Is Your Home Office Causing You Strain and Pain?

It can be so convenient in so many ways to work from home.  As a self-employed person, you oversee making sure your time is spent the way you want it and your work is to your standards.  One area that is negligent within home offices is ergonomics.  A big word that in general means supported comfort.

When I worked in a corporate office I had a comfy well supported office chair and a computer screen set at the correct angle for viewing and my elbows and wrists were supported as to not cause carpal tunnel and or muscle strain.  In my home office at first, I wasn’t concerned about working on my laptop at the wrong position without wrist supports.  That is until I started to get numbness in my hands and fingers.

If you work full time you will log in over 2,000 hours at your desk each year.  Setting up a workplace that supports your body and fosters productivity takes just a few minutes and not a lot of money.

If you love your laptop and spend more time on it than the desktop PC think external keyboard and monitor.  According to experts’ laptops were designed for short term use.  Looking down at the laptop screen causes you to hunch over and to squint.  Over time this has a delirious result for your body

Make sure you are sitting straight in your chair with your feet flat on the floor for best comfort.  Your lighting should be set to illuminate the document on your desk.  It is better to adjust the lighting with say a moveable lamp than torquing your body to adjust to the light.

Take breaks during your day to avoid eye fatigue and to help relieve body tension.   Try the following for relief:

•        Head tilts while standing up gently from side to side to relieve a tight neck.
•        Leg lifts prevent blood clots and stiff joints.  Hold onto the back of your office chair and lift one leg directly backward, keeping the knees in both legs straight.  Repeat five times.  
•        Overhead stretch by reaching up toward the ceiling with palms toward the ceiling. Push up and slightly back. Count to five and repeat.

Above all listen to your body.  If you have a sore neck or a kink in your back it usually points to your work ergonomic environment.  Change the chair position, keyboard position or monitor position for a start to see if that helps.