5 Ways to Ergonomically Optimize Your Workspace

By Joel Vento

When you spend your workdays sitting at a computer, you may not even realize how much strain your position and repetitive movements are putting on your body; in fact, the traditional office environment can cause all kinds of problems for your health.

“Slouching and keeping your shoulders tense can not only cause pinched nerves in your shoulders, but even hurt your wrists,” says Whitson Gordon at LifeHacker. “If you haven’t given a lot of thought to the comfort of your workspace, it’s probably time to give it an ergonomic makeover.”

What goes into ergonomic office design? What steps can you take to make your daily seating arrangement more conducive to a healthy posture, and helpful for preventing injury? To help answer these questions, here are some specific ways to ergonomically optimize your workspace:

1. Try a Standing Desk

Part of what makes the traditional office environment so harmful is the way it promotes ongoing inactive behavior. “Recent research is focusing on how sedentary behavior — including sitting and lying down — serve as behavioral risk factors for obesity and chronic disease,” says Robert Glatter, MD.

In other words, when you’re spending the bulk of your days being physically idle, it’s a prime opportunity for your body to grow lax and for your body mass index to grow. One way to counteract this problem is to consider a standing desk in your workplace.

According to a study by Anne Grunseit, PhD, from the Prevention Research Collaboration in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, Australia, and Norwegian colleagues, "Reduced sitting for work would benefit overweight or obese people the most because they already have a higher baseline risk for mortality." The study recommends that people try to conduct more of their work while standing.

2. Or Invest in an Ergonomic Chair

If you aren’t standing while you work, then you should definitely be sitting in an ergonomically designed chair that supports your body while you’re working long hours at a desk each day. According to Frugal Entrepreneur, look for a chair with a comfortable cushion, adjustable armrests, adjustable seat height, an adjustable backrest, and the ability to swivel and/or roll around.

3. Adjust Your Computer Screen

If you’re continually leaning down or up to focus on your computer screen, you’re putting unnecessary strain on your body. Adjust the monitor so that your screen is at eye level, directly in front of you. If, for some reason, this seems difficult, prop up your computer or raise your chair to adjust the height as needed.

4. Keep Your Wrists Neutral

Anyone who’s spent long hours on a computer without thinking about his or her wrists can testify to the fact that pointing your wrists up or down at sharp angles can dramatically affect your comfort levels over time. To avoid pain as you’re working, try to keep your wrists neutral, and/or use a wrist rest if needed.

5. Think About Posture

Even beyond your office equipment, a big part of creating an ergonomically friendly environment goes back to what you yourself do.

“You could have the best, most expensive, perfect set up and still fail when it comes to sitting correctly at work,” says physical therapist, Andrew Bisaccia. “The most important piece to the puzzle is your brain. It is imperative that you recognize how you are sitting at your desk and constantly fine tune your posture.”

What goes into proper posture? Aim to sit up straight, avoid hunching, keep your feet flat on the ground, and stand at least once an hour. You may also want to set regular checks throughout the day — on your computer’s built-in schedule or just within your own mind — to reevaluate your posture and make sure you’re sitting the way you should.

Whether you’re a secretary, a lawyer, a financial analyst, or a customer service rep, have you thought about the ways your daily work environment is affecting your back and neck? Believe it or not, simply sitting at a desk can be detrimental to your overall health and comfort if you don’t pay attention to the ways your body responds — so follow the above steps to protect your posture and make the most of your workdays.