Healthcare travelers get opportunities to see the country, meet new faces, and make money doing it!
One of the biggest challenges is taking care of yourself when things get busy.
As you may already know, traveling is stressful and risky to your health. Moreover,
once you get to your destination, there is a slew of other things to worry about, so it becomes easy to forget about taking care of yourself.
Putting your health on the back burner is always a bad idea and will likely come back to bite you. Staying healthy is more than taking your vitamins and washing your hands; staying healthy involves creating healthy habits that benefit you in the long run. Here are some things to consider adding to your routine.
1. Making Your Goals
With anything, you plan to accomplish. You must first set a goal. You wouldn’t be in your profession if you weren’t already goal-oriented. So, what are your health goals? Do you want to lose weight? Increase your energy? Alternatively, maybe not get sick! Choosing a goal helps keep you committed to your routine; make sure your goal is realistic and won’t add to your stress.
2. Eat Healthily
It always starts with your diet. What you eat affects how you feel there’s no way around it. Choosing a cheap, fast option still has its side effects. Even if the meal is cheaper, you pay for it in other ways. Bringing a healthy lunch lets, you stay healthy and save money but can take some time out of your morning routine you may not have. A solution to this would be to subscribe to meal kits. Meal kits are meal delivery services that you cook yourself. They provide the ingredients, and you put them together. There are many options, including weight loss boxes and meals for beginner cooks.
3. Exercise
This is the hardest one for most people and healthcare professionals laugh at the idea of having time in their schedules to exercise. However, what if we told you there are many healthcare travelers already doing it! Working out doesn’t have to involve gyms and tracks it doesn’t have to be complicated.
4. Sleep
Remember earlier when we said it all starts with your diet? We lied it starts with your sleep schedule! If you are not getting a full night rest, your body will punish you. Everyone working in healthcare knows this is a hard fight to get those 8 hours. There are devices made to help people fall asleep faster and stay asleep. No pressure, sleep masks, and portable sleep therapy devices will become a healthcare traveler’s best friend.
5. Stress Reduction
You need to take stress seriously. It can cause health problems if left untreated. Stress reduction isn’t all leisure and soothing music stress relief has become a significant market in recent years, and there are some great products and excellent practices that may not cost you a thing. The most popular practice that millions have started doing is yoga. In any city you go to most likely you’ll find a local yoga session. If groups are not your thing or maybe you don’t want to spend on the class, you can always search on YouTube and follow along to a video. One of our favorites is Yoga with Adriene, who has several sessions for different levels of expertise. There are many little things you could do during your shift to reduce the stress that takes little to no time. Chewing gum helps increase blood flow to your brain. The next quick tip may make you feel ridiculous but trust us; it makes a world of difference. Take one minute of your shift (or your break) to try deep breathing meditation. Sit somewhere, close your eyes, and breathe for 60 seconds. You will feel at peace or at least more relaxed. Just be sure to set the alarm in case you doze off. This last tip is the hardest as it is the lifeblood of every healthcare professional. Cutting back on caffeine will help you reduce your stress levels. Yes, we know you need it to get through a shift, but that’s why we suggest cutting back and not cutting it out. Too much caffeine can make you jittery amplify your stress levels and cause anxiety.
Increasing your health will improve so many aspects of your life that there are more reasons to try these tips than there are not to. Try them, maybe not even all of them just a couple. However, try them and let us know how it worked out for you!
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