The Ergonomic Equation

Home Office Comfort Made Easy

In a recent article, you learned the importance of a good desk chair. But even the best chair is only one part of ergonomics. Ergonomics refers to the study of designing equipment, such as chairs, keyboards, and workstations to reduce fatigue, discomfort and injury and to align them to the shape of the human body.

Comfort = Productivity

Many people think ergonomics is too complicated and expensive, but it simply involves adjusting your chair, keyboard and/or monitor. A few minutes of fine-tuning will pay benefits in reduced neck, shoulder, back and wrist strain.

The Ergonomic Equation (with apologies to Albert Einstein)

A simple way to remember ergonomics is:

• E² = MCK
• Ergonomics made Easy = Monitor (or laptop screen) + Chair + Keyboard.

Let’s start from the ground up:

Chair

To prevent leg cramps and back pain your desk chair must:

• Allow your feet to rest flat on the floor or a foot rest
• Adjust so your ankles, knees and hips are at approximate right angles

Keyboard

To avoid having your shoulders hunched while you work (a major source of muscle tension):

• Adjust the height of your keyboard so your shoulders can relax, with your elbows at a 90º angle and your forearms parallel to the floor.
• Use a keyboard drawer, an articulating keyboard tray or adjustable keyboard stand.
• The keyboard tray or drawer should be wide enough to hold your computer mouse as well, so you can easily move your hand and forearm back and forth between keyboard and mouse.
• Place a wrist support cushion below your keyboard – this is crucial.
• Use a standard keyboard and mouse plugged-into to your laptop and placed on a keyboard tray or adjustable stand, rather than work on your laptop keyboard,

Monitor or Laptop Screen

To avoid neck pain and headaches have your computer screen adjusted so your head is balanced, not thrust forward or tilted back:

• Ergonomic engineers recommend adjusting your computer monitor so the top of the computer screen is level with your eyes. This allows for a slightly downward gaze that is less drying and fatiguing for your eyes.
• If you are tall, you may need to raise your laptop with an adjustable stand, or use a phone book or ream of paper to elevate your computer screen.
• If you are short when seated or wear bi-focals, you may need to lower your computer screen.
• If you find yourself squinting, use the often overlooked “zoom” or “enlarge page” function on your computer. Or simply move the monitor or laptop screen a few inches closer to you.
• Have your computer screen and keyboard aligned right in front of you, instead of twisting in your chair.

Telephone Headset

Consider a telephone headset connected to your desktop or cellular phone. They are relatively inexpensive and save on visits to your chiropractor. One client told me, with a smile, a two ear-piece headphone screens out the distracting noise of her kids.

You will know you have done everything right when your shoulders are relaxed, your forearms are parallel to the floor, and your feet are flat on the floor or a foot rest.