Working from Home: Helen is Keeping Fit and Healthy

Helen Padget-Smith, Project Manager at SGS The Maltings, has been in touch to tell us about her home office, which she’s set up on a table in the kitchen (complete with a radio and a plant for company). She says that trying to keep her 10-year-old doing schoolwork has so far been the biggest challenge, with her usual duties being a smooth process thanks to digital systems put in place by SGS.

“I’ve been drinking a lot of tea and surprisingly not raiding the cupboards as much as I expected,” says Helen. “Every day I wear different gym gear (the brighter the better), as it’s comfy and it means I can do a little workout with my boy in my lunch hour, or go for a run whilst social distancing.”

Helen says that she misses the girls from her office the most, although they’re still able to have a chat through Virtual Cuppa Breaks, which we’re recommending to all colleagues. These are a great way to stay in touch with workmates during your break or lunch hour, with colleagues from across the UK and Europe regularly having a chat through video calls.

Helen is a passionate advocate of both fitness and mental health. Whilst working from home, she’s been putting aside free time to get household jobs done, such as tiling the kitchen and painting the house with her husband. This helps her to stay busy when not working on SGS projects, plus her surroundings are looking fantastic as a result.

“I'm doing a little exercise every day too,” says Helen, who recently set up the sgsco Hull Strava Club. This is an online community based on the popular social fitness website, which invites sgsco staff from the UK and Europe to take part in some healthy competition. Usually members would use the app to record how far they’ve run and cycled, but it still works even if you’re exercising from home, making it a brilliant way to keep fit and support your colleagues to do the same.

We love how positive all of our colleagues are in the face of the coronavirus crisis. Everyone is playing their part in keeping their families safe and minimising the spread. We’ve heard all kinds of heart-warming stories, from sgsco staff going shopping for elderly neighbours, to incorporating meditation into their daily schedules. We’d love to hear how you’re making the most of working from home, so if you’d like to share anything please tag us in your pics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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