3 things to think about your home office when working from home
Working from home is a popular option many workplaces are now providing with an increase in flexible work practices. Everyone talks about sitting up straight and maintaining a good neck and back posture, but what can you change about your environment to help you do this?
Here are some tips to setting up your home office which yourself or your workplace might not have considered before:
1. Lighting
Something you might not be at the top of your list, but adequate lighting is important for you to complete your work, as well as maintaining good ergonomics. Natural lighting is best during the day, however if your are unable to get some sunlight into your office, make sure that your lighting is not too bright or dark and does not glare off your computer monitor. Either of these 3 factors can increase fatigue in your eyesight, and can lead to you leaning forward to read off your monitor. This will inadvertently help you maintain you’re your neck and back posture throughout the day.
2. Desk setup
This is actually in 2 parts, both relating to the height of your working space. Why are these important? If your desk is too high, you might be reaching upwards and hunching your shoulders to reach the keyboard. If your desk is too low, you might be bending your back forward to reach the keyboard.
If you are using a laptop, the screen and keyboard are connected, leaving you without many options to suit your height, especially if your desk is already low. Several ways to solve this is to raise the screen of your laptop, or get a separate keyboard or monitor.
3. Seating
No sofas or beanbags here, use an office chair with adjustable settings to suit you. Preferably with 4 adjustable functions: seat height, back rest tilt, back rest height and base tilt. The most important part of the chair is making sure you try and adjust using all 4 settings to find the position which is most comfortable for you. Start your chair at approximately 90 degree angle, then work out from there.
by Jonathan Lee