Ergonomics means the “the study of people’s efficiency in their working environment” (definition credit Google/Oxford Languages). When it comes to working on a laptop, ergonomics means posture. It also means requiring good habits from multiple indirect variables. These variables can mean sleep quality, breathing, and hydration. Click on any of those if you’d like to take learn ergonomic tips about each subtopic. All of them are related to how good (or bad) our computer posture is.
Using a laptop is very different from using a desktop. Laptops have a very compact design. My laptop screen, laptop keyboard and mouse are all within 13 inches of each other. Having to focus my eye level on my laptop screen, plus my hands on the keyboard and mouse, creates awkward postures. Factor in that we are in this vulnerable position for a long period of time, it exponentially increases the risk of injury. Laptops are not designed for all-day use.
Proper laptop ergonomics can help decrease the strain and pressure on your neck and back. Any time I feel physical pain, my work productivity and mental clarity suffer. Following a few ergonomic tips can help improve your productivity and clarity.
I’ve encountered multiple posture problems from using a laptop. There is always a trade-off between neck-head posture and hand-wrist posture. Prolonged laptop use posed a variety of health risks for me. Not having the top of the monitor screen at eye level caused eye strain, neck pain, and headaches. Using the laptop keyboard and mouse caused carpel tunnel syndrome in my wrist. In order to lift my hands onto the keyboard and mouse, I had to keep my wrist muscles engaged for a long period of time 5 days a week. Today, I’m dedicating this article on how to learn to minimize these risks as well as the musculoskeletal discomforts that laptop users experience.
Ergonomic Tips For Laptop Users
I wish I could recommend an ergonomic laptop, but I don’t think one exists. Laptops are designed to be compact and convenient. No matter how you position your laptop by itself, it’s not designed to be ergonomic. However, adding on a few simple variables has made a huge improvement in my posture. These ergonomic tips have also helped decrease my neck and back pain caused by using a laptop.
Use an external monitor.
This is the change I’ve made to my ergonomic laptop setup that has helped me the most. I used to use my laptop screen. It required me to look down at a 45 degree angle just to see the top of my screen. This caused excessive neck and back pain. Looking at my small laptop screen also caused a lot of eye strain.
Since I’ve started using an external monitor, I can comfortably look straight ahead in a neutral position. This allows me to comfortably keep my eye level at the top of my monitor screen. The external monitor I purchased was $150. You can get them cheaper than that. But I wanted one that was big enough for me to have 2 windows open at the same time. The only other thing you will need is an HDMI cable. These are typically around $20. All you do is plug the HDMI cable into both your laptop and your external monitor. Your laptop should automatically recognize it and display your info on the second monitor. I didn’t need to install any software.
Side note: There is no paid promotion in this article. No companies pay me to promote their products. I talk about products I’ve paid for with my own money, that have helped me improve my ergonomic laptop posture and decrease my neck and back pain.
Use a laptop riser or laptop stand.
If you don’t want to buy an external monitor, there is a less expensive way you can still maintain a neutral neck position, while keeping your eye level at the top of your laptop screen. This would be to buy a laptop riser or laptop stand. However, this poses another issue. It isn’t ergonomically safe to use your laptop keyboard and mouse while it is raised up to eye level. This would just create other posture problems, such as extension and overuse of the external rotators in the shoulder (speaking from experience).
It would also cause you to overuse your elbows and biceps in order to lift your hands onto the laptop keyboard and mouse. Overusing my bicep like this led to internal shoulder rotation and shoulder pain. One way to make using a laptop stand ergonomically safe would be to purchase an external keyboard and mouse (as described in the next paragraph).
Invest in a bluetooth, external keyboard and mouse.
This is probably the second best decision I’ve made to decrease my neck and back pain from using a laptop. In the past, I used my laptop keyboard and mouse. In order to lift my hands up onto the keyboard and mouse, this caused me to engage my wrists for a long period of time. This led to carpel tunnel pain in my wrists. A misconception in the posture community is that typing causes carpel tunnel. In my situation, it was caused by overusing my wrists for a long period of time. Once I switched over to a slim, low profile external keyboard and mouse, my wrist pain went away within a couple days. It was pretty eye opening.
Use a height adjustable desk.
I work in different positions throughout the day. I sit in an office chair, I stand at my desk, and I sit on a stool. I’ll switch these positions up multiple times throughout my day. I don’t work in any one position for a long period of time. In order to do this while maintaining an ergonomic laptop setup, a height adjustable desk is necessary. To know how high your adjustable desk needs to be when working in each position, check out the first ergonomic tip in the next section of this article.
Follow these 3 ergonomic tips.
All of these tips are a standard for me when working on a computer for a long period of time. It doesn’t matter which position I’m working in. Adjust your desk, raise your chair, and make any changes necessary to your ergonomic laptop setup in order to maintain a neutral position.
KEEP YOUR ELBOW SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE LEVEL OF YOUR KEYBOARD AND MOUSE.
My desk used to be too high and my chair used to be too low. This would place my elbows below my desk level. In order to put my hands on my keyboard and mouse, I had to contract my bicep for a long period of time. This overuse caused pain in both my shoulders and elbows.
Once I finally took full accountability for my computer posture, I realized that my bicep was more relaxed if you raise your chair. This is because the elbow is slightly higher than the keyboard and mouse. It activates my triceps slightly, but that’s okay because it doesn’t compare to the level of overuse in my biceps.
KEEP YOUR EYE LEVEL AT THE TOP OF THE MONITOR SCREEN.
As discussed earlier, there are 2 options on how to maintain a neutral position when it comes to your eye level. One way is to use an external monitor. This is my favorite option. The other route is to use a laptop riser or laptop stand. Either option should improve ergonomic laptop posture, while decreasing neck and back pain.
KEEP YOUR FEET FLAT ON THE FLOOR OR A FOOTREST.
When making sure your elbow is slightly above keyboard and mouse level, you may need to raise your chair. If you’re feet are still on the ground, it’s very important that they are kept flat on the floor when sitting for a long period of time. This is another mistake I know about from personal experience. I used to sit with my toes on the ground, but my heels were up in the air. I contracted my hamstrings so that my feet were underneath my chair. This caused a lot of muscle confusion in my legs, as well as joint dysfunction in both my ankles and knees. I feel like these awkward postures were the main contributing reason for me needing 3 ankle surgeries.
If you raise your chair so high that your feet are off the ground, this would mean that you need a footrest. They are inexpensive. Just make sure that your feet are flat on the footrest. Otherwise, it will create a problem that you may not notice at first. But eventually, it will definitely become a painful issue.
Choose your own adventure in regards to how you position your laptop. Just make sure to maintain a neutral position with your eye level, spine, elbow, and feet. These ergonomic tips have helped improve my ergonomic laptop posture, while decreasing my neck and back pain.
Thanks for your interest in sitting posture. If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re taking valuable steps to create a safe ergonomic laptop setup. That’s something to be proud of.
If this article was helpful, check out my book titled “45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture.” It’s available in both digital and paperback versions.
>>> Click here to pick up your copy
This book explains how to improve your posture through different variables of health and wellness. These include sitting posture, standing posture, sleep, hydration, and breathing. Poor posture is not just how we sit at a computer. The health habits we practice, 24 hours a day, are directly related to how good (or bad) our computer posture is.
Go to SittingPosture.com/book to learn more.
Take care,
Todd Bowen
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