One way of compensating for this is with your chair. If you have an adjustable chair, you can use the combination of its height and an optional footrest (or even just a shoebox) to tailor it. You should aim for some back support, like a pillow, and for your elbows to have a rough 90-degree angle when you’re typing.
Surprisingly, Lees says there is a place for occasionally using a computer on your lap while sitting on the couch.Credit: iStock
Lees likes to set people up with a slight, five to 10 degrees, backwards recline. “If you’re leaning back slightly, you can’t lean forward; therefore you can’t slouch,” he says. Add an external keyboard and mouse so you can line up the top of your monitor at or slightly below your eye level, and everything should be feeling a lot more comfortable.
At this point, it’s helpful to understand that there are only two variables that will cause you to develop symptoms from your workstation: the set-up of your equipment and how long you are there for.
“My opinion is the time you’re in the workstation is equally, if not more important, than what the setup actually looks like or feels like,” says Lees.
He recommends you figure out what your ‘postural threshold’ is. This is how long you can stay in a position, sitting or standing, before you feel the need to change positions.
To achieve this, note the first time you start feeling any symptoms or discomfort when you’re working, which can be as simple as “my bum’s getting a bit sore from sitting down so long”, he says. Once you’ve determined what the threshold is for your own set-up, then you should move when you reach 75 per cent of that time.
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To give you an example, if you can comfortably sit at your WFH desk for an hour before you start noticing that your neck starts to hurt a little, then that’s your postural threshold. You should therefore aim to change positions every 45 minutes, or 75 per cent of your one-hour limit.
Lastly, remember that working from home offers advantages than many offices don’t, like the lure of the comfy sofa in your living room that’s just begging for you to sit on it.
Somewhat surprisingly, Lees says there’s a place for occasionally using a computer on your lap while sitting on the couch – provided you don’t have any pain. Just keep notice of your postural threshold in that position, and enjoy one of the best benefits of WFH.
With 5.2 million Australians working from home, there are 5.2 million different ways of doing it. Everyone’s situation is as unique as their bodies, but making some of these small tweaks to your set-up can have a big impact on how you work.
Tim Duggan is the author of Work Backwards: The Revolutionary Method to Work Smarter and Live Better. He writes a regular newsletter at timduggan.substack.com
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