Making your home office work for you and your health

September 2020,

When working from home, many of us are finding ourselves hunched over laptops on sofas or beds, perched on hard dining room chairs or subjecting our arms and wrists to ill-placed keyboards. This can be quite a pain and a stress trigger which most likely may affect how productivity and how we view work time.

One of the most important things you can do while setting up your home office is to create distance between your work and personal life. Have your own special workspace that is used exclusively (or mostly) for work. Keep your personal space separate. This is the best way to allow yourself to decompress after work.

You may be spending more time working and ideally on a chair ,with a desk in front of you and a laptop and always in a certain “ideal posture” absorbing the energy of environment as well the distractions. You can set up your workspace to be safe and comfortable with a few ergonomic tips. Doing so reduces your chance of injury and increases your comfort, all of which helps you stay creative, minimize stressors and stay productive and focused. Some tips for you and I are as below:

Take stretch breaks. Break up the strain on your body that results from doing the same thing for a long time in an uncomfortable position. When possible, use the time during work calls to stand up, walk and stretch. (This is a good way to promote workplace wellness, too.)

Clear the clutter. Take a page from the minimalism handbook and deep-six the clutter in your office. May Bennison of The Minimal Stylist says, “Think about what is essential for you to do your work and discard the rest. It’s only clogging up your space, and therefore, your mind.”

Suggest a functional routine. Establish and maintain a healthy daily routine that puts them in the right mindset to work as they would do in the office. Getting up at the time they usually would for work may give them the opportunity to exercise or prepare a healthy breakfast that will set them up for the day.

Display meaningful pieces. Mementos can transport us to happy moments or soothe our psyches. It can be anything from a piece of pottery, to special artwork or a photo of loved ones or favorite memories that brings you joy and makes you smile. It’s all up to you!

Surround yourself with plants. Personally I am an “aspiring plant mum” and I find this tip quite useful. Just go ahead and try to be stressed when you’re surrounded by thriving, green plants. It’s almost impossible, right? Research shows that plants improve air quality, health, mood, and productivity being an air filter , leads to improved health as plants are also natural humidifiers which can reduce incidents of dry skin, sore throat, and dry coughs and are mood enhancers as they make a place more appealing.

There are many great options for desk plants that are optimal for cleaning the air and offering other health perks. They include the Spider Plant (Chrolophytum comosum),Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata), Philodendron, Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum) and Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata bostoniensis) among others. Feel free to research more on the mentioned and more.

The Pomodoro technique: The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system that encourages people to work with the time they have — rather than against it. Using this method, you break your workday into 25-minute chunks separated by five-minute breaks. These intervals are referred to as pomodoros. After about four pomodoros, you take a longer break of about 15 to 20 minutes.This can be an effective method to use when working in a home environment where there might be more distractions.

Reward: You get stuff done. This feels good, and your brain celebrates by shooting some dopamine into the bloodstream, which is always nice.

Make Time For Exercise: Exercising can keep your heart and lungs healthy, and it may help decrease aches and pains that occur from performing desk work each and every day. Thirty minutes of exercise each day can also help elevate your mood and promote feelings of well-being, something that may be important during these uncertain times.

Exercises that you can be doing include: going for a solitary walk or jog, skip rope, bike riding, low back stretches, postural stretches, neck stretches, body weight strengthening exercises

By being creative and using items around the house for exercise, you can be sure to keep your body moving and your mind sharp. Exercise may also help prevent repetitive strain injuries that may occur while spending countless hours at your home office workstation.

More ergonomic tips: Reduce eyestrain by taking microbreaks. Strive to take a 20-second break every 20 minutes by looking at something else at least 20 feet away.

Improve poor lighting. Use task lighting when working on printed materials and focused, diffuse light for computer work. To prevent eye fatigue, avoid the glare from bright sunlight on a laptop screen.

To minimize external noise, use a headphone with a microphone for teleconference calls. Use an external keyboard and mouse for better positioning of the laptop monitor. This can help foster neutral neck posture and proper alignment of the arms and wrists.

You may want to investigate ways to create a home office setup that allows you to change between a sitting and standing position. Make your own stand up work station. Consider placing your current desk on risers. You could use stacks of books or wooden blocks under your desk legs to make your desk taller. Use a level to ensure that your work surface is level. Another DIY option is to use an old box to elevate your computer and monitor so you can work standing up. Get creative! This option is best if you are using a laptop for work.

Posture. When sitting or standing, be mindful of maintaining an upright posture while you work, your low back should have a slight forward curve, your ears should remain directly over your shoulders, your shoulders should remain over your hips. It may be helpful to set an alarm to ring every hour to remind you to sit up properly while working. The slouch-overcorrect exercise is also a great maneuver to do to remind yourself to sit with proper posture.

Taking a few moments to ensure that your home office is set up properly can help you reduce repetitive stress and strain while working. This can minimize pain, improve posture, and improve your overall productivity while working.

What works for you? Your family is unique, and things are always changing. Staying adaptive, keeping creative, and making your work-from-home situation work for you — that’s what it’s all about.

At the end of the day, as HR practitioners and managers nurturing employee safety and wellness through home office ergonomics is another way to build a positive workplace culture, one that keeps remote workers engaged and productive.

By creating a culture that supports safety and ergonomic best practices, you make your employees feel valued and cared for. Nothing promotes retention like an environment that’s comfortable and safe, where all employees are empowered to be productive and do their best work whenever.

Written by Edna Omol.

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Email :ednaomol@gmail.com

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