How to Make Your Desk More Comfortable

You’ve heard all of the studies that show sitting all day is as bad for you as smoking, and you’ve felt your wrists or back ache after spending hours on end hunched over your computer at work. If you can’t get a standing desk, or magically change your job description to include hourly yoga breaks, what can you do?

Janelle Lacoille, a personal trainer in New York, and recent research offer a few simple ways to relieve the ache and get your alignment on point. You can make big changes with just a few simple changes:

First, Adjust Your Desk:

• Prop Some Books or Reams of Paper Under Your Monitor. The top third of your screen should be right at (or ever so slightly above) eye level, Janelle says.
• Keep Your Keyboard in Line with Your Elbows. Your wrists shouldn’t be higher or lower than your elbows. You can adjust your chair’s height to get everything in line. If you have a laptop, Janelle recommends buying a wireless keyboard and mouse to keep at wrist level, then placing the laptop on a stack of books so your neck isn’t straining to hold up the weight of your drooping skull.
• Embrace Flat Feet. Your tootsies should be flat on the ground. If your desk and chair are too high, the Mayo Clinic suggests buying a foot rest or using a stool so your feet aren’t dangling or hooked around the chair legs all day.

Second, Adjust Your Habits:

• Set an Hourly Alarm on Your Phone to Gently Remind You to Get Moving. Just five minutes of activity — say, walking to the water cooler to get a refill — can counteract an hour’s worth of sitting. A 2014 study from the University of Indiana found that people who sat for hours on end had decreased blood flow in their legs, which can lead to blood pooling and impaired vein function, a red flag for heart disease. A 5-minute walk every hour, however, prevented that decline.
• Put That Kitschy “We Must Increase Our Bust” Jingle to Use. Not so much singing it, but following its recommendations — sort of. Exercises that open up your chest and strengthen your pecs, like fly presses, can help relieve the tension from being slumped in a chair all day, Janelle says.
• Square Your Shoulders. If you have pain in just one shoulder, there’s a good chance it has to do with the way you’re working, Janelle says. Many people write or use a mouse with one shoulder slumped, putting strain on the other shoulder (another culprit: always carrying heavy bags on the same shoulder). Do a posture check throughout the day, and even up your shoulders if they’re not in line.

Ah, sweet relief!

Photo: Jeff Sheldon/Unsplash