By now, many of us have been working from home for at least a year.
While some have outfitted their homes with practical home offices, not everyone has been able to do so. Some people spend their working days sitting on their sofa hunched over their laptops.
These working behaviors can have long-term effects.
“A sofa might feel like the most comfortable place at the beginning,” Ameet Bhakta, a London and Royal Tunbridge Wells, England-based postural alignment specialist told Wired UK. “But after a while, it won’t, because when you sit on a sofa what it does is it encourages you to slump. Nearly every sofa I’ve ever been on encourages you to slump to round your shoulders, put your head forward, and that’s going to put more strain on your body.”
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
If you’re one of the many people who have continued to work from home, Healthline and BU Today have a few expert tips on how you can improve your home office’s ergonomics ― even if your workspace isn’t akin to a traditional office.
Give your lower back some support
Miami Beach-based chiropractor Orlando Capiro of USA Sports Medicine told Healthline that you can roll up a towel and keep it pressed against your lower back to ensure your buttocks are pressed firmly in the rear of the chair. That way, your lower back will be supported. Another method Caprio suggests is using a small cushion.
Elevate your laptop
“Laptops are never going to be ergonomically good, because the monitor is either going to be too low or the keyboard is going to be too high,” Eric Robertson, a physical therapist and spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association, told CNBC Make It.
For reading-heavy tasks, Robertson suggests you ensure your laptop is at eye level by propping it up with a stack of books. When you need to type, lower it so that your arms are at a 90-degree angle, which Cornell University Ergonomics Web states is within the ideal posture.
Take breaks for vision
Long before working from home became so widespread amid the coronavirus pandemic, experts have espoused the importance of giving your eyes some time away from computer screens. MayoClinic advises that people employ the 20-20-20 rule. Simply spend at least 20 seconds looking at something 20 feet away every 20 minutes.
Get up and move around
Those reminders to stand on your Apple Watch can come in handy as a reminder to get up from your workspace and move. Industrial hygienist Carolyn Herkenham and licensed physical therapist Kelly Pesanelli, both of Boston University, told BU Today that no matter if you’re at home or in the office, the goal is to get in as many daily steps as possible.
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