If your teleworking office has not been thought ergonomically, after a whole year working from home, you might have developed pain in your neck, shoulders and/or back. Here are some tips and tricks to help you improve your posture or to avoid making your pain chronicle in the future.
When you work from a laptop or a tablet :
- Buy auxiliaries mouse and keyboards that you will connect to your main workstation.
- Use a pile of books or a solid stand to raise the top of your screen up to eye level.
- If you can find a support to put on top of your desk, like a chair or a shelf, you can easily get a free stand-up desk.
Tips for all kinds of situations:
- Find a chair with adjustable height armrests. If there are more adjustments, like different angles or back and forth settings, it is even better.
- Your elbows should be able to sit on the armrests without bending your back.
- Your back should be supported by the chair’s back to equalize the weight distribution between your spine and the chair.
- Your chair’s back should be slightly leaned toward the back, but not too much to avoid neck strain.
- The sole of your feet should rest flat on the ground. If your chair is too high, add a footrest under your desk.
Healthy bonus:
- Think to look far away from time to time. When you must think or when you are speaking on the phone, try to look outside the window to rest your eyes for a bit.
- Try to stand up as frequently as possible. This will wake your body up and your improved productivity will compensate for the short time lost moving around.
- While you are alone in your office, do some exercises, like squats and push-ups that would usually be a bit awkward in a crowded office.