Drink a lot of water to keep yourself hydrated
We all are already aware of the fact that we spend the majority of our waking lives at work. It is our second home and colleagues are our extended family. The average person spends around 90,000 hours at their workplace in their lifetime. When it comes to our health, it is not always our main priority especially at work, while we are sitting at our computers or moving from meeting to meeting. We passively ignore our health. Getting through our daily workload will always be at the forefront of our mind. Why is it so? Why do we always compromise with our health guys?
If we talk about Japan there people work the longest hours – on average 60-70 hours a week – around 10,000 people drop dead at their desks a year, a phenomenon known as “karoshi”. This only highlights the need to look after our health, and one of the most common health issues at the work place is dehydration. Yes, you heard right it’s dehydration. It is Very easy to avoid drinking enough water when we are focused on getting work done or too busy to grab a glass of water. Many of us turn to tea or coffee to stay alert during the day. Yes, we often get addicted to it. Sitting too far from the office water fountain or kitchen can also mean less likelihood of hydrating adequately.
Silent Killer: Dehydration
When it comes to our health we all know we should drink an adequate amount of water each day. After all it’s a basic need of our body. Do not forget 60 percent of the body is made up of water and the human brain is composed of 75 percent water. But the main problem with dehydration is you do not always feel the effects so obviously as you do with other health issues such as a bad back from sitting down too long or tired eyes from staring at a computer screen. Hydrating regularly lubricates our joints and eyes, keeps our skin healthy, allows optimum digestion, eliminates toxins and optimises the energy produced through our cells. Water keeps you healthy. Besides reducing concentration, not hydrating properly can create an imbalance of salts and sugars in the body which can quickly lead to other health problems.
How Dehydration Affects Productivity
We are not always aware of the benefits of drinking enough water and how it impacts our health and work life. Yes, if you are shocked that how drinking water can affect your productivity then no need to be guys. As a result, we often neglect to drink more water even if we know we have not always drunk enough during the day. Even after being educated people tend to avoid drinking maximum glasses of water. When we get health issues such as severe tiredness, headaches, weight gain, high blood pressure or kidney complications, our first thought is not that we are not drinking enough water. When it comes to our work, it can have wide-reaching implications – when we go home due to that incessant headache or we struggle with concentrating, our colleagues and departments indirectly suffer too.
Also Read: Humanities Stream Special: How To Prepare For Boards?
Signs of Dehydration
We do not always realise how much fluid we lose throughout the day and how important it is to keep ourselves hydrated. Sweating, visiting the bathroom and even respiration uses up vital fluids in our body. Put that with any vomiting, diarrhea, alcohol consumption or excessive exercise and our water stores can become empty extremely quickly. There are several signs of mild to moderate dehydration which include: dry mouth,tiredness, less urination, headaches, fogginess in the head and lack of concentration.Severe dehydration could include symptoms such as: irritability, confusion, extreme thirst, quickened heartbeat, rapid breathing and either no urination or urine that’s dark in colour.
Employers can avoid Dehydration!
The awareness of the possible devastating effects of dehydration is paramount in our daily lives and no more so than at work. There are some effective ways to encourage ourselves and our workforce to keep water intake topped up. Provide employees with easily-accessible water. This could come in the form of providing bottled water, creating water stations throughout the work space and providing regular fresh water to water coolers. These encourage people to think more about hydrating especially if there are viable and fresh options.
Educate people. While most people are aware they need to drink water, it is easy to dismiss the implications of not doing so. Placing educational materials such as posters around the workplace showing the importance of keeping hydrated as well as how dehydration has a negative effect on health will keep people more aware and motivated to get that glass of water.
Appoint a Hydration Action Committee. Having accountability is really important when it comes to implementing a system and motivating people to drink more water. Create a committee to ensure water supplies are adequate and find fun and innovative ways to keep people hydrated.
Get rid of sports drinks and sodas.As mentioned before, many people opt for fizzy drinks such as sports/energy drinks or sodas. By getting rid of these in an office setting, it will encourage people to quench their thirst in a more positive and healthy way. Sugar-laden drinks will only serve to cause more problems with weight gain, sugar crashes and headaches.
Have a news story, an interesting write-up or simply a suggestion? Write to us at info@oneworldnews.in
