Make Your Home Workstation Work
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, many people are finding themselves working from home–with very little notice to prepare. Some without a dedicated home office are using coffee tables, recliners, kitchen tables and counters, and any number of other surfaces and locations as makeshift workspaces. All can potentially lead to aches and pain, according to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA).
Scott Donkin, DC, DACBOH, and Scott Bautch, DC, DACBOH, CCSP, CCST, of the ACA Council on Occupational Health, are accustomed to making recommendations for their patient’s traditional workspaces, but they also understand that in times of unexpected change you must find ways to adapt quickly. Many of the workers forced to go remote are working on laptops, according to the doctors. Here are their top three suggestions for making a home workstation work with your laptop:
Pick a Spot
If you do not have a regular desk at home, working at a kitchen table is generally much better than sitting on a couch with your laptop on your lap.
Adjust Your Seat
For those without an ergonomic chair, use a seat wedge to help maintain better posture. Sitting on the wedge makes you tilt your thighs forward and down, which causes you to arch your back and sit up straighter. You can purchase seat wedges online, or you can make your own by folding a bed pillow in half to form a wedge.
Adjust Your Monitor
The kitchen table is often too low for the laptop screen, so place large coffee table books or reams of copy paper underneath to raise the laptop in a stable way so that you do not have to raise your hands uncomfortably up, or bend your head uncomfortably down. Consider getting a wireless keyboard, which enables you to raise the laptop screen higher—to eye level—and place the keyboard on the table top, which will encourage better posture.
Create a DIY Sit/Stand Station
The popularity of standing desks has increased significantly over the past several years. You can create your own standing desk at home by simply working at a raised kitchen counter, for example, but be sure that the height of the counter does not cause you to bend your elbows too much. You should be able to comfortably reach your keyboard with elbows bent at about a 90-degree angle. While you’re at it, consider using a wireless keyboard and boosting the height of your laptop screen to eye level with books, reams of paper, or a stand, which in turn will prevent neck strain caused by looking too far down at the screen (see photo).
As it turns out, every seated workstation, even a makeshift one, can be a sit/stand station, according to Drs. Donkin and Bautch. All you need to do is simply stand up every 20 minutes or so and take a break that includes some stretching and movement. Here is an example:
- Stand up and move your legs up and down like you are walking in place.
- Look at an object that is more than 20 feet away for about 20 seconds.
- Gently shake your hands wrists and elbows for a few seconds while you are also gently rolling your shoulders up, back, and down.
- Take a slow, deep breath in to improve your posture and smile, then slowly exhale.
- Sit down, refreshed, in a good posture. You are ready to get back to work!
For more information on musculoskeletal health and injury prevention tips, visit the ACA’s consumer website, HandsDownBetter.org.
Scott Donkin, DC, DACBOH, is an internationally published author, chiropractor, lecturer, and consultant who has been in private practice in Lincoln, Nebraska for over twenty-five years.
