Have you ever had any spinal cord issues or just feel uncomfortable while working? Well, chances are that your workspace isn’t very ergonomic, or anything that is efficient and comfortable. This article presents 5 simple, low effort tweaks to your workspace that will improve comfort, subsequently increasing productivity.
1. Sit Up Straight
Too often people work on their laptops on the couch or in bed with little to no back support. Besides this position being highly uncomfortable, it has long term effects on both the neck and shoulders.
Placing laptops on your lap also puts you at an increased risk of reproductive cancer and can damage DNA in both sperm and egg cells. (Prevent Pain)
To combat these long term consequences, simply sit down in a chair with your hips and back resting on the back of the chair, not slumped over. Over time, this office trick should give positive results to your structural well-being.
2. Computer or Notepad Position
The location of your keyboard or notepad relative to your chest is crucial for workspace comfortability. To enhance comfortability and decrease the risk of injury, your arms must be horizontal. Horizontal limbs will allow both arms to rest, therefore preventing isolated stress on one side of the body. This simple hand placement will prevent disastrous disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome. (Blitz Results)
The way to ensure horizontal, resting arms is to place the keyboard or notebook a thumb-tip away from the edge of the desk. This way typing is more efficient and your hands can rest on the bottom of the keyboard/notepad.
3. Keep Legs Apart and Feet on The Floor
The lack of upper body slouching (vertical spine)often leads to lower body slouching. This position puts extreme pressure on the back of your legs. To avoid this, place your feet on the ground while maintaining horizontal thighs. If your feet do not touch the ground, find a stool or use textbooks to prop up your feet while maintaining horizontal quads. (Zach Grube)
To prevent paraesthesia (when your foot “falls asleep”), periodically move your feet to increase blood flow. Ultimately, to preserve the longevity of your posterior chain, one should sit where their upper legs are horizontal and lower legs are vertical.
4. Stand if you Can
If you have the funds, a stand-up desk is a worthy investment. Sitting for long periods of time is detrimental to one’s long term health. Some risks of sitting include an increased chance of heart disease and weight gain. (Joe Leech)
Besides the elimination of these risks, standing also improves energy and does not decrease productivity. In fact, a study from PubMed shows that mood states increase and upper back and neck pain decrease while at a standing desk. (Nicolaas Pronk)
While these benefits may entice you to make an immediate switch from sitting to standing, ease your way into standing as leg pain may occur after a few hours of standing the first few times.
5. Adjust Your Computer Height
A common cause of neck pain is indeed the angle at which your eyes scan the computer screen. The ideal angle from the eyes to the top of the monitor is just below normal eye level (looking straight ahead). Thus, it is natural for your neck to support an angle at which you are looking down at the middle of the screen. Also, unless glare is a nuisance, slightly tilt your monitor back to ensure that the top and bottom of the screen are the same distance away from your eyes. (The Ergonomic Equation)
The distance away from a computer screen is also crucial to the effectiveness of your workspace. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration reports that the proper distance between your body and the computer screen is 20 to 40 inches. Within this range, the screen is close enough to where text can be read clearly and distant enough to where the eyes do not have to strain while reading. (OSHA)
Use this compilation of tips to improve your long term health while also being a productive member of society. All of these tips are intended to maximize the ergonomics of your workspace and if you feel ill-informed by any of these tips, please direct yourself to the “Contact Us” page and provide constructive criticism so that SNBDaily can make the best articles possibly.
Bibliography
Grube, Zach. “Ergonomics: How to Work Comfortably and Safely.” Blue Chip Talent, 17 Nov. 2016, www.bctalent.com/2016/11/02/ergonomics-work-comfortably-safely/.
Leech, Joe. “7 Benefits of a Standing Desk.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 2017, www.healthline.com/nutrition/7-benefits-of-a-standing-desk.
OSHA. “UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.” Occupational Safety and Health Administration, www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/computerworkstations/components_monitors.html.
“Prevent Pain from Computer Use.” Harvard Health, www.health.harvard.edu/pain/prevent-pain-from-computer-use.
Pronk, Nicolaas P, et al. “Reducing Occupational Sitting Time and Improving Worker Health: the Take-a-Stand Project, 2011.” Preventing Chronic Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23057991/.
Results, Blitz. “Ergonomic Office: Calculate Optimal Height of the Desk + Chair.” Ergonomic Office: Calculate Optimal Height of the Desk + Chair, www.blitzresults.com/en/ergonomic/.
“The Ergonomic Equation.” Make Ergonomics Simple: Tips for Adding Ergonomics to Your Computing, www.ergotron.com/en-us/ergonomics/ergonomic-equation.
