“Stay at home”… and work.
Quarantine is unfortunately now the reality in which our lives are adapted. Whatever activities are feasible at home have been modified and continue. Others have been suspended.
So a large proportion of us, especially those who work in an office, now continue to work from home.
Unfortunately, however, most homes do not have the space or the right conditions for work.
The chairs and desks in our homes, where these exist, usually lack the ergonomics for office work and even long hours.
Desktop computers also offer much better ergonomics and options to modify our position during our sedentary work. Wherever there is the possibility and the choice of the desktop prefer it.
Using it anyway puts us in the process of working at a desk and a proper sitting position. There are quite a few people who work with a laptop or tablet on their feet sitting on a sofa.
Use the freedom that working from home gives you to take more frequent breaks for some stretching exercises and even a short rest.
What is the appropriate workplace?
The figure below shows a series of conditions that frame the correct ergonomics when working in an office.
Many of them need some modification when we work from home.
Since we are most likely to work with a laptop at home, it would be good to follow the following guidelines that will protect our body from injuries and unnecessary fatigue while making us more productive.
- The screen should be 40-60 cm away from your eyes. Maintain this distance to avoid leaning forward, projecting your head and therefore your neck. You can adjust the tilt of the screen backwards to get a better angle with your eyes. In case your location and laptop work does not allow you to do this, you can use an external USB keyboard to bring it as close as you need and the screen will stay at the recommended distance. Ideally, it is best to use an external monitor when possible.
- Place one or as many books as needed to raise the laptop or monitor to eye level. Alternatively, you can place the books on the back of the laptop so that it is tilted so that the keyboard is low and the screen is high.
- In cases where there is no special office chair, it would be good to place a flat, soft cushion or add-on on the seat of the chair so that it is comfortable but at the same time stable and at the right height for you.
- Try to adopt an upright position with your shoulders relaxed. A roller-shaped cushion behind your pelvis at the bottom of your torso helps to make the posture easier.
- The wrist and elbow should ideally be in line with the keyboard.
- Try to sit in a straight position in relation to the computer and not at an angle or leaning to the right or left while trying to keep an eye on children playing. For this reason you can turn the desk so that it is not facing the wall but towards the room.
- Take more frequent breaks than you used to.
Positive energy and prevention
The environment in our home, either due to lack of infrastructure or due to the relaxation of being in our own space, it is very easy to lead us to work in the wrong positions with all that this entails.
Remember that we must remain positive.
At some point you will allow for normality and it would be good to have taken care of yourself while you work from home.
We stay at home but we stay active!
We are taking care to be able to work now and for as long as we need to.
