Didn’t we all wish to work from the comforts of our home? It’s just that none of us seriously believed that something like that could actually be happening for real in our lifetime. While working in pajamas with a mug full of coffee in our hands sounds a little perk, the lack of a “predefined” workspace could be seriously messing up with our posture as we work long hours from home post Covid-19.
Over the past month, many who can do their jobs remotely made the abrupt transition in working from home to prevent the spread of the novel Covid-19, the illness caused by the Corona virus.
If you’re lucky, you have a home office — but I bet you’d be in the minority. Most of us are having to make do with a less-than-ideal office setup without well-cushioned chairs, keyboards or computers, and are experiencing new body aches and pains. Slouching, sitting too long, extending your wrists and relying upon a laptop screen put physical stress on your body that you may not notice but will definitely feel later.
If you are currently holding your neck from the pain of staring down at your laptop, you need to pay attention to what your body is telling you as there are chances of severe problems that might emerge in the future.
“When working from home, mostly all don’t have a predefined workspace like they might have in their office. Because of this, their body is accommodating differently than it does in a traditional work setting.
Poor posture can affect your health in a variety of ways, causing headaches, back, neck, hip, knee, and even foot pain. Shoulder pain and impingement, jaw pain, and fatigue and sometime breathing problems can also result from poor posture. Keeping your body in a neutral, relaxed position while working is key to avoiding pain
If your neck and shoulders are sending you warning pangs, your posture and the way you working all day long may be the culprit. In that case, you need to evaluate your work setup.
Some of these tips can help us keep our posture correct and avoid any kind of shoulder or neck pain:
- Your comfy sofa is your biggest enemy if you work for a prolonged period of time. Sofas not only cause your posture to immediately worsen, the perception of comfort can also stop you from moving around as much.
- Positioning the monitor at eye level so that your neck and shoulders are neutrally positioned. Also using a keyboard and a mouse can save you from hunching over your laptop for long.
- Placing frequently-used objects nearby so your body doesn’t have to strain to reach them.
- Changing places and positions frequently up to twice an hour can help you to loosen your muscles.
- Taking periodic breaks every 30 minutes to move around are another way to promote good blood circulation. As when you’re walking around, the muscles of the body are pumping almost as much blood as your heart is pumping.
- Staring at the glare of a computer screen for too long, you are making your eyes work harder, and this can lead to digital eye strain characterized by headaches, blurred vision, dry eyes, and neck and shoulder pain. Resting for a while can help.
- Taking a 20-second break to view something 20 feet away every 20 minutes can prove to be a good exercise for your eyes.
- Seeking natural light and taking frequent breaks can relax your eyes. Working near a window with natural light that is preferably at a 90-degree angle to your screen is better for your eyes than the variety of artificial light you are using at home.
Prevention is always better than cure, hence it is desirable that we try to avoid as much as stress as possible. This will help us in reducing the neck and shoulder pain. Also, if one can follow simple tips while working from home and take a few precautions, this problem can be easily eliminated.
These few tips can help you overcome the pain you are going through and help you to achieve an appropriate posture. Working while spending time with your family is the best part of life we always wished for. So, why not make the best use of it and enjoy it rather than creating problems and pain for our own selves. Are you facing similar problems working all from home these days? If then follow these easy ways to correct your posture and lead a stress free life.