“Oh posture! It is about sitting straight,” is what strikes your mind as you quickly straighten your crouched back every time you encounter the P-word.
We are all guilty of bringing shame to our Homo erectus origins by crouching, bending and not following proper positions while working.
Proper posture is not simply about sitting straight; it is about any “position with attitude.” No matter what your state of movement is at the moment, static or dynamic, taking control of your position is crucial to ensuring sound health and prolific work habits.
Consequences of wrong posture range from minor pains in the neck, back, knee, wrist to detrimental effects in the spinal cord like degenerative spine conditions that can harm our performance and productivity at work.
In countries where workers can effectively claim compensation for non-fatal work-related injuries, musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) arising from improper working habits of employees form a huge chunk of these compensations to be paid by employers.
Although majority of Bangladeshi companies are yet to internalise the costs of failing productivity of workers through bad working practices, more and more companies around the world are investing in good workplace postures as they acknowledge that humans were not primarily designed to spend their days sitting on their bottoms staying fixated to computer screens.
Blame technology if you may for inventing hunchback-imposing devices like laptops and computers that dominate our work desks but compromising the way you sit is no longer acceptable.
Up your game
Straighten up your back and neck. Crouching is tempting but deceptively unhealthy. Move your chair closer to the desk so that the need to bend over is eliminated. Keep your wrists straight but do not rest them on the keyboard or at the edge of the table.
The 90 degree rule
Keep your elbows closer to your sides and bent at about a 90 degree angle. Resist the urge to move your elbows away from the centre with the movement of the mouse. The lower part of your leg should be at right angles with your thigh.
Cushion the damage
Apply padding on any sharp edges that cause strain on the wrists to avoid injury. Mouse pads with gel wrist support are ideal for this purpose. Placing cushions at the back of your chair will reduce the pressure on your back resulting from sitting for long hours. If the table is too high or the chair is too low, put a cushion underneath to level your position so that the desk or the keyboard is between your belly and the bottom of your rib cage. Add height to your laptop by placing books under it so that the centre of the monitor makes a slanted angle with your eye level.
Defy repetition
Take a break after every half an hour of doing repetitive tasks like typing. Relax your muscles by doing hand exercises; squeeze stress balls from time to time. Rotate your wrists in circular motions to ease the strain. Cycling effectively reduces the risks of obesity originating from prolonged hours of sitting.
Educating yourself about posture perfection is of no use if you do not incorporate them in your daily lives. These precautions are obligatory for performing better and smarter.