Author: Emma Freemantle
If you have been working from home this year and have noticed that your body isn’t feeling as good as it should be, it’s definitely time to look at your home office set up. This article will discuss the ideal set up for your workspace and give you practical tips to help you manage your sitting load and tension throughout the day. (If you'd prefer video instructions, click here for Youtube and here for Instagram videos.)
Like the childhood song, ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes’, we can use the same approach to check off each element of optimal workspace set up.
Head
The most common mistake we see with desk set up is computer screens being too low. This causes workers to slump down in order to properly see the screen, which then leads to many neck and back issues.
Your screen should be directly in front of you and in line with your eyesight while you are sitting in a comfortable but upright position. This will prevent you from looking down. Your screen should also be about an arm’s length away, and you should adjust the tilt of your screen to minimise any glare that could cause eye strain.
Another common cause for work-related neck pain is that awkward head to shoulder phone cradle whilst taking calls. Headphones or speaker phones should be used to prevent these strained positions.
Shoulders
Your shoulders should be down and relaxed, and you want your elbows resting just above desk height. This means that your forearms will be parallel to the floor – you may need to adjust the chair height for this. If your arms are in this position, your wrists angle should be neutral – not bending backward. If you have a big and bulky keyboard that puts your wrist in an uncomfortable position, try placing a rolled-up towel under the wrists to raise them up.
If you are using a laptop for work, consider buying a separate keyboard and mouse, as it is impossible to set up an ideal screen height and arm position when the keyboard is so close to the screen.
Back
Although it’s not part of the song, looking at lumbar support is an integral part of your desk set up! If your chair lacks adequate support for your lower back – you are more likely to slump forwards and end up with back pain. You want to sit as far back into your chair as possible and feel support to the natural curve of your lower back. The best desk chairs have a built-in lumbar curve with an adjustable seat and back tilt so you can modify the chair to suit your individual back. If your chair isn’t adjustable and doesn’t feel supportive enough – you can get lumbar support rolls that help cushion the lower back region.
Knees & Toes
You want your knees comfortably at the same height as your hips (so that your thighs are parallel to the floor), and your feet comfortably flat on the floor. If adjusting your chair height for other body parts has made your feet dangle, you can always use a step to rest your feet on.
Other helpful tips
Other helpful tips for your workday are:
- Moving every 30 mins to break up sustained positions which can become uncomfortable: this could be as simple as doing a few shoulder rolls, of getting up to grab a cup of tea
- If you are the type of person that gets stressed while working, doing a body scan (mentally scan your body from head to toe to identify and relax any areas of tension e.g. shoulders or jaw) every 30 mins can go a long way to making your body feel better.
Summary
We hope these simple tips have helped you adjust and improve your set up. If you have left your workspace in a poor set up for too long, and you have developed posture-related pain, book in with your physio for a thorough assessment using this link – FREE ASSESSMENT.
Once the assessment has been completed, a plan can be designed specifically for you and your workspace to get you better prepared for your work week. Check out our Instagram page for more info on desk set up and much more!