Ergonomics Are The Key To Comfort And Productivity
Are you good at your job? Do you have enough workflow to stay busy? Having a stable career and worthy skills are important, but you need to be able to work comfortably if you want to hit peak performance. Here are a few office ergonomics tips to help those who work in home offices, business offices, cubicles, and even open floor plan workplaces operate more comfortably while staying productive.
What Is Ergonomic Design?
Ergonomics covers how the human body interacts with objects, and ergonomic design seeks to make tools that fit and operate as comfortably and efficiently as possible. It's not about putting yourself to sleep or kicking your feet up on the table to relax at the office; ergonomics is all about making sure that you're not actively ruining your body or restricting your motions.
A small philosophy battle still boils between ergonomics and simply making do with what you have. People who value work ethic and keeping to their idea of the basics sometimes view ergonomics as fancy, softened techniques that add no real value to the job, but it couldn't be further from the truth.
When you have good ergonomic design, you may be surprised at how well you can manipulate tools, stay focused on your job, and cut down on the painkillers. It's less about creating excessive comfort and more about not contorting yourself. Give yourself some room and the ability to use tools more efficiently than before.
Examples Of Ergonomic Products
One of the mainstays of ergonomic design is the office chair. In fact, it's becoming harder to find office chairs that aren't ergonomic, simply because the comfort and pain reduction features are that remarkable.
If you've seen a chair with an S-shaped or otherwise curved back, you're looking at ergonomic design. The chair is designed not to force your back and neck into a specific form, but to allow general body types to sink into a position that is less bad for the back than a straight back. Both slouchers and "proper" upright sitters are doing terrible things to their spines and joints, and ergonomic chairs can relieve a lot of the contortion-based stress.
Keyboards are another form of ergonomics that have dominated the market. Keyboards with raised, hill-like surfaces and padding on the wrist rest are designed to allow a better angle for your fingers and wrists. Whether you've noticed it or not, your fingers and wrists often move to tense, awkward positions when reaching for keys or thinking about the next thing to type, or you may waste a lot of time by pulling your hands away from the keyboard.
Speak with an office equipment professional to discuss other improvement points for a comfortable, ergonomics-savvy office.