When I was younger, I thought making a living from a computer was the way to go. And it still can be. The ability to make money from a computer is very valuable. But I had no idea how many increased health risks come along with a sedentary lifestyle.
Making a living with a computer doesn’t have to hurt. There are plenty of ways to improve computer posture, decrease pain, and prevent computer-related injuries.
This article will cover 6 of my most valuable desk worker health tips. Keep in mind that I talk about my own personal experience, while living a computer desk worker lifestyle. These are not necessarily recommendations for everyone. They are simply how I corrected my poor computer posture, and ways I prevent computer-related pain in the future.
This article is not professional medical advice. It’s based off my personal experience and opinions. For years, my poor computer posture caused muscle tension, inflammation, and chronic pain. Bad posture also decreased my mental clarity, energy level, and work productivity.
All the desk worker health tips I write about are directly related to improving posture at a computer. We are our own primary caretakers. Do your research. Make good decisions. And be the best advocate possible for your own healthcare.
Desk Worker Health Tips
1. Keep the top of your monitor screen even with your eye level.
I used to keep my monitor too low. A common posture mistake is to work off a laptop monitor. This caused me to keep my head titled downward for long periods of time. My neck was in a compromised, vulnerable position. It led to chronic muscle tension, neck pain, and headaches. Using an external monitor, with the top of the screen at my eye level, is one of my most valuable desk worker health tips.
2. Keep your elbows slightly above desk level.
This is another desk worker health tip that I learned the hard way. I used to have my chair too low, which caused multiple computer posture mistakes. One of them was having my elbows below desk level. This led to me constantly activating my biceps, in order to lift my hands up onto the keyboard and mouse. The biceps are connected to tendons, which connect to bone in the shoulder area. Once my biceps reached a certain point of repetitive strain and overuse, it led to chronic shoulder pain and excessive internal shoulder rotation.
3. Keep your feet flat on the floor (or a footrest).
I used to underestimate the importance of good computer posture, especially when it came to foot positioning. Besides, I was sitting in a desk chair. I was hardly putting any weight on my feet. Does foot posture really matter? Could poor sitting posture really cause foot pain? I eventually found out the hard way. Foot positioning definitely matters.
The negative effects from poor foot positioning caused chronic pain and muscle tension in my legs. Eventually, I would need 3 ankle surgeries to correct a torn tendon, bone chips, and bone spurs. All this ankle dysfunction was caused by poor foot posture, while sitting in a desk chair for long periods of time.
Does everyone need a footrest while sitting at a computer? A foot rest is not always necessary in my opinion. It depends on multiple variables. These include chair height, desk height, and the leg length of the user. To determine if a footrest would be beneficial, check out my article titled How to Position Feet When Sitting at a Computer.
4. Don’t slouch forward.
Have an upright torso, while maintaining the natural curves of the spine. “Sit up straight” is not great advice. It can cause someone to overextend and flatten their spine out. The spine contains natural curves when it’s in a neutral, balanced position. Our bodies are made to get in and out of this position easily. But our bodies are not meant to stay held outside of this neutral position for long periods of time. That’s how repetitive strain, overuse, and computer-related injuries are caused.
5. Switch from sit to stand positions multiple times throughout the day.
Avoid working in the same position for long periods of time. Sitting isn’t the enemy here. Repetitive strain and overuse injuries can happen, regardless if we’re working in a sitting posture or standing posture. Just because there are many standing desk benefits, that doesn’t mean it’s healthy to go from sitting 8 hours a day to standing 8 hours a day.
Break reminders for desk workers are a good way to break up working in the same position for too long. I take a break to move around at least every 60 to 90 minutes, depending on how good my posture is and how my mental clarity is doing. Once I return to my desk after my break, I always work in a position different from the one I was in last.
Break reminders are also a good workplace mental health tip. It’s so easy to get caught up in my work, just to muscle through it with no regard for my mental health.
6. Stay properly hydrated with quality drinking water.
Being dehydrated directly impacts my computer posture in a negative way.
My personal choice is water that’s been filtered by reverse osmosis. I bought a countertop filtration unit that cost $320 (not paid promotion). It may sound expensive, but it’s already paid for itself (considering all the water I used to buy).
It’s a standalone reverse osmosis unit that doesn’t need to hook up to the plumbing in my apartment. It also has a remineralization option that’s very helpful. Because reverse osmosis doesn’t only remove most contaminants from water, it can also remove healthy minerals.
How much water do I need to drink per day? The answer to that question varies due to our physical activity level, outdoor temperature, how much we sweat, and eating habits. To better calculate how much water to drink per day, check out my article titled How Much Water Do I Need to Drink Per Day?
Another desk worker health tip that helps me, is to set hydration reminders at work. It may sound silly. But the day can quickly get away from me. Next thing I know, it’s 11am and I’ve only had 16 ounces of water (that I drank immediately after waking up). And I make sure that glass is full, on the table next to my bed, the night before. Otherwise, I’ll get caught up doing things before I go get a glass of water in the morning. And next thing I know, I’ve forgotten to drink as soon as I woke up.
THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN COMPUTER POSTURE.
If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re taking valuable steps to reduce computer-related injuries by improving your posture. That’s something to be very proud of!
If you liked this article on desk worker health tips, check out my book titled 45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture.
This book is a great supplement to the article you just read. It covers healthy ergonomic habits like posture, sleep, hydration, and breathing.
I wrote this book to be the resource I wish I had back in 2002, when I first started sitting at a computer for long periods of time.
Go to SittingPosture.com/book to learn more.
Take care,
Todd Bowen