It’s 11 a.m. and time for your second cup of joe, but oh wait, your back is too sore from sitting, staring at your computer for the last three hours to be worth the bother of getting up. The average office jockey spends around
40 hours clamouring in discomfort trying to get through their slush pile each week but remaining unproductive because of their current unhealthy desk life.
Most youngsters feel invincible, but with lack of blood flow and consistently inactive muscles, we’re only feeling older faster. With a little tweaking, though, we can construct a healthy desk life so working will be more comfortable and the workload more bearable. And if this doesn’t help, they’re making great advancements in wheelchairs these days.
Rebuilding the Work Chair
The creaking old chair, which looks cool but hurts like a mother, is not doing your back any favors when it comes to lengthy stretches of work. Slumping to find comfort to the point where sitting correctly hurts and your posture looks like something out of a Disney cartoon only furthers the agony of work life, but that can all change starting with where you sit. Using an exercise ball removes the convenience of having a back of your chair to lean against, forcing you to sit up straight and balance. The ball, besides playful and inexpensive, betters your posture and strengthens you core. So if you were looking to change the direction your back is heading in, sitting upright, leaning with balance and getting the abs of a sexy, greased-up beefcake is a smart way to go. Just go easy on it, beginners; only a couple hours at a time.
Sitting altogether is a problem, too, so take standing breaks. Adjustable stand-up desks are the new craze in the work environment, removing the possibility of poor sitting posture completely and keeping the blood flowing in your legs. Plus it combats the office porn intake, which can be telling if you’re always standing.
Your Arm Rest Ain’t the Best
Not everyone has back problems, but most people get shoulder cramps and sometimes sore wrists, and it usually has to do with the ergonomics of your desk structure. Being ergonomically incorrect means you could be leaning your wrist up again the corner of your desk, damaging muscles and cutting off blood flow and can lead to carpel tunnel or tingling in your arm. Your elbow should never be dropped far below your wrist, but instead the forearm should be flat, your wrist not resting on anything other than a cushioned mouse pad and your hand hovering comfortably over your mouse instead of into it. Anything else, and you’re asking for a world of hurt.
Sitting for too long or stressing out when you needn’t are known to lead to knots in your back muscles, toxic little balls of bad energy that need to be worked out. You can do this by stretching, sitting up straight, taking breaks and staying hydrated. Regular massage visits do wonders to messed, stressed backs that take in hard work and don’t let anything out.
Breaks
The best thing you can do for your desk life is to get away from it whenever you find a stopping point, removing yourself from that situation completely, so long as you don’t come off as a flighty slacker. People who take cigarette breaks have the right idea in terms of intervals; every couple hours go outside just like they would, only keep off the ciggies. Use that time to get some hot tea to wake up and stay hydrated, walk around the building and stretch the legs quietly – without becoming that annoying person who skulks around office to office – and clear the mind out. It’ll help with your thinking, especially if you’re blocked, and give you some much-needed energy.
With the freelance lifestyle, you allow yourself to work in spurts instead of long, painful stretches. Be disciplined enough to get some work done, then break and cook a meal or go outside. If you want to go out and talk to pretty girls without getting slapped with a sexual harassment charge, you can do that when you don’t have a boss. Just break up the work so it’s more feasible, enjoyable and workable. Your productivity will show once you’ve made that adjustment.
Deskercise
That word isn’t good enough to coin, but if you can’t get away from your desk to exercise, bring the exercise to your desk. Stretch the back, legs, arms and hands by doing simple, short exercises; just don’t go overboard and look like a lunatic. Flex your fists or extend your arms out, rotating your wrists and bending them back towards you or downward. Lying your back on an exercise ball, rolling slowly will stretc
h out your back, feel incredible, and work you core. Doing simple stretches like arm and shoulder stretches or flexing the arches in your feet keep you loose, even at your desk.
If your work doesn’t have a fitness program in place but always asks for suggestions on improving the workplace, offer up the idea to have group fitness, whether it’s stretching, running or walking. Hey, if you’re not too embarrassingly rusty and out of shape, you can play a couple light games of pick-up basketball or group yoga. Team softball once a month keeps people excited and builds that awkward, fake comradery every office needs.
Scenery
If you hate exercise, hate everything I’ve said but want some other advice that doesn’t involve movement, then take this you ungrateful sack of crap. Light in the desk life is important because it brightens your mood and gives you energy. If you work in what appears to be a dungeon, make an effort to get near some daylight when you have breaks. And greenery at your desk; even the strange little décor helps decrease frustration, the type that leads to shoulder cramps, but it also increases memory and attention spans. Thanks prickly cactus that I’ve cut myself on once a week; you actually do serve a purpose.
If all else fails and you are convinced I’m a terrible ergonomical feng shui guidance coach, you can always do something bold – I’ve said it before and will say it again – and get yourself a puppy, especially if they’re allowed in the workplace. Dogs have an uncanny ability to bring out the best in people, lift the spirits of a low morale workspace and give everyone a laugh when the little runt shits in your co-worker’s desk space. And if you hate dogs too, get a cat and die alone, because that thing won’t offer you any solace, other than to worry you over getting impregnated or run over in the night.
