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Maximizing Comfort and Convenience in Your Workstation

1. Good Sitting Posture
Good sitting posture is essential to promote long-term health. Adjust the height of your chair until you can sit up straight, knees even with your hips or a little lower, and feet flat on the floor. If you can’t do your work from this height, experiment with using a footrest and raising the height of your chair.

Next, ensure maximum lumbar support. If your chair has an adjustable back support, set it at your belt line. If your chair doesn’t have an adjustable back support, you can either buy a lumbar support cushion or make one by rolling up a towel.

2. Relaxed Arms and Shoulders
To prevent stress and strain in your wrists and shoulders, make sure the keyboard and mouse are at the same level, on a flat surface, and at the right distance from you. With good sitting posture, you should be able to work with your shoulders relaxed and down, your upper arms relaxed by your sides, and your forearms bent at a 90-degree angle, or parallel to the floor. Having the keyboard and mouse at the same level prevents you from having to reach away from your body.

3. Neck Posture and Vision
Adjust the height and tilt of the monitor so that you can face it straight on. You should be about an arm’s length away (16 to 22 inches) from the monitor; the top of your forehead should be even with the top of the screen. Use a copy holder for reference documents and data to be input. Correct placement of the monitor and use of a copy holder will help prevent eye strain and bending and twisting of the neck. Taking these steps will help prevent painful tightness and knotting of the neck and shoulder muscles.

4. Proper Arrangement of Your Tools
Place the items you frequently use within easy reach. This will prevent excessive twisting and turning of the torso to reach for a needed item. Such items might include the phone, pens, note pads, paper clips, reference books, and so forth. Remove unnecessary clutter from your desktop. Store items you only need to access periodically, such as printer paper. Organize your workstation for efficiency and convenience.

5. Exercising in Your Cubicle
Your company may be able to give you information on the types of exercises you can do safely in your cubicle to prevent muscle tightness and fatigue, carpal tunnel syndrome, eye strain, and other common hazards of sedentary cubicle life.

Gentle stretching, varying your posture, eye exercises, isometrics, and relaxation and breathing exercises can assist you greatly in maintaining good muscle tone and circulation. Learning relaxation and good breathing habits is important because stress can cause your muscles to tense up in spite of any other exercises you do. Correct breathing automatically relaxes the muscles. A simple eye exercise is to take a minute to look around and let your eyes focus at different distances instead of always being glued to the screen. It is also important to pace yourself, rotate tasks, and take frequent short breaks.

6. Staying Connected with Coworkers
Stay connected in person with your coworkers. Sometimes people become isolated in their cubicles. They send e-mails (even to the coworker in the next cubicle), eat lunch in their cubicle, take their breaks in their cubicle, and only emerge from their cubicle when it’s time to go home. Studies have shown that an appropriate amount of social interaction among coworkers is good for business. While you would obviously not want to spend too much time socializing at the office, good relations promote teamwork, productivity, and quality. Follow up on your e-mails with a greeting, some eye contact, and a smile.