The pandemic may have accelerated the work-from-home trend, but it’s a trend that’s likely here to stay. Unfortunately many of our home office spaces are not optimally equipped for our health and safety. Imagine driving in a car for 6-8 hours. With your body in a single position for such a long period of time, it becomes paramount to customize as much as possible: adjusting your seat height and angle, the height of the steering wheel, and mirror positions. The same principle applies to the work space you occupy for hours each day. Customizing your space to support your body is essential! Here’s what to keep in mind:

Head & Neck

As we learned in our Tech Neck blog, every degree away from center that our head moves creates more strain on our back and neck muscles. Your head should be vertical to your neck, with your ears in line with your shoulders. If your computer screen is too low - like a laptop screen on your coffee table - you’re likely to crane your head forward and down to see the screen. Similarly, if your computer screen is too high or your chair too low, you might drop your head back, jutting your chin up and compressing the back of your neck.

Center the screen directly in front of you so that you can look straight ahead, and about an arm’s length away. Or, if you use two monitors and use each screen equally, place them so you are seated where they meet in the middle, so you look to the left and to the right equally. If you use one monitor more than the other, place the primary monitor centered in front of you and the secondary monitor directly next to it, slightly angled toward you. If your monitor is too low, use a stack of books to raise it to the appropriate height. If you’re using a laptop computer, consider getting a laptop riser or stand and an external keyboard and mouse to use for a long-term set up.

Adjust the screen brightness and contrast to allow you to easily read the screen without moving your head closer to the monitor. To avoid glare, set up your monitor perpendicular to any windows, or close the blinds.

This mobile laptop stand can be moved anywhere in your house and the height is adjustable to keep you ergonomically aligned no matter which chair you’re using. It can also be used as a standing desk!

Putting your laptop on a riser like this one will raise the screen and release pressure on your neck, plus allows room for storage of a external keyboard underneath.

Hands, Arms, Wrists

Think clean, right angles: your upper arms should rest by the sides of your body with a ninety degree bend at the elbow. If your chair has arm rests, make sure they aren’t too high, causing the shoulders to lift closer to the ears. The shoulders should be able to relax with the upper arm bones falling straight down from the shoulders. Your elbow to your wrist should be a straight line - be careful not to bend at the wrist. You might have to adjust the height of your chair or table, or add support under your wrists.

To assist with your alignment, make sure your mouse is directly in front of your arm, not off to the side. Your mouse should fit your hand— if it is too small, squeezing the mouse may cause hand cramping. Most computers/mice allow you adjust your cursor speed. If your cursor speed is too fast, you will grip the mouse tighter to gain control. If it is too slow, you will repeatedly grasp and pick up the mouse to reposition it.

If you’re investing in a long-term work-from-home office you might consider getting a trackball or vertical mouse that allows an easier position for the hand and wrists, and helps the elbows stay tucked in toward the body verses winging out to the sides.

If you do a significant amount of typing, ensure your keyboard in centered in front of you. If you use the number pad frequently you may look for a keyboard with a detached number pad to prevent awkwardly angling your arm. If you are using a laptop computer, it may be beneficial to use a wireless external keyboard so that your laptop screen can be raised to eye height without compromising your arms and wrists.

Posture and Back Support

If your chair does not already provide low back support, positioning a cushion, pillow or towel behind your back might help. In addition, make sure your armrests allow your shoulders to comfortably relax, and the backs of your knees are slightly away from the seat of the chair. Pressure on the back of the knees can reduce blood flow and cause swelling.

This stress wedge helps relieve stress on the lower back while tilting the pelvis to promote the natural curvature of the spine.

If a towel or pillow isn’t working for your lumbar support, this back support is one we frequently recommend for car or office.

Behavior

Take frequent, short breaks! To work properly, muscles need a break to rid themselves of lactic acid and waste products, while delivering oxygen to the tissues to prevent overuse and damage. Ideally every 20 minutes you should stand up and stretch, or take a short walk to refill your water or coffee cup. Shake out your arms and stretch your wrists, and focus your eyes on something at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. If you’re concerned about taking too many breaks, spread out tasks throughout the day such as walking to the printer and returning phone calls.