Ergonomics And Healthy Computing:
Positioning Your Body At The Computer
For Maximum Comfort

Contributed by Jay Schroyer

If you’ve been spending a lot of time at your computer recently, you may start to notice a few symptoms that you’ve never experienced before. Your eyes may feel strained, headaches may appear at the end of the day, your neck and shoulders may feel stiff, and your legs may even feel tight and in need of a good stretch. These are all symptoms of sitting behind a computer for too long without any sort of preventative measures taken to ease the strain on your body.

It doesn’t seem like something so simple as sitting and typing could cause that much of a problem. If computers weren’t safe, they wouldn’t make them, right? The fact of the matter is that most people that perform repetitive tasks end up with some sort of physical ailment. There are ways to prevent these things from happening to your body. The key is to take the time and identify the possible causes of physical problems during computer use and take the steps to remedy them. If you take a look at your owner’s manual or a new computer tutorial, I’m sure that the manual briefly covers some safety precautions that you should take when operating your computer.

Computer Position
Where your computer is located on your desk is very important. If you spend a majority of the day operating it, you want to make sure that it isn’t stashed into the far corner where you have to really stretch to get at the mouse or keyboard. Use it like any other business tool. If you’re writing, you place your pad right in front of you. If you’re doing a lot of typing, your computer should be right in front of you. Your monitor should be lower than your level of sight so that you are looking down into the monitor and not up. This is pertinent as it will avoid unnecessary neck and eye strain.

Furniture
Your furniture should aid you in positioning your computer. Multitiered office desks seem to work well for placing the monitor and keyboard in convenient locations, but easy to move out of the way in case you need more desk space. Roll-away keyboard drawers are ideal for this. A desk with a place to elevate your feet is also helpful for behind the desk comfort. The chair you spend eight hours a day in is also an important furniture element. Make sure it is well-padded to protect your hips and spine. You should adjust the height of the chair according to your own height and comfort. If it has arm rests, adjust these as well to prevent arm and shoulder strain. If the headrest is tall enough, make sure that it is adjusted correctly to allow for neck support and a place to periodically rest your head during extended periods of computer use. A keyboard and/or mouse rest would also be a welcome addition to your desktop furniture to protect your wrists and avoid the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Posture
This is an extremely important element and may require some “training” to become fully adjusted to keeping your body in an ideal position. Loosen up and don’t be so tense. Too many people lock their limbs and muscles, fully intent on the work in front of them. Relax your muscles, but keep your back nice and straight and as well supported as possible by your chair. No one, especially your spine, likes a slouch. Keep your head level. Keep your elbows close to your body and make full use of a keyboard or mouse rest to protect your wrists and fingers.

Stretch
Above all, take breaks often and stretch your muscles. By keeping yourself limber and avoiding long periods of muscle lockup, you will feel a lot better at the day’s end. Your eyes will also appreciate the periodic breaks from the monitor. Get up and walk around a bit. Shake your legs and arms out and lean forward and backward a couple of times. Rotating your head is also helpful if your neck seems to be locked and strained in one position for long periods of time. Take deep breaths, filling your lungs and then exhaling long and deeply. There’s more physical activity going on behind that computer than you can imagine.

There are a few other non-physical things that can aid your computer usage. Obviously, the less time you spend at your computer, the less you have to worry about any of this. By utilizing Windows® help, you can also limit the amount of time that you spend at your computer pointlessly attempting to perform a function that you have no clue how to execute. Learn macros and shortcut keys to make your computer use more efficient. Check out your monitor settings in the “Control Panel” and see if there isn’t a setting (like “Clear Type”) that may make computer use easier on your eyes.

Although computer and office furniture designers have come a long way in the ergonomics department, there are still dangers to watch out for during extended computer usage. Use common sense and a little bit of prevention to make your workdays more comfortable and productive.

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About the Author:
Jay Schroyer has worked in the client and customer service end of business for over five years in retail, advertising, and printing. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English writing and communication.

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