Make sure that you take your full lunch break, allowing yourself to refuel yourself and spend some time focusing on something other than your work. Many professionals working from home sometimes ignore their lunch break to simply keep working, but that can be detrimental to your health and work performance in the long term. This break is the one in which you’ll actually need to move around a bit to help you divert your focus for a bit so that you can return to work feeling relatively fresher than before.
- Working from your bed or couch is most likely going to prevent you from sitting with the ideal posture, so try to avoid it at all costs.
- By Brett Sears, PT
Brett Sears, PT, MDT, is a physical therapist with over 20 years of experience in orthopedic and hospital-based therapy.
- If your desk has a hard edge that’s not rounded, pad the edge or use a wrist rest.
- There are multiple aspects to maintaining the correct posture, so we’ll provide a quick overview of the most important ones.
- If the screen is arm’s length away and you still can’t see what’s on screen, enlarge the text (or wear your glasses).
- As long as you take some time to set up your home office into a great work area, you can make great strides in improving your work performance and your overall comfort when working from home.
- Your keyboard should be at a height that allows your shoulders to be relaxed.
We’ve found the Logitech M720 Triathlon Multi-Device Wireless Mouse to be the best wireless mouse for a range of hand sizes and different types of grips. After years of slumping at a desk, I’ve started to suffer the aches that come from having a poor workspace setup. As more of us work remotely, the importance of good ergonomics while working from home is more apparent.
The Many Benefits of Ergonomics
It may place your back and neck in a forward-bent position, leading to excessive stress and strain. In today’s workplace, ergonomic equipment is becoming increasingly common. According to a 2020 study in Applied Ergonomics, such equipment has been proven to reduce the risk of work-related injuries from job hazards and increase employee https://remotemode.net/ satisfaction and productivity. When selecting ergonomic equipment for a workplace, it’s important to ensure employees receive training on properly adjusting and using the equipment to maximize its benefits. If you spend hours at your desk each day, it’s worth it to invest in a great office chair with that lumbar support.
Standing longer than about 8 minutes, said Hedge, leads people to start leaning. Additionally, every time you change the desk height, you must adjust all your other workstation components, like the keyboard and the monitor, to put your posture into a neutral position again. Proper office ergonomics, including correct chair height, adequate equipment spacing ergonomic tips for working from home and good desk posture, can help you and your joints stay comfortable when working. Your keyboard and mouse should be positioned so that your wrists are straight and your elbows are close to your sides. Your keyboard should be at a height that allows your shoulders to be relaxed. Consider using a keyboard tray or a laptop stand to achieve the proper height.
Office Ergonomics And How It Affects Your Health
I asked Hedge if I should consider a standing desk or a sit-stand desk (which can be raised and lowered), and he said while it doesn’t hurt to have one, you have to use it properly. “There’s a myth out there that you should sit at 90 degrees,” Hedge said, meaning with the trunk of the body perpendicular to the floor. “Most of us [ergonomics experts] have spent a lifetime trying to tell people that’s not how you should sit.”
- If you’re going to use a sit-stand desk, the optimal cycle is 20 minutes of seated work followed by 8 minutes of standing, followed by 2 minutes of moving around.
- For some, a standing desk is the ideal combination of work and exercise—without the trip to the gym.
PCMag supports Group Black and its mission to increase greater diversity in media voices and media ownerships. The last area of focus has to do with your working habits—specifically that it’s important that you take frequent, short breaks. Additionally, Hedge cautions to make sure the seat is not hitting the back of your knees because it can reduce blood flow and cause your feet and ankles to swell. Focus on making adjustments to these four areas to get a good setup.
