What makes a proper work from home set up?

I've been having this conversation endlessly during the past few months, and as the home office seems to be here to stay, I figured it was time to write a how-to for setting yourself up for success while working from home. As I've mentioned before, there are plenty of work habits that can reduce the strain on your body such as the 20-20-20 rule for eye strain, having various workstations for laptop work, and fidgeting as much as possible.

The difficult part of working from home is that most of us are working on laptops which are a bit of an ergonomic nightmare. You can either have your laptop at elbow height to put your arms and wrists in a good position at the expense of your neck and back, or you can raise your laptop to eye level to help with the neck and back while making for some extremely awkward and painful typing. It's a bit of a lose-lose situation.

Simply put, the easiest (and most cost effective) way to improve laptop work is to buy an external keyboard and mouse, and to prop your laptop up on some books. That way you can have your screen at an eye level height while keeping your hands, wrists, and arms at a comfortable and supported position. This will help to reduce strain and fatigue in many different areas. Your body will thank you.

When it comes to desk chair set up, follow the 90 degree rule. Your hips, knees and ankles should be as near to a 90 degree angle as possible. Raising your chair to keep your hips at this angle will also keep your back in a better position to prevent you from slouching which can increase strain on the low back. If your chair doesn't support your low back, try rolling up a towel or using a lumbar roll just above your pelvis to remind you to sit tall.

Finally, your screen(s) should be directly in front of you. Spending half your day with your head craned to one side or the other can really piss off the muscles in your neck, and they won't be afraid to let you know about it.

Start implementing these changes into your desk set up and let me know how it goes! It's definitely worth investing some time and money in creating a proper set up as forty plus hours a week is a long time to spend in discomfort. More than anything, keep moving!

#injuryprevention