Six Simple Workstation Upgrades to Save Your Back and Your Brain
Most of us spend several hours per day, five to seven days per week working. For a lot of us, that means being at a computer-based workstation for more than 20 hours per week. A sketchy set up for your workspace can kill your mood, hamper your ability to focus, and cause lingering pain in your back, neck, and shoulders.
Whether you’re working from home, or trying to set yourself up for success in the office, these six simple steps will help you set up your work space to boost you mental game and save your neck, back, and shoulders.
Use a Decent Chair
An actual desk chair, preferably one that swivels and rolls. I’m not just saying this because it’s fun to spin in when you’re bored. It’s also great for experimenting with the laws of angular momentum. I know, we were all thinking it, I just said it.
It’s actually great for keeping your body moving. Even if it’s just little micro-movements and fidgets, it’s still movement.
You can use a big ball if you want, but personally I’ve always found sitting on a ball to be both tedious and distracting.
Set Your Desk Height - no I’m not going to insist on a standing desk.
At the end of the day, standing desks can be just as detrimental to your health as a sitting desk if you’re standing still at it all day. The real benefit comes from the ability to move, and work from different positions.
What I’m really getting at here is surface height compared to your body. Whether you sit or stand, your work surface should be at a height where you can comfortably rest your arms at your side and the surface falls just below your elbow. This way, when you’re typing on your keyboard, your elbows can rest at a 90° angle. In fact, one of my favorite work positions is sitting pretzel-legged on the ground at a coffee table that sits at just the right height.
Master Your Monitor
Height: it should be set so that when you look straight ahead the center of the monitor is at your natural horizon line.
Multiple Monitors: If you have multiple monitors, make sure you’ve set yourself up to gaze both directions, rather than only to the right or left. Alternate the sides of your workstation every day or two if you have two monitors and want one to be mid-line.
Size Matters: (Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about computer screens here!)
Bigger screens reduce eye strain, encourage a more natural posture, and actually reduce feelings of depression when compared to smaller screens.
If you have the choice between working on your phone, your tablet, your laptop, or your desktop; the desktop is always the better bet, from a physiology (posture, mental strain, eye strain) perspective.
If you only have a laptop to work with, try one or both of the following options:
1- Connect a separate keyboard and mouse then prop your laptop up so it sits at eye level. There are tons of professional-looking options for monitor and laptop stands if you’re setting this up in your office. Personally, I usually use a stack of books and/or a shoe box when I’m at home. No one’s going to judge your at-home set-up but you.
2 - Connect your laptop to a larger monitor that can sit at the height that works for you, and use your laptop’s keyboard and track pad.
Sit Next to a Window
There are myriad benefits to this one.
Exposure to natural light.
Looking out onto people or nature. Seeing green plants does wonders for your brain.
Great face light for virtual meetings.
And many more
Have a Plant Near by
They clean your air, improve your cognitive ability, and reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.
For a list of the most beneficial indoor plants, check out this list of NASA’s top ten list of air-cleaning plants.
Set a Movement Timer
The most important, back-saving element to your work space is something that periodically disrupts your work on purpose. Behavioral studies suggest that most people can only actively focus on a task for 40-50 minutes (find study or article) before their performance wains significantly.
When your timer goes off get up and move. Take a short walk, go to the bathroom, get a fresh cup of coffee or glass of water.
Optimize this time by doing the following four things:
1- Reset yourself with a mountain pose when you first stand up
Stand up
Lift your head, set your shoulders down, with your chest in an open position.
Take at least one long, deep breath. Three long breaths would be even better.
2- Go for a walk outside - re: exposure to nature
3- Talk to someone
4- (this one is a balls-to-the-wall bonus) Give your brain and body a major boost by doing 20 body-weight squats, 10 pushups, or any other body-weight exercise to give your heart a quick jump-start. Your brain and waistline will both thank you.
Making even one of these changes can boost your workplace productivity. Mastering all six will have you blasting trough your work day with enough spare energy to fly off Clark Kent style to save your local Metropolis from with tyranny of Lex Luthor! … OK, maybe not. But it will make your back feel better and give you a much needed boost energy, focus, and mood.