Working from home and not breaking your back

Now that office workers are working from home, the sedentary style of work has become more so! Sitting at your desk for 7-8 hours a day wasn’t the best for your back or body in general but now that we’re all working from home too that time isn’t broken up by chatting to colleagues or coffee room breaks. Sitting at your home setup probably isn’t the same as an office setup and certainly won’t be under the scrutiny of the HSE. So, it is vital that you take care of your body during this period of slouching while working (not slacking). Here are some tips for taking care of your body while working from home:

Sitting at your desk correctly

This is most likely something you’ve gone over at the office but it’s worth using a resource like the NHS website and double-checking your home office meets your needs and you’re sitting at your desk properly. It covers every base but some of the key highlights are; adjust your chair, set your monitor(s) to eye level and take regular breaks. Making sure the top of your monitors are set at your eye level and at an arm’s length, you will avoid having the bend your neck, repeatedly turn your neck or strain your eyes to see correctly.

Adjusting your chair to the right height will keep your arms parallel to the desk, this means that you can comfortably rest your arms on your chair, desk and keyboard. Taking regular rests, even for five minutes, will make the difference for your eyes, legs, and even productivity!

Posture and back support

Something that everyone is guilty of doing at least once in their life; slouching and not sitting correctly. Ensuring your back is supported and you’re sitting with a good posture will be the difference in how your back feels at the end of the day and later in life. We’ve all seen people slouched and curled up in their chair after sitting in it for hours and you can’t help but think “how does that not hurt!?” well, its important that you keep reminding yourself to chair your own posture and how you’re sitting.

Some chairs may not have the right lumber support, you can either invest in a new home-office chair or pick up a pillow to sit on to help. Ultimately, if it’s too late and you’ve hurt yourself or you can feel a pain in the back building, look for a local Osteopath for an adjustment and help on how to improve things or treat yourself to a massage.

Resting eyes

With less time going outside and more time looking at monitors, it has become vital to take breaks for your eyes and rest them sufficiently. Typically on your average working day you’re eyes will work to focus on objects at different distances. However, working from home means that you probably won’t be looking ahead to see what traffic is doing or reading the Greggs menu on your way in.

Therefore, your eyes may adjust to looking at an on average shorter distance, increasing the risk of become short-sighted. Going for a walk outside or not looking at a monitor for long periods of time will help with reducing the strain on your eyes. As well as ensuring your lighting is good when using a screen and intentionally blinking more too. Here is a very useful piece on reducing computer eye strain and some tips for getting relief for your eyes while working from home.

Drinking water

An obvious suggestion and someone we all know to do but without the routine of office life, how many of us are keeping up with drinking plenty of water? Many people have moved to motivational drinks bottles that mark how much water you should’ve drunk at various points in the day, it’s a fun way of keeping yourself on track and nice and hydrated.

Typically at the office, getting a drink of water means a little break from the computer, maybe a chat with a colleague or two, but now the added perks of getting a drink aren’t there and the activity itself may just slip your mind. However, staying hydrated is very important! Six to eight glasses of water is a healthy amount of water for the average adult every day, so to keep yourself happy and healthy, take a moment to grab a drink of water regularly or treat yourself to a stylish drinks bottle to keep at your desk.