Whether you work from home, are a student, spend your free time gaming, or simply find yourself at your desk a lot, it’s likely that your set up could be more ergonomic. Try these easy adjustments to create a more comfortable and supportive home office environment.
Why Is Ergonomics Important?
Keeping your workspace ergonomic helps keep you healthy, pain-free, and productive. Workplace ergonomics applies to how a worker interacts with their environment and with other objects during the workday, including posture and movements. Having an ergonomic workspace prevents injuries and afflictions like carpal tunnel syndrome, computer vision, and back/neck issues.
Desk Chair
Choose a desk chair that is built to be ergonomic, or add a seat pad and backrest to your existing chair. An ergonomic chair facilitates back support, reduces hip pressure and pain, and increases blood movement. A good chair also keeps you at the right level to your computer to prevent neck pain and eye strain. Typically, this means your feet are flat on the floor, your thighs are parallel to the ground, and your knees are at a 90-degree angle. This height aligns your eyes with the top of yoru computer monitor, allowing you to maintain proper posture.
Correct Desk and Monitor Height
In addition to an ergonomic desk chair keeping you at the right level to your monitor, the proper desk and monitor height also helps. A monitor riser or adjustable arm can help you avoid bending your head and neck to view the screen. Set the screen’s top line to be at or just below eye level. To avoid headaches and eye strain, position your monitor at least an arm’s length away from you. To raise your monitor so you aren’t straining to gaze down at it, a monitor arm can be a useful addition.
For brief moments, it can be useful to look down at a laptop. On the other hand, using a laptop for extended periods of time can eventually cause neck and back pain. Use an external keyboard and mouse and mount your laptop on a laptop riser for a long-term configuration. As an alternative, you can elevate your laptop’s height by setting it on sturdy objects like books.
Keyboard and Mouse
An ergonomic keyboard and mouse are great investments if you spend a lot of time at the computer, however your current keyboard, if used properly, can be just as good.
The mouse should be angled to maintain your arms at a 90-degree angle or less. Your wrists should not be bent up or down; instead, they should be in a neutral position. It is best to position your keyboard slightly below elbow height. It should lie flat on your desk or slope softly in the other direction. Use of a keyboard tray is something to think about if you have trouble getting your keyboard to sit at the proper height. You can avoid constantly shifting your keyboard when you use a tray.
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