Work from home can become a new reality. With most companies choosing to make their employees work from home even after the pandemic, it is only prudent to make long-term arrangements to make your home more comfortable. Most modern offices provide their employees with ergonomic chairs for their well-being. By working from home, people don’t have access to their comfy office chairs, which means they end up with strained backs and necks.
In the long-term, this physical stress can result in some serious health issues. To prevent such adverse health consequences, you can give an ergonomic twist to your home office space. Here are a few ways to can make your work-from-home condition more comfortable for you and your body:
Make your workstation ergonomic
Most people neglect the need for ergonomic furniture in their house. Though your cozy bean bag or cute cushion chair is fine to sit in for an hour, it will give you back or neck issues if used continuously.
Even a basic ergonomic chair with run-of-the-mill features like synchro-tilt technology, lumbar support, and seat depth would still be better than the chairs which can’t hold your posture or support your back. Your chair’s comfort directly derives your productivity levels. You can’t focus on your work completely if you have body aches due to bad chair or other workstation elements.
Hence, firstly you need to invest in a suitable chair from an array of ergonomic chairs available in the market. Make sure the chair has adjustable lumbar support and synchro-tilt mechanism. If you still feel uncomfortable sitting in a chair for long hours, use rolled towels or small cushions to provide that extra support to your back and neck.
Adjust the height of your equipment
Whether you are working with a laptop or a monitor, make sure your screen is always placed at your eye level. You should neither be looking up or down while working with your laptop. If this posture is persistent for long periods, you may end up having neck or squint eye issues. Ideally, while working with a computer, you should not be moving your sideways or up and down. Apart from the neck and eye, you may strain your wrist if you sit in such a comfortable position. Hence, invest in a desk which would be of ideal height for you or get a desk with an adjustable height to increase the comfort.
Take regular breaks
Regardless of how ergonomic or comfortable the home office chairs are, if you sit on it continuously, both your body and mind would get tired and unproductive. Therefore, regular breaks from work and sitting are of paramount importance, especially while working from home. Make sure to take coffee breaks or do a few body stretches in those breaks to feel refreshed and get back on with your work.
Taking breaks from sitting will also help you prevent any health issues and will ensure your neck and back health. Try not to sit in the same position for more than 45 minutes.
Invest in ergonomic footrest
An ergonomic footrest promotes a body-positive posture. So, it is an essential element to incorporate in your home workstation. It enhances the blood circulation in the body and, as a result, keeps back- related health issues at bay. A footrest will make your sitting position much more comfortable and ergonomic.
Don’t ignore your eyes
The health of your eyes is equally important, with continuous working in an uncomfortable environment, and inadequate lighting can hurt your eyes. Apart from eyesight issues, you could also experience headaches and disturbance in sleep cycles. To avoid such problems, make sure the lighting of your room is proper. It should not be too bright or too dim. Any source of natural light is a good thing. Additionally, make sure you adjust the brightness of your screen to match the comfort of your eyes. Ideally, it is better to turn down the brightness of your laptop or monitor screen and keep the applications on a dark mode to ease it on your eyes.
Follow the above-mentioned steps and notice the difference in your physical health and your work productivity.
Also Read: How can a comfortable chair helps in reliving stress?
