Optimizing Your Workspace

Whether you’re working from home or from an office, it’s important that you take as much care of your body as possible. In a home office setting, you usually have the freedom to make your workspace as comfortable as you want, but that doesn’t mean doing all your work from your favorite bean bag chair. Creating an ergonomic workspace is really a form of self-care. From head to toe, your posture, your eye line, and how you set up your equipment can make all the difference in having a healthy work environment.

“Creating an ergonomic workspace is really a form of self-care.”

Whether you are at a sitting or standing desk doesn’t actually change much about the go-to rules for healthy posture. According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, your spine and neck should be straight, your feet should be flat on the floor, and your elbows should be at a 90-degree angle with your hands resting on your keyboard. 

Having a high quality, adjustable chair for working at a sitting desk is great, but ergonomics doesn’t stop there. If your feet don’t touch the ground, you might need to use a footstool, or even some books. Your keyboard and mouse should be at the same level – it helps to make use of a keyboard tray if you have one; your elbows are able to rest on the arms of your chair and your keyboard and mouse should be right where your hands come to rest.

Make sure that your computer monitor is at eye level. If you’re looking downward at your screen all day your neck will not be very happy later. In other words – avoid spending the entire day working from your laptop at the kitchen counter. Some will recommend that your eye level be in line with the top of your monitor, others say that your eyes should be at about ¾ of the way to the top of the monitor. It depends on what is most comfortable with your height and on how your workspace is set up.

Another important thing to keep in mind is the lighting of your workspace. Try not to work on a computer in a dimly lit room, as the contrast of your bright screen can do damage to your eyes after long periods of time. Also, if you’re working in a room with a window, try to adjust your screens to avoid any incoming glare.

“Feeling good in your workspace will put you in a good space to work!”

Making a point to practice good ergonomics takes a ton of stress off of your workflow. Feeling good in your workspace will put you in a good space to work! If you’re working from home you can customize your environment to be as ergonomically correct as possible, so go ahead! Your body will thank you.