Working from home guidance

Many of us have had the choice of working from home as a flexible option for some time, but as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, it has become more of a necessity. While we might think that home is our comfortable natural environment, we all know that it is not designed for work. Common home furniture might aggravate an already existing musculoskeletal problem, or add stress to our already stressful day.

However, there are some healthy tips to apply even when we are working from home:

1. Create a similar to our office environment by checking the optimal lighting, and ventilation.
   
   
2. Create your own working corner with basic ergonomics rules: elbows, knees 90 degrees, feet comfortably on the floor, and enough space for your coffee, tea and notebooks. Remember to use a separate keyboard and mouse if possible – rather than your laptop.  This can have a number of benefits including providing a better typing posture (in order to protect your wrists while typing) as well as allowing you to place your laptop screen at a higher level (to help protect your neck and back).  If possible an extra monitor (top of the monitor to your eye level) will allow greater flexibility. If you don’t have an adjustable office-style chair adding extra support (such as a pillow) to support your back can help.  If necessary a short stool for your legs can provide extra support.
   
   
3. As well as optimising your physical posture it is important to relax your eyes, every hour try to look far away from your screen for about 5min. 
   
   
4. At the same time take care of your joints, stretch yourself and move about. The human body is designed for movement and even the ‘perfect’ posture will become uncomfortable in time. This is even more important if you don’t quite manage that perfect posture!