Comfort and safety are essential elements for a productive work environment. Hence all companies should invest in cutting-edge technology, high-quality equipment, and reliable connections like Spectrum package deals to put together sound workstations. However, there is only so much a company/employer can do for its employees. But if the facilities available are not used in conjunction with good ergonomic practices, you will not be able to reap the full benefits.
By enhancing your workstation, you can boost your productivity and efficiency to a great extent. Here are some tips that can help you in this regard.
#1. Maintain Good Posture
Whether you’re working in a corporate office or a factory, the prime ergonomic priority is to establish a good working posture at your workstation. Your body should be in a relaxed state and neutral position. This means that your angles should not put a strain on any body part neither should they cause you to reach out excessively to perform or complete tasks.
#2. Stand Up & Move Around
You need to get up from your chair and move around. Managers and employers who discourage this technique are downright wrong. This is because sitting for long hours at a stretch is detrimental for your physical as well as mental health. So give yourself a break and allow yourself to look out of the window, get a cup of coffee or simply take a walk. Anything that gets you out of your chair would keep you physically active and mentally fresh.
#3. Adjust Your Chair
Even if you need to stay seated for long hours, make sure to adjust your chair in a way that keeps you away from unnecessary aches and strains. You should have a proper task chair for your workstation. And there is no size fits all option when it comes to the seating arrangement. Each person has a different body type and thus different needs. Therefore you need to identify the task chair setup that works best for you.
First of all, adjust its height so that your feet fall flat on the ground and your knees are bent without putting pressure on the thighs. Also, adjust the arms of the chair so that the elbows are bent at a 90 degrees angle. This would keep your shoulders relaxed.
#4. Use Ergonomic Accessories
Keeping workstation comfort in view, office equipment suppliers have come up with ergonomic accessories that can help boost employee productivity.
Footrests are very helpful in helping individuals reduce fatigue, align posture and ease discomfort or pain in the feet, knees, thighs as well as angles. They can also help provide support to short-heightened individuals who do not have the facility of adjustable chairs at the workstation.
Similarly, if the job nature of the employees requires them to talk on the phone all day, a headset would be necessary for them. It would save their neck the strain and also keep their hands free. Also, employees who are supposed to read printed documents would need an adjustable document holder as well as task lighting.
#5. Maximize Your Monitors
An average office worker spends about 7 to 8 hours a day before their computer screens. And an improper monitor setup can have significant long-term effects on their neck and back. So do not ignore the importance of setting up your monitor properly. Ideally, your monitor should be at an arm’s length from you and your eyes should be just a little below the top of its display. Ergonomic accessories such as a monitor arm can assist you with this setup.
In case you use two monitors, keep the primary one directly in front of yourself. And if you tend to use both equally, your position should be right in the middle of them.
#6. Keyboard and mouse configuration
Proper mouse and keyword configuration are as important as having adjustable chairs and monitors. If you are having to make an effort to reach for the mouse or are using it at an angle that disturbs the inline parallel rule for wrists and elbows, you will not be able to strike a neutral position.
Therefore, it is imperative that the placement of your keyword and mouse is accessible and does not break the rules of neutral positioning.
#6. Look Around
Looking around does not always mean you’re not paying attention to your work. Looking at your computer screens all day long is likely to cause eye fatigue. To reduce this stress, you should make it a point to look away from the screens every 15 to 20 minutes. Try focusing on something that’s around 20 feet away. It could be the tree you see outside the window or the clock on the wall. Anything would do as long as it’s at a greater distance. This would give your eyes’ close-in focus muscles a break to relax.
#7. Reduce Repetitive Movement
Repetitive motion is a major cause of musculoskeletal disorders. Even if you apply good ergonomic principles, repeating the same motion multiple times would eventually lead to stress or in worse cases injury.
The best way to address this issue is to change tasks. Do something else that includes a different movement, even if that is for a short while. This would give your muscles and tissues a break and reduce the likelihood of injury.
And if it is not possible to swap tasks, you should change your neutral positioning periodically. For example, you can switch from the reclined sitting position to declined sitting. A change in angle should be enough to reduce the stress on the muscles that you’re using for a certain task.