Since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, the businesses started to operate from home and as employees; we started working from home as well. As it went on for a long time and it is still going on in many areas, we must make sure to set up an ergonomic home work station. We need to make our home a healthy place to work for keeping up productivity and avoiding any kind of injuries or internal issues.
It's certainly been a while you are working from home because of Novel Coronavirus. So, if you haven't set up your workplace in an ergonomic way, now is the time to do it. Here are a few tips for you so that you can make your workplace comfortable for increasing your productivity.
What is the right work from home posture?
The right WFH posture takes care of the following-
Head and neck- To avoid any kind of injury in your neck, your head should be vertical with your neck. It will create less amount of strain.
Shoulder- Your shoulders should be back and relaxed. If your monitor is in the right position then this will happen organically.
Back- Your back should be straight. Try and avoid leaning on your desk.
Elbows- Your elbows should be 90° and they should be hanging loose below your shoulder, they should not be jammed near your ribs.
Feet- Your feet should be flat on the floor.
How Ergonomic Work Setup Should Look Like?
(Illustration Credit: Sarah MacReading)
So here you can have a look at how your ergonomic work setup should look like. It should take care of your body posture, head and neck, the position of your arm, and position of your feet. No matter from which corner of your home you are working, the right body posture will help you in reducing the risk of developing pain.
What are the items you need for home-office setup?
There are a few types of equipment that you will need for setting up your home office in an ergonomic way. These equipment come with home-office kits that you can buy according to your convenience.
A desk with the proper height for using your keyboard
Your desk is one of the key elements of your workstation. Ideally, when you are typing on your keyboard at a desk, your arms and wrists should be in a neutral state. They should be parallel to the floor or angular towards your lap for reducing pain. A desk with a height of 28 to 30 inches should be perfect for an adult.
An Ergonomic keyboard
Choose a keyboard that helps you to keep the mouse close to it. There are ergonomic keyboards available that do not have the numeric pad which is also known as "tenkeyless keyboards". Once you start using the ergonomic keyboard in your home-office setup, you will be able to see that the back pain and shoulder strains are not occurring again and again.
A mouse that fits in your hand
You must have a proper grip of your mouse. The mouse should be comfortable to hold and use. It helps in reducing any pain in the arm or wrist.
A monitor with proper display
You need to protect your eyes from strain and fatigue. Make sure whatever you are seeing on the screen of your laptop or monitor is clear and straight in front of your eyes so that you don't have to bend or lean. It reduces back pains as well.
Good lights
Never work in a dark corner of your house. Keep enough lights where your home office setup is. It will help your eyes to focus and balance the lights in your workplace. Working in dark might cause eye strain so, it's always better to have enough lights near your work desk.
You can keep anything on your desk that helps you in reducing the work stress. It can be anything like Alexa, noise cancellation headphone, a book or a green plant.
You can always manage your home-office setup or you can buy a home-office kit. As we don't know for how long many of us will be working from home, creating ergonomic home workstation should be the first priority.