Avoid office-related injuries while sitting at your desk
What’s the fun in getting the latest and greatest information technology for your office if you’re going to hurt yourself while using it? We’re experts in all things IT. We can help you set up your office for maximum efficiency and cost-effectiveness. We’ll even give you 24-hour support in case something goes wrong. The only thing we can’t help you with is how you organize your office and how you sit at your desk. Take a minute to note these tips for office ergonomics so that your poor neck and back will last as long as our service.
With laptops and tablets and working from anywhere, office ergonomics have fallen by the wayside. Now we’re lying on our beds checking email, sitting in couches at cafes writing proposals, or walking and talking down the street, cradling the phone in our necks as we search through our bags for the house keys. If you’re starting to feel achy all over – back, neck, wrists – it’s because you’re paying too much attention to your devices and not enough attention to your posture. Wherever you work from, do yourself a favor and make sure you’re sitting right so that your poor body isn’t paying the price for the freedom that comes with new technology.
Sit correctly in your chair
Just because you can sit on the couch with your laptop and do your work doesn’t mean you should, but if you do choose to sit somewhere besides your ergonomic office chair, make sure of the following:
- Support your lower back
- Rest both your feet on the ground
- Adjust the chair so that your knees are at a 90-degree angle (or your thighs are parallel to the floor)
Sit correctly at your desk
Do not ever sit on the couch leaning forward without support for your back, typing away on your laptop that is placed on the tiny coffee table. The best position for you is to sit is supported, upright, and comfortable when you are working. Make sure:
- Your knees can fit under the desk comfortably, so it doesn’t pull your body out of the right sitting position
- Your keyboard and mouse should be within comfortable reach
- Your elbows should be at a 90-degree angle, or a little more, so that your wrists are tilting a bit downwards as you type.
- Upper arms should remain close to your body
Minimize the use of the mouse
Using the mouse or having to reach too far to type on your computer is only getting you one step closer to carpal tunnel syndrome. You want your workspace to make it as smooth and comfortable for you to go from keyboard to mouse to avoid overreaching.
- Switch the mouse from side to side so that it’s not always the same hand that is controlling the mouse
- Learn all the keyboard shortcuts to minimize the use of the mouse
Organizing your desk
Make sure that all the things you use the most are within comfortable reach. If you spend a lot of time on the phone while typing at the same time, use a headset or put your caller on speaker phone. Hugging the phone between your cheek and shoulder is quite literally a pain in the neck. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday soon, this type of reckless behavior will catch up to you, and it’s going to cost you in chiropractic fees.
IT experts
Helping your employees sit right and comfortably, avoiding damage to their bodies and workers’ compensation fees due to carpal tunnel syndrome caused by poor posture at work, is the duty of any boss. It is our duty to provide you with the best IT solutions for your business so that you can get your communication and work done quicker and more securely.