Desk jobs aren’t fun when you’re constantly in pain. You don’t want this pain affecting your life outside of work, so here are a few tips to make sure you can work pain-free and enjoy your non-working hours.
1 Skip the Lumbar Support and Start Sitting Actively
This probably sounds like a hot take, but it’s not. Lumbar support is a band-aid solution just like arch supports in shoes. The natural arch in your back doesn’t come from conforming to shapes on a chair, it comes from the strength in your lower back.
The more you rely on lumbar support, the weaker your lower-back muscles will get. You don’t want this to happen as it’ll affect other activities in life. Something as simple as picking up a box will start to hurt or increase your risk of injury. While there are great office chairs out there, it’s never the sole responsibility of the chair to take care of your back.
Try to remind yourself to sit more actively. The worst thing you can do is to stay in one position for too long; if something is starting to hurt, move and change positions a little bit and make yourself comfortable again. As many therapists like to say: ”The best posture is your next one.”
If your feet aren’t firmly planted on the floor, or your upper body has to compromise to do so, you need a footrest.
Footrests are underrated, and probably even looked down on. However, it is one of the best things you can do for your desk work. Having your knees slightly raised or at a better height can also prevent sciatica and body pains. The added comfort and stability allow you to focus on your work before your next small position change.
If you want to take it a step further, you can get a footrest you can fidget with. Ironically, my distraction-free writing space has a footswing I can play with that actually helps me focus. While I initially thought would cause instability, it still does the job of raising my knees slightly quite well and isn’t a problem. Fidgeting with the swing keeps me stimulated and less prone to distractions while working.
3 Stand Up or Use a Treadmill
If one thing is guaranteed to make you move around and make you more active in your posture, it would be standing. Using a treadmill would bring it a level higher to a truly active working experience.
While it also isn’t good to stand for long periods as you’re more prone to developing varicose, having the option to stand up by using adjustable standing desks, or even walk, is the best you can do for your health and body pains. Since you’re already standing, getting water and staying hydrated will also be much easier. Sitting makes it too easy to stay seated and feel too lazy to stand up—it’s an unhealthy feedback loop that’s the main cause of plenty of body pains.
Either a walking pad or treadmill would be great as you’re going to be constantly moving and engaging your muscles, reducing the risk of varicose, and is great for your heart. However, it’s not ideal for work that requires a bit more precision and stability.
4 Use Active Chairs
Active chairs are a whole category of chairs that could be roughly boiled down to “unstable chairs.”
But, isn’t stability the point? Well, unstable active chairs actually promote better posture by encouraging you to engage your core, legs, and minor muscles all over your body to stabilize yourself. It’s basically the antithesis of a lumbar support or an ergonomic chair. Instead of being supported, you’re forced to sit actively and your body is naturally going to position itself most comfortably.
Active chairs make you move around, adjust yourself, and correct your posture subconsciously. There are many types of active chairs: kneeling ones, wobbly chairs, swinging chairs; heck, even a yoga ball would work great as an active chair. Ironically, these might be some of the most ergonomic options you could get.
It may not be for everyone, especially if disabilities are a factor, but having an active chair may be the best compromise between standing and sitting.
5 Lower Your Monitor
There are lots of misconceptions about monitor height, and the most common mistake is to go too high. It’s actually better for your monitor to be too low than it is to be too high.
While you probably think that a higher monitor means a straight neck, what’s more likely to happen is that your body eventually relaxes and your chin moves forward, shoulders round over, and your neck is facing up. This can lead to very bad rear neck pain.
You don’t fix this by constantly reminding yourself to straighten your neck; remember, holding strenuous and unnatural positions is bad. By lowering your monitor, you allow your neck to follow a more natural position.
As a rule of thumb, have the top of your monitor be level with your eyes in your natural sitting position. However, you can play around with the height of your monitor according to your needs. If most of your time is spent looking at the bottom of the monitor, like me, you can raise your monitor so the part you’re focused on is at a comfortable level.
