Ergoblog

A Diagram of What Your Workstation Should Look Like

Whether you're trying to fight off repetitive stress injuries, headaches, back- and neck-aches, or you just want to feel more comfortable at your workstation, there are a few things you can do.  Set up your chair and desk so the following criteria are met:

• place your monitor 18" - 22" from your body (about an arm's length)
• you should be looking slightly down (top 1/3rd of the monitor at or below eye level)
• reduce glare with a flat-screen monitor (or draw the shades to prevent sunlight from hitting the screen)
• adjust your chair height so your feet are flat on the floor, and your knees are bent slightly more than 90 degrees in front of you.
• buy a chair that supports your back from pelvis to shoulder blades
• let your arms fall naturally (sometimes a chair without an arm rest is better), elbows bent slightly more than 90 degrees.

It can be hard to remember all the "rules" when you're setting up your workstation.  So, I'm providing a link to a diagram that you can print off and tape up next to your desk:

Proper adjustments for an ergonomic workstation

Fixing Eyestrain

Eyestrain, often caused by long hours staring at a computer monitor, can lead to headaches, double vision, burning and tightness in the eyes, and other symptoms, depending on the person.  How do you avoid eyestrain, you ask?  An article called "Eyestrain Basics" from Office Ergo offers some good information.  They cover glare, contrast from light and dark, problems caused by "distance viewing" (when the screen is too close or too far from the eyes), and monitor height.  If you're having trouble with your eyes (or are getting suspicious headaches), the article is worth a read:

Eyestrain Basics

Ergonomic Tips for the Home Office

Decking out your home office with the latest ergonomic gear?  Here are a few tips on what to look for from a book called Home Office Solutions: Creating the Space That Works for You (with comments inserted from yours truly):

• Buy the best office chair you can afford (I have to agree with this one; my first "home office chair" was a wooden thing swiped from the dining room table set--my rear end still winces at the memory of sitting on that for multiple hours).
• Invest in ergonomic keyboards, an alternative mouse (to avoid repetitive clicking), lumbar cushions (many higher end ergonomic chairs come with lumbar supports), and a hands-free headset for the phone (some people actually get a type of RSI from tilting their heads to hold the phone against their shoulder while they continue working with both hands).
• Use halogen lights for task lighting, and adjust lights and ambient lighting to eliminate glare on the computer monitor.
• For writing or drawing, choose an inclined surface rather than a flat desk.
• Place all your equipment at levels/in positions that put minimal strain on your neck, shoulders, arms, and back (you should be comfortable at your desk not just for the first fifteen minutes but for as long as you need to work).

For more tips and information on setting up a home office, check the book out from your local library (it's interesting to browse through, but I'm not sure it's the type of book you need to add to your collection).

Home Office Basics

As more of us are working from home either full or part time, we need to think about setting up our home offices with comfort and ergonomics in mind.  Everything from keyboard and mouse to chair and lighting should be considered.  This is one area where you don't want to skimp, especially if you spend more than an hour at the desk or computer.

I dug up a few articles that cover the basics better than I could, so please delve in:

Home Office Ergonomics
Ergonomics and Workstation Set Up
Home Office: Work in Comfort, and Treat Your Body Right
Self-Evaluation Survey: Does Your Computer Workstation Fit You?

Fighting Monitor Glare

Monitor glare can lead to headaches and can also adversely effect your posture since you may need to lean closer to the screen or off to the side in order to see well. Bad posture can lead to problems with RSI and other computer-related maladies (see, your mother was right).

Some obvious ways to fight glare are to get a flat screen or an LCD monitor--these types of screens are less susceptible. A cheaper fix is to get an anti-glare monitor filter. If you don't want to spend any money, you can fashion a hood for your monitor using some carboard and tape--it may not be pretty but it'll do the job.

Further resources:

About Computer Monitors & Eye Strain
Improving Visual Comfort and Reducing Eyestrain at Your Workstation

Exercise!

In my two-odd years dealing with RSI, one of the things I've noticed is that taking a break and getting some extra oxygen into my body often makes sore hands feel better, at least for a while. I'm sure it's no secret that exercise is good for you, and you should be working out 30 minutes a day 5 times a week (or whatever the recommended dosage is up to now), but I've found even little mini breaks to be helpful during the day. A five minute walk or doing some yoga stretches can make your sore hands, back, neck, (insert ailment here) feel a little better.

If you are looking for exercise buddies (let's face it, it can be hard to get motivated by yourself) try a site like Fitness Buddies which has a forum dedicated to helping people find workout partners.

Work from Home? Think Ergonomics.

Got aches and pains? Work from home? Your home office maybe the culprit.

A recent article from Ergoweb has some ergonomics tips for those who work from home, suggestions regarding chairs, desks, light, workspace, and work habits. For those who fashioned their home office from any old furniture line around the house, it's a good read.

If Telecommuting Is a Pain Ergonomics Can Be the Solution

Home Office Lighting

Lighting is an important part of setting your home office up with proper ergonomicw in mind. Poor lighting can cause eye strain, glare, headaches, and other related maladies. It can also be an instigator for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Here are a few articles I scrounged with information on lighting your home office:
Office Lighting Information
Bright Ideas for Home Office Lighting

If you're looking for a cool but functional computer light, the ThinkGeek Computing section offers the Eclipse Computer Light, specifically made for eliminating glare on the monitor.

And here's a blog run by a friend that is entirely devoted to SAD, lighting, and the science behind it all.

Negative Tilt

A lot of keyboards are higher in the back than the front. In actuality, a negative tilt--higher in the front than the back--may be more comfortable in the long run and possibly help prevent typing-related repetitive strain injuries (RSI). It may be worth trying if you've had trouble with your wrists in the past or are just looking to take preventative measures.

Since it's hard to find keyboards built that way (are there any?), you'll have to grab a keyboard tray in order to achieve the negative tilt position. Look for one that has a ridge of some sort in the back (to keep the keyboard from sliding off) and doesn't bump your knees.

For more information on keyboard trays, check this article on keyboard trays.

Ergonomics Are Important in Your Home Office, Too

According to an article in the Ithaca Journal, almost 20 million people in the US do some work for their primary job at home. Less than 20% of people with home offices, however, have them set up the way they would like. (Maybe they're like me, and their home offices are more like office/living rooms or office/bedrooms).

As the article goes on to point out, it's important to set up your home office with a style that suits you, and don't forget ergonomics.

Between computer games, chat rooms, the web, and e-mail, many of us are spending as much--or more--time in front of our home computers as we ever do at the office computers. Ergonomic chairs, desks, keyboards and keyboard trays, mice, and lighting are for home, too. The more time you spend in your home-office, the more important it is to make a comfortable place where you can be productive (or at least, get to the next level...).

So, look around your area. Maybe it's time for a trip to Office Depot, eh?

Read the Ithaca Journal home-office decorating article.

Free RSI Quick Reference Brochures/Handouts

The RSI Program site, maintained by the folks who put together It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome..., offers brochures on Repetitive Strain Injury in various sizes that you can print off and handout to your employees. They cover proper posture/ergonomics for computer users, some stretches and exercises, and general RSI information. It would probably be a good idea to print out a bunch, laminate them, and post them at everybody's workstation.

You never know, people might actually read them in between using them for coasters and alternate mouse pads...

RSI Brochure

Ergonomics Checklist

The University of Washington (the school that may eventually give me a degree) has an ergonomics checklist online that covers chairs and chair positioning in relation to your desk/monitor, glare, keyboard/mouse positioning, lighting, and tips for preventing repetitive stress injuries. Fairly decent pictures make it easy to understand. The article finishes with a number of stretches you can do at your desk, also with pictures.

The Ergonomics Checklist is in PDF format (which Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn't seem to know how to navigate through -- surprise, surprise).

RSI Risks of Web Browsing

Our fun computer time, spenting surfing the web or gaming, can contribute to repetitive stress injuries as readily as our work time. I have no doubt my Everquest years were a part of what made me an RSI sufferer in the first place (alas, I've since given up gaming).

I found an interesting study on the ergonomics of web browsing. It takes a look at how web browsing postures often differ from typing postures. We tend to relax a bit when surfing (good), but that can mean assuming a posture where we have to reach farther for the mouse than we normally would, overextending our arms for a prolonged period of time, sometimes with the wrist at an unnatural angle (bad). It's easy to have hours pass when involved with a forum or an interesting site, too. (Check out my post on break reminder programs if you haven't).

The study recommended some tips for lessening your longterm risks from web surfing:

Change your posture when waiting for pages to load
Get up and stretch often.
Move your mouse closer to your body if you find yourself reaching for it.
Spend some of your fun time doing something away from the computer.

For more tips and information, read the article.

Break Reminder Programs

It's a good idea to take frequent breaks from the computer during your work day in order to help prevent repetitive stress injuries. Most sources I've read have recommended taking a break at least every half hour for 2-3 minutes, with some recommending a break every 15 minutes.

There are a number of break reminder programs out there, some free, some that cost $20-30 (most of these have a free trial). I'm on the hunt for a good one right now. I was just doing the Oh-I-know-when-it's-been-20-minutes thing, but it's easy to let an hour pass without realizing it.

I'm going to try a few and I'll let you know which I like best.

I've been using Albion StopNow for about two days, and so far it's the one to beat. It doesn't have any annoying popups that knock you away from your current window, and it recognizes when I'm using Drgon NaturallySpeaking and counts that as time. It resides in the system tray and turns red and beeps (annoyingly if you ignore it--but that's the point) when it's time to take a break. You set the break lengths and times during the fst and easy setup. The only downside is that if you don't generally work with your speakers on, it'd be somewhat easy to miss the warning and just work through. Albion is free to try for 10 days, and then you have to pay $25 to keep it.

I downloaded Break Reminder which is a free program, but the setup was 11 steps, and I was tired of messing with it by step 7. There's too much junk about micropauses and what should be counted as work time and break time and yadda yadda. After Albion, it was a pain so I said forget it early on.

I don't mind paying the money for something I like, so Albion remains the one I'm using for now, but I'm going to try a few more programs before the 10 days is up and see if there's something as good out there that is free. If I find something better, I'll post it.

10 Stretches You Can Do at Your Desk

There are number of sites out there that give you some stretches or exercises you can do at your desk (it's a good idea to take breaks every 15-30 minutes as a preventative precaution against RSI). I thought I'd share this one. It's quick and easy, with cartoons to illustrate the stretches. I love the little warning at the end about being careful if you have chairs with wheels.

The main site has a number of helpful carpal tunnel syndrome related links as well.
CTS Place

How Clean Is Your Mouse Ball?

StreamingMediaIQ posted an article today on Mouse Ergonomics. It's pretty basic stuff, but I must admit, I'd never worried about cleaning the dust out of the bottom of my mouse before.

Here's a quick summary of the tips offered in the article:

Make use of keyboard shortcuts to alleviate the amount of clicking and dragging you need to do.

Be aware of mouse placement. You shouldn't have to reach for it; there should be a 90 degree angle between your forearm and upper arm. Also, don't tilt your wrist upward to use your mouse.

Use a mouse pad. This ensures the mouse will move smoothly and minimize the effort required to use it.

Clean the mouse ball. Eliminating the hordes of dust clinging to it will also help the mouse move smoother.

Full article: Mouse Ergonomics