Tips for Keeping a Healthy and Ergonomic Office

As we live in the digital age today, working on computers, or laptops become very common. According to the research, the average office workers spend over 8 hours a day on the electronic equipment. However, prolonged using can lead to a host of negative problems, especially when in the poor postures. Generally, people are tied to their desks at work and being too glued to the screens for long period of time, which can increase the risk of eye strain, cardiovascular disease, cervical spondylosis, and even premature death.

To avoid these negative outcomes, we should pay more attention to the working postures and get more active, so that to help reduce workplace injuries, improve productivity and make happy employees. Here are some tips for us to keep a healthy and ergonomic office.

1. Keep a good posture

Many workplace injuries could be avoided, and prevention is better than cure - the key is to keep a good posture, but how? Here is a 5-step checklist that we can carry out when we sitting at work.

    -  Head upright and keep your ears in line with your shoulders.

    -  Eyes looking slight downward without bending from the neck.

    -  Sit close to the desk and lean back in a chair with back support or try using a lumbar support pillow.

    -  Set your desk or chair at the position that can keep your upper arms vertical and forearms horizontal to the desktop.

    -  Place your feet flat on the floor or footrest, no crossing legs or sticking them out in front of you.

2. Try a height adjustable desk

Do you need to sit for long periods of time? As research shows, prolonged sitting has negative impacts, so it’s better if we can use a height-adjustable standing desk to help switch the working postures from sitting to standing more frequently.

A height adjustable desk is the intermediate form of office workstation between a typical seated desk and a standing desk. It allows users to position the workstation at a level convenient for sitting or standing [1], so that can reduce strain and improve productivity at work. As the professional height adjustable standing desk manufacturer, LUMI provides a variety of sit-stand desks to meet different market requirements. Usually, it has electric and manual two types – with the electric one, people can adjust the desk height simply by pressing a button. 

3. Stretch and Release

Doing office stretches is a quick and effective way to relax your body and boost work efficiency. People can use office furniture, wall or floor to do some simple exercise like overhead stretches, cat stretch, neck rolls, plank, and deep squats, etc. Besides, keep a water bottle at the desk and refill it frequently is also a good way to release pressure, keep healthy and improve productivity.

4. Avoid junk food at work

Office junk food is ever present, like candy, sweet cakes, fried fast food, carbonate beverages, etc. Obviously, eating too much junk food will make us get fatter, increase the risks of obesity, dementia and other chronic diseases. To avoid junk food in the office, we can eat healthy food instead, such as fruits, nuts and yoghourt. In addition, we can also replace the oily take-out food with home cooking, and drink lots of water to feel full while at work.

References
[1] Wikipedia - Sit-stand desk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sit-stand_desk