What’s Going On Under Your Desk?

How to make better use of your lower half

Hidden away, overlooked, often neglected and almost certainly under-utilised, there’s more to the submerged bit of the average homeworking own-worker than meets the eye.

While your top half peak-performs day in, day out, making best use of itself, your lower half hangs around of sight looking for something to do.

But your waist-down is a resource!

Allow your legs-knees-feet ensemble to play a supporting role in reaching your daily targets. Encourage participation in Team You by getting your waist-down involved in whole body wellbeing and who knows, your productivity might soar.

Getting things shipshape under there is key to this.

Numb with Cold?

Physical incongruence is the reality for many of us at the moment, top half fairly tepid (trying to keep the heat down? - this lockdown’s taking its toll on everyone’s fuel budget) while our feet sit in a pool of much cooler air. If you’re slowing losing contact with your extremities, these suggestions might help:

• a Big Slipper (heated optional). No one need know

• sheepskin house shoes (not slippers, please)

• repurposed old Uggs (put them through the washing machine on a cold wash, stuff and dry naturally)

• insoles: sheepskin or reflective insulation inside your house shoes

• a crochet rug over the knees (the holes collect heat like a string vest)

• thermals of course, tucked into cosy alpaca socks

• lined trousers - red flannelette for authenticity

• maxi skirts! Think floor-length Stuart tartan and/or multiple petticoats and trouser slips (they are a thing, really)

• battery heated overalls. Do like the Canadian prairie farmers do

• a sheepskin (real or mock) cushion and chair back liner

• charcoal hand warmers slipped into house shoes

• a sleeping bag zipped up to the waist (desperate measures only)

• a big shaggy dog (slip your feet beneath), organic and super-cosy

Overheating?

In my neck of the woods this is unnecessarily preemptive. Under-my-desk will be chilly for a good while yet. However it doesn’t hurt to be prepared for the single day of the year when things get too hot to handle. Feel free to adapt my experience (below) to your work setting as and when the scorcher arrives.

• Tuck your skirt/dress into your knickers - so you look like a toddler in diapers when you waddle off for a coffee. Who’s looking? Who cares anyway? Just remember to unwind yourself before you go to the door for your grocery drop off

• Trouser wearers might like to look for super airy ex-army desert shorts (a la Eric Morecambe if you’re old enough to remember him)

• Sarongs work for everyone teamed with a white t shirt and a little neck jewellery

Treat Your Feet

In a bit of a state under there? Do your legs-knees-feet need a pick me up? Give them a spa-like experience while you’re working away up top:

• clear a space for them - no sitting with your feet in clutter

• soak them in a mustard bath, an old fashioned cure for the everyday cold

• smother them in moisturiser and pop on a pair of cotton socks for an hour or two

• rest your soles on a bed of nails acupressure mat for a wellbeing boost

• elevate their importance - give them a lift - invest in a mini foot hammock

Give Them a Job

Finally, once they’ve been pampered, occupy them. Your waist-down might as well muck in as sit about. None of these jobs needs a degree:

• stretch a pair of too-tight shoes for an hour or two

• dry your painted toenails

• rock and roll - get it in some exercise and benefit the whole of you using a foot rocker

• up your circulation; rest your feet on a gently vibrating plate - unbelievably relaxing (check with your doc. first if you have underlying conditions)

Homeworking is still an evolving skill for most of us. The shift in mindset needed to embrace this situation continues to be difficult, especially if it’s unwelcome, not one you ever aspired to.

But small, practical changes can make things easier if not perfect. Recognising and acknowledging workplace discomfort and taking micro steps to alleviate it can make life more your own, and more bearable. Just keep trying. It’s the trying that keeps us going.