Having a much better understanding of the ergonomically correct way to arrange your desktop workspace should get rid of any aches and pains that may have been gradually niggling away at you after years of sitting in the wrong position.
Simply rearranging your workspace setup can eliminate stiffness and discomfort that has recently started to set in and enhance your mood to make you more productive while working.
Let’s dive in to discover the simplest and most effective tips to arrange your desk at home or in the office in the most ergonomically and functionally correct way to enhance physical and mental efficiency.
What’s the best way to make my workspace more ergonomically correct?
Sometimes, just a few simple tweaks here and there can make all the difference. It may just be one thing you need to correct for the ultimate setup, or you may have been doing everything wrong and will have to get used to an entirely new setup.
When setting up your workstation for the most comfort, always remember the following:
- Monitor distance – a good distance to have the monitor away from your chest/face is roughly the length of your stretch-out arm in front of you
- Eye-level – your eye level should be more towards the top of your monitor/screen, preferably no more than 2 inches below the very top
- Lumbar support chair – for optimal comfort, get a decent mid to top-of-the-range lumbar support chair, angled/reclined at around 100 to 110 degrees
- Elbows – in the resting position on the arm of the chair when you’re relaxing and doing things like watching movies, playing 32red bonus dealer games, or reading something, an ideal angle to have your elbows is said to be at 90 degrees
- Wrists – when you’re working at the desk, your wrists are best off flat at the keyboard
- Feet – both your soles should ideally be point forward, flat on the floor, or resting horizontally on any footrest you have opted to include in your workspace setup
- Knees – both knees should be roughly on a level with your hips. They can be slightly below your waist/hips but never any higher
Remembering all of the above can massively reduce any discomfort you may have been experiencing lately.
If your workspace isn’t ergonomically correct, you might be able to get away with the wrong setup for several years. However, it will eventually catch up on you, so the sooner you get yourself and your workspace sorted the correct way, the better.
What else can I do to avoid workspace discomfort?
Now that you have your workspace set up in the most ergonomically correct way that feels right and supports you in the best possible way, you can do many other things to ensure those aches and pains don’t start coming back.
Make sure you don’t slip back into old bad habits by sitting with parts of your body like your wrists, hands, spine, neck/head, or feet at a completely different angle from the rest of your body. Also, try to take short occasional breaks to walk around and stretch to get the juices flowing again.
Sitting for prolonged periods, even in the anatomically/ergonomically correct way, can gradually do damage, which can take a while to recover from. Remembering all of the above can minimise the risk of stiffness and any other annoying physical problems from ever occurring.
Final thoughts
To go that one step further, you might want to think about investing in much better equipment, such as an ergonomic mouse and keyboard, perhaps a palm wrist pad that can be attached to your keyboard (usually magnetised for easy attachment), and a mouse pad with palm rest.
Tilting video display units assist you to get the right angle for most effective viewing, reducing strain to your neck and eyes. In addition to monitor adjustments, numerous other factors make contributions to a conducive workspace. These include accurate lighting fixtures placement, making sure sufficient brightness without glare, the use of diffusers to melt harsh light, noise-canceling headphones to reduce distractions, and the presence of greenery together with a houseplant to enhance mood and air satisfactory. Creating an ergonomic and aesthetically pleasing workspace can notably improve productivity and standard well-being.
It might also take a while to modify your setup and get it ideal, but it’ll really be really worth it in the end. Persistence and staying power are key, so do not rush the system. Experiment, iterate, and refine till you acquire highest quality consequences.
