(WFB) Working From Bed - the health implications of using your bed as your office

With the rise of remote working people have taken to working from the comfort of their own homes. Some people have even taken it as an opportunity to work from their beds. However, many have failed to understand the truly damaging psychological as well as physical health implications this can have. From a world where rushing to commute has been changed to your work day beginning by grabbing your laptop whilst in bed, we’ll explore the effects of working from home and how damaging it can be for your bed to become your new work space.

The younger generation and their mode of working is constantly evolving to something never seen before. Previous generations would have thought it unthinkable to not go into the office for work, let alone possible. In the UK, workers aged 18 to 34 are twice as likely to be working from their beds than older workers. Additionally, they are the least likely age group to have a proper desk and chair for work. Therefore, it’s not surprising that they may have simply decided that they would rather just work from their bed, without even having to get out of it. This ease has lead to widespread growth and the Instagram hashtag #WorkFromBed highlights people happily lying in bed with breakfasts and coffee as they enjoy a casual and relaxed work environment, a key factor as to why people have taken to lying in their beds. 

And yet the negatives of it cannot be underestimated. Below, we’ve highlighted some key factors as to why WFB might be the opposite of good for you:

• Muscles and different body parts can become easily strained such as the back, hips and neck

• Your mind can become conditioned to see the bed as a place of stimulation rather than sleep

• By not keeping the bedroom for just sleep, you can create problems such as poor sleep hygiene e.g. seeing it as an area for reading emails, thereby making your brain not switch off or allow you to begin to shut down for the night