Back in April 2020, 46.6% of the UK’s workforce began working from home, not knowing that eight months on, we’d still be connecting with colleagues via video calls from our home offices, battling dodgy internet connections and constant interruptions from the rest of the family and our furry friends. However, maybe some folks will concur that it’s not all doom and gloom, and they have got comfortable in a new way of life which no longer includes a long commute to work and painful early rises, which do tend to take their toll during the depths of winter.
There’s no sign of the global trend of #WFH going away anytime soon, as we get 2021 underway.
How the lockdown has seen a shift in working habits
The extremity of the pandemic came as a huge surprise to most of us and it left many in the hands of their sofas, beds and dining room tables for their day of work. As a result, the boundaries between work and pleasure have become blurred for a lot of people with the once tranquil environment of your bedroom now associated with a stressful day at work.
Separating work from leisure isn’t the only problem people are facing. Chances are that your home furniture doesn’t quite meet the standard of the ergonomic chair that you would use at work. Your unconventional office furniture, while it tries its best to do a good job, can often leave you with aches and pains. So, not only are people living where they work, but they’re bringing stress and uncomfort into their homes too.
It’s therefore a must that we reclaim our homes as a place of enjoyment and relaxation. The remedy for this? Sex. Yes, sex can, in fact, be the cure to all our working from home problems. From stress relief to back pain, we explore why it’s time for you to ditch your spreadsheets for the bedsheets.
Backbreaking work
While some people have been lucky enough to benefit from their own home office, others have been left to their sofas and beds. Although they are created for your comfort, they will most likely not provide you with the support you need for a day at work. With that may come aches and pains which you can relieve in two ways. Firstly, buy a better chair, secondly, have sex.
This is not intended to be used as a distraction to pain. In fact, a study from the University of Munster in Germany found that orgasms are ten times more effective than painkillers such as Valium.
This is achieved because the body releases the hormone oxytocin before an orgasm. The release of this endorphin reduces our awareness of pain by interacting with opiate receptors in the brain.
Of course, back pain can also be relieved during your non-working hours. Good mattresses can make all the difference to your back pain. It can also give you a better night’s sleep and leave you energised for the next working day – even if you’re working from the kitchen.
The stress of it all
While the pandemic has caused considerable anxiety for everyone, the addition of adapting our working schedule and working from home has contributed to a general feeling of stress for most workers. Where once we could leave our work problems at our desk, now they live with us at home. You may log out on your computer, but do you really stop thinking about work?
The European Union published a report in 2017 which stated that 41 per cent of remote workers reported high-stress levels. This is compared to only 25 percent of office workers. This may be because office workers can “switch-off” and leave their work at work. Homeworkers do not have this luxury.
Intimate relationships are a good way to release the stress of work and help you get to sleep after a long day in the home office. Prolactin is another hormone that is released during sex. This helps people feel relaxed and can often help people get to sleep.
While ensuring that you get enough shut eye is important for work, a good amount of sleep is also important for your sexual health. One study revealed that longer sleep duration was related to greater next-day sexual desire. In fact, an extra one hour of sleep reflected a 14 per cent increase in odds of engaging in sexual activity.
So, sex can help you get to sleep, and a good amount of sleep can help you with sex. The two go hand in hand.
Recover your health under covers
Whether you work from home or in the office, the impact of sitting down for the majority of the day can have a major impact on our health. Sitting at our desks for a long period of time is linked to various health concerns. These conditions include obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and increased cholesterol. The additional access to our home pantry may also add to this problem.
Fortunately, our bedrooms can act as the perfect workout space while gyms remain closed or with limited access.
A 2015 study found that men who have sex twice per week had less risk of cardiovascular diseases than men who have sex only once a month. Therefore, while sitting at a desk can increase your chances of strokes or heart attacks, a little bedroom activity can reverse those odds.
Sex is also a good calorie burner. Other studies reveal that in an average 25-minute session, men will burn about 100 calories. Women will burn 75 calories. Though, for context, this is only a bit more than a digestive biscuit. It may be better to cut back on our tea-break snacks. All the same, the bed is still more fun than the cross-trainer.
There may be more practical solutions to relieving back pain, work anxiety, and general health – but our recommendations can be an enjoyable alternative. Whatever the future holds for the working from home movement, we all need to enjoy our personal time a little bit better. However, you choose to do this is up to you.
Article produced by OTTY, online hybrid mattress retailer.
Sources:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-address-to-the-nation-on-coronavirus-
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0333102413476374
