The typical setup for most work and home offices is stuck in the 1980s. Sure, the equipment and finishes might be a bit fancier, but the basic desk, computer, chair, mouse, and keyboard setup is unchanged. As a result, we have many of the same issues, from carpal tunnel syndrome to back and hip issues to eye strain. Here are a few simple ways to use the latest tools to solve these and create a more comfortable and functional work environment.
1) Move to a Better Mouse
No, this has nothing to do with unwanted pests – you’d better call Orkin for that. Rather, it’s high time that we office workers took aim at one of the most unassuming causes of pain and stiffness. A key reason that using a mouse never seems like it could do damage is that all you do with it is make the same micromovements over and over again with a small piece of plastic. But yet these add up, with one Digital Citizen reportercalculating that his daily average of 7,985 clicks per day totaled 2.9 million a year. This can cause carpal tunnel syndrome, elbow issues, and other orthopedic problems.
Fortunately, help is at hand (literally) with a new kind of mouse design. It’s called a vertical handshake because that’s the position it puts your palm in. This is much more natural and allows you to align your hand, wrist, and elbow. As you’re no longer turning your palm down to click and scroll, you’re avoiding putting your shoulder into internal rotation, which can put excess strain on the rotator cuff and limit external rotation. A model like OM from Ergodriven also offers five customizable buttons to program time-saving shortcuts, Bluetooth connectivity with multiple devices, and the ability to dial in the DPI for precise gaming, graphic design, and more.
2) Give Your Feet a Chance to Fidget
In an office environment, standing trumps sitting in just about every way. Whether it’s reducing hip and low back pain, correcting slumping and other posture issues, or increasing basal metabolic rate (the number of calories burned at rest), getting out of that temptingly comfortable office chair has myriad advantages. But as Tune Up Fitness founder and movement expert Jill Miller has said, the one downside is that standing can become your new stress position, leading to sore feet, tight ankles, and knotty calves.
One solution to these unintended consequences of switching to a standing desk is to put something under it that encourages you to get more micromovement. A 2016 study published in the American Journal of Physiology Heart and Circulatory Physiology found that participants who tapped their foot while sitting had much better blood flow and artery function than those who were totally still. A tool such as the Rogue Fitness Fidget Bar – which lets you elevate one foot at a time and swing it – can recreate the effect. You could also use a standing desk mat with multiple surface shapes and densities to encourage you to shift your feet around. Another way to make you move more is to use a soft mobility tool – like one of Miller’s Yoga Tune Up Therapy Balls – throughout the day. Whether you press down into it or roll it around your mat, you’ll boost circulation and help relieve lower leg stiffness.
3) Upgrade Your Adjustable Desk
Swapping out your old seated desk for one that will allow you to sit, stand, or perch on a stool is a simple way to make your home office more ergonomical. Whether you go old-school with a desk you adjust manually or opt for a more modern option that allows you to raise and lower it electronically, giving yourself the opportunity to vary between sitting and standing will be better for your health and could even increase your productivity and creativity. Yet on your busiest days, your best intentions to switch things up can fall by the wayside, and you might get to 5 PM and realize you’re sore because you’ve been stuck sitting down all day.
If this happens all too often, you could upgrade your adjustable desk with a solution that removes the guesswork from changing positions throughout the day. Luckily, this doesn’t mean making another large investment by changing desks yet again. Rather, you can simply replace the existing handset with the Tempo handset. It can detect when you’ve been sitting or standing for a certain amount of time and automatically adjust your desk height so you alter your stance. Or you can program Tempo to do this at set intervals throughout the day, which is particularly beneficial if you’re a standing desk newbie or find yourself forgetting to switch things up regularly.
4) Mind Your Monitor
Even if you take the other three steps above, there might still be something small but significant about your upgraded office setup that’s preventing you from solving some ergonomic problems. Altering your desk height so you’re typing and using your mouse with your forearms perpendicular to the floor at elbows bent around 45 degrees can greatly reduce the load you’re placing on your hands and lower arms. But all too many people take this step without also moving their monitor. As a result, their head is tilted at a sub-optimal angle, contributing to headaches or migraines, tightness in the thoracic spine, neck, and traps, and – if left unaddressed – a hunched upper back.
What’s needed here is a way to mount your monitor so that it’s on eye level, not flat on your desk. PC Worldrecommends the Ergotron LX for its sturdiness, 360 degrees or rotation and tilt, and 13 inches of lift. Although it has less adjustability, the same review suggests the Workstream by Monoprice model as a low-budget alternative. If you use a tablet, such as the iPad Pro or Microsoft Surface, you’ll need an arm that features adjustable screen clamps instead. In which case, AboveTEK makes one that solidly clamps to the edge of your desk and will allow you to align the screen with your eyes and take the stress off your neck and back.