Are you working from home?
With the current global pandemic, millions of people are now working from home. If you’re in this situation, you may be experiencing back or neck pain, depending on the way you sit while working. You may be laying on your couch or bed, slouching over, working on your kitchen counter, or hunched over your coffee table which are common ways people are working at home now and not good for your overall physical health.
Your posture is super important to take note of when working on a computer or laptop for a long time! Even if you are sitting on a desk and on an office chair at home, there are mindful tips to know about when it comes to posture and positioning of your work station.
If you are experiencing back or neck pain, there are some solutions you can implement into your routine to avoid further pain. Check out 10 tips below to help improve your work from home experience and your body’s health!
1. Avoid sitting/laying on a couch or bed, instead sit on a desk.
2. When sitting on a chair, make sure your head is right above the shoulders and hips.
3. Use a pillow or towel for back support, feet supported on the ground.
4. Sit straight but leaned back so that some of your weight is being supported by the chair, easing pressure from your spine. Don’t lean on one side and try not to slouch over, instead sit all the way back.
5. Set your screen height. Place your laptop on top of a stack of books or a box, it shouldn’t be too high or low but directly in front of you. This will prevent your head tilting and avoid neck strain.
6. If you’ve adjusted your laptop height, make sure you use a separate keyboard, it should be on the desk to not strain your wrists.
7. Try to stretch as often as you can while throughout the day. Every 30 minutes, take 5-minute breaks to stand, walk, and stretch to help the blood circulation and avoid muscle lock. Check some of these stretches out.
8. Use voice-recognition instead of typing to give your wrists, hands, and arms time to rest.
9. Place forearms on the walls in a corner with elbows around shoulder height
10. Do “shoulder rolls” to relieve tension in the shoulders and neck. With your head facing forward move your shoulders forward, up, back, and then down, repeat 5 times and 5 times in reverse.
