Home Workstation Ergonomics: Challenges and Opportunities

While moving our workplaces from the office to home can present unique challenges, it can also provide some unforeseen benefits. With the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent lock-downs, many of us are now working from home.  The ergonomic setup at work is left vacant as you reconfigure your living space to be your new workspace.  This article will walk you through some basic ergonomics to assess your individual workspace and suggest solutions to common areas of concern.  Additionally, we will discuss the great opportunity of working from home: movement!

When it comes to computer workstations, the main ergonomic issues stem from repetitive use and maintaining non-neutral postures.  As you read this, sit at your workstation and assess your own posture.  Ergonomics is about fitting the job to the person – or in this case, your workstation to you.  When you find your neutral postures, we will look at ways to alter your workstation to support you.

Finding Neutral

Sit tall with your feet flat on the floor, breathe in deeply and pretend that there is a string on top of your head pulling it up towards the ceiling.  We do this to find a neutral neck posture.  You should feel as though your head is floating on top of your spine.  Where your laptop screen or monitor is placed can quickly lure you out of a neutral neck posture.  This is because where our gaze goes, so does our head.  And any time the head and neck are not in neutral position, your head goes from resting on the skeletal structure to engaging various neck muscles.  As we get swept up in our work, these muscles remain engaged in one direction for a prolonged period of time and we end up with neck pain.  The first solution here is to adjust your monitor as best you can to allow for a neutral head and neck posture.  If you are using a laptop, maybe you can plug in a separate keyboard so that the screen can be raised to an appropriate height.  If not, set a timer to remind yourself to come back to the neutral position throughout the day.

Let your arms fall to your sides and relax your shoulders.  Bend your elbows so that your forearms are parallel to the ground.  This is the neutral posture for your upper body.  Chances are your mouse and keyboard are not directly under your hands.  If your worksurface is higher and you find yourself lifting your arms outwardly or forward to reach the keyboard and operate the mouse try raising your seat so that your keyboard is just below elbow level.  Additionally, you may want to find something stable to rest your feet on so that they are not dangling from your seat.  Or, if your worksurface is low and you find yourself hunching over to meet it try raising your worksurface or stacking a book or two underneath the mouse and keyboard to bring them up to meet your hands – just make sure the book is big enough to allow for mouse travel.  Ensure you have leg room underneath your keyboard so that you are not leaning forward to reach it.

Focus on Seating

Your chair should include a back rest, arm rests and good lumbar support.  It might be tempting to use an exercise ball but these are not good long-term substitutes for a chair.  The chair is there to support your body while you focus on your computer work.  If you switch your attention to focus on your posture and form while sitting on an exercise ball, you may get some benefits from engaging your core, but you will lose focus towards your work.  If you sit on an exercise ball and focus on computer work, you will unintentionally change your posture and engage compensatory muscles: this will be counterproductive to good posture and physical fitness.

Try Something New

As mentioned earlier, computer workstations create ergonomic concerns due to maintaining non-neutral postures.  One of the benefits of working from home is the opportunity to get up and move.  When you get to a good stopping point in your workday or are taking a break from your web-conferencing meeting, allow yourself to get up and move!  Start with some light stretches or lower back yoga.  Do some pushups, lunges or shadow boxing to get the blood flowing and destress*.  When it’s time to get back to it, remember to take another deep breath and find that neutral posture again.  

Maybe you have always wanted to try a standing workstation – now is your chance!  If you have a large box sitting around, you can use it to create a temporary standing workstation by setting it on top of a table.  Try to keep it at a height where your keyboard is just below your elbow in the neutral position.  A standing station lends itself well to writing quick emails and making phone calls.  It can be less than ideal for intense tasks like writing reports or participating in a daylong meeting.  Setting up a standing workstation, in addition to a sitting one, will give the chance to move between the two and switch up your day. 

Take-aways

1.       Find your neutral posture

2.       Create a workstation that supports a neutral posture

3.       Incorporate more movement into break time

4.       Try a standing workstation

*Always consult your physician before undertaking any type of new physical activity.