urgent and who handles it while you’re offline. Everything else can wait until your next workday.

10. Put your free time in your calendar

When you work remotely, a whole week can go by without you seeing anyone in person. So I book my free time the way I book a meeting: lunch with a friend, dinner with my family. If it’s in the calendar, it happens. If it’s left for “when I have time”, it rarely does.

Those plans do more against the loneliness of working from home than anything else. And like any appointment, they also set a time to stop working.

11. Book your vacation well in advance

I book my vacations far ahead. That gives me time to get work done early, agree on everything with my team and, above all, really rest, without taking work with me.

There’s a bonus: looking forward to a trip is good for you too. In a study of 1,530 Dutch adults, people with a vacation coming up were happier before it than people without one, possibly because of the anticipation. After the trip, the difference generally disappeared; only very relaxing vacations left people happier on their return. With your next vacation booked, there’s always something good ahead.

12. Ask for help when the tiredness doesn’t go away

Habits help, but they don’t treat illness. If you’re still tired after the weekend, if anxiety is keeping you up at night, or if work has stopped making sense, see a doctor or a psychologist. The WHO includes burnout in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon.

If your company offers health insurance or an employee assistance program, use it. In a crisis, reach out to your local crisis line; in Brazil, CVV answers for free, 24 hours a day, on 188.

This article brings together habits and research. It doesn’t replace advice from a health professional.

Frequently asked questions

How can remote work affect your mental health?

With no set time to stop and no colleagues around, remote work can make you feel always on, isolated and anxious. In Buffer’s survey, 23% of remote workers named loneliness as their biggest struggle. On the other hand, it removes the commute and gives you more control over your day. Which way it goes depends on your habits: your hours, your breaks and your contact with other people.

What are the best tips for mental health at work?

Set a time to start and a time to stop (habit 3), take real breaks (habit 6), mute work outside work hours (habit 9), stay in touch with friends and family (habit 10) and plan your rest (habit 11). If the tiredness or anxiety doesn’t go away, the next step is professional help (habit 12).

How can you look after your physical and mental health at the same time?

Move. Getting up every hour or two for a short set (habit 5) and doing at least 150 minutes of activity a week (habit 8) look after both: according to the WHO, regular physical activity reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety, and micro-breaks boost energy and reduce fatigue.

How can companies support the physical and mental wellbeing of remote employees?

With clear rules on hours and availability, realistic workloads, encouragement to take breaks and access to psychological support. In Brazil, since May 2026, NR-1 also requires companies to identify, assess and control psychosocial risks at work, or face fines.

Where to start

Don’t try to change everything at once. Pick three habits for this week. If you’re not sure which, start with a place for work (habit 1), short sets (habit 5) and free time in your calendar (habit 10). Once they’re routine, add more.

If you’d like help with the breaks, join the MovePoints test on Android: it reminds you to get up and move, always inside your work hours.