Setting Up an Ergonomic Home Office
As COVID-19 continues to affect all of our lives, we are leaning to adjust to the new normal. For many of us, learning to work from home has been another challenge. Not only adjusting to a new schedule but also trying to find a place that allows us to concentrate and also be ergonomically correct can be tricky in this new environment. In order to help you through this process try these few simple tricks to help make your work set-up ergonomic at home.
Check your monitor: To have a proper ergonomic set-up, you should check that the top of your screen is eye level when sitting straight up. If you find that your laptop screen is too small, you may want to connect it to an external monitor. If uou already have a monitor, make adjustments to the screen height with books or props if the screen does not adjust or slide. The screen should be squarely in front of you and your keyboard.
Check your desk: Your desk should also be an appropriate height for you. The computer should be able to sit squarely in front of you. Your shoulder and elbows should be at 90 degree angles when resting on the keyboard. You may need to adjust your takes height up or down deepening on your arm position. You also want to make sure you have enough room for all your work gear and that it is easily accessible without having to constantly bend or twist to reach for items.
Get a good chair: If you don’t have a desk chair and you have to make do with a dining chair, try to pick one with a high back. You also want to make sure that your feet can rest square on the floor with your knees bent to 90 degrees and your hips flexed to about 70 degrees. You should also make sure that the chair back supports your lumbar spine but does not increase the curvature or force you to round forward.
Check your lighting and headsets: To prevent eye strain, make sure that you can either get natural light or at least artificial light over your desk area. Try not to work in dark settings with just the monitor as the source of your light. And also make sure to use headsets while on phone calls to prevent strain on your neck, wrists, hands and elbows.
For more tips on desk set-up, visit www.saramikulsky.comYou can also schedule your in-home telehealth ergonomic assessment by clicking the “Telehealth” tab.
