Make these changes to your workstation to improve your long-term physical health and resilience through the workweek.
If you are a remote worker or spend a significant amount of time sitting at your desk, it's important to ensure your workstation keeps your body in a neutral position and does not strain your muscles, joints, or eyes. While it's rare to experience an acute injury, being positioned in uncomfortable positions repeatedly for extended periods can lead to chronic pain, tension, or soreness. Investing in an ergonomic setup will pay dividends to your physical and mental health in the long run.
As an added bonus, you might like to invest in products that promote muscle activation in subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways while you work. Spending 8 hours/day, 40 hours/week, and 2,000 hours/year in a sedentary state has deleterious health effects. Converting even some of that time into physical activity, however minor, will have cumulative effects on physical and metabolic health.
Standing is a better alternative to sitting, activating your leg and core muscles. While many purchase a standing desk as a free-standing unit, I prefer this desk riser from Vivo. It is easy to adjust to optimal height, can be placed on top of any desk or table, and is much less expensive than traditional standing desks. Using the mouse, typing, reading, and viewing your screen each have different optimal heights. Plus, it's relatively portable! I've lugged it around the country along with this folding table during my nomadic days.
I also purchased pneumatic arms to optimize my laptop and monitor positions. If you go this route, don't forget to grab a VESA mount that is compatible with your monitor (be sure to check before ordering). Here are some common ones: Dell, HP, HP Pavilion, Acer & Viewsonic.
Now that you have your standing desk, you could one-up that by adding a treadmill that easily slides under your desk. This one by Mobvoi is lightweight, quiet, and reasonably priced. I am not ashamed to admit that I've taken many calls on it. Bring back the walking meeting!
As your legs grow tired, you'll want a fun, bouncy, colorful companion that keeps your core engaged and spine erect. If you're a fidgeter or have trouble focusing, you'll find attentional benefits being able to shift your weight back and forth, and you'll notice the nice stretch you get as you do so. Why spend hundreds of dollars on a chair you'll now be spending less time on?
You'll want one that fits with your legs under your desk and elevates you so that your arms are at least parallel to the ground while typing. Remember that the ball will collapse several inches when you sit on it. If it is too tall and your feet don't fall flat on the ground, you can place something under your feet. I use storage bins, but yoga blocks also work well.
Traditional mouses (mice?) put pressure on your joints and ligaments throughout your entire arm and can cause arthritis or carpal tunnel. Swap your mouse out for one that's more ergonomic. I prefer a mouse with a trackball; some like a vertical mouse. Either takes some getting used to.
An external keyboard will ensure your arms are kept in a neutral typing position while standing or sitting. A split keyboard is ergonomically best; however, they definitely have a learning curve. At the very least, a standard keyboard with a palm rest is still a good bet.
If you already experience wrist or forearm pain, I've found some relief using a compression sleeve.
I like to find simple, entertaining ways to keep my muscles activated while reading, in meetings, or watching videos. I've collected a few exercise toys that I keep at my desk. Forearm grips are a great way to improve your grip strength, which is correlated with overall health and longevity. A lacrosse ball can act as a stress ball and double as a targeted massager when pressed between your body and the desk/wall. And of course, the aforementioned exercise ball is a great tool to keep your core active.
Have other products that you've benefitted from during your workday? Leave a comment and let us know!