19 July 2020

Trying to become ergonomic

After four months of working at home, on my laptop, I was starting to really feel it. My home setup just isn't very ergonomic! My desk has a fixed height. My chair has armrests, and for me to be able to be close to the desk these have to fit under the desk's top. But that means I am sitting rather low. And have to raise my arms in order to use my computer. And you have to reach over the bit with the touch pad to get to the keyboard. And the screen is too low. Altogether it isn't ideal! And you can feel that.

One night I woke up and struggled to fall asleep again. I felt my shoulders! And I decided I needed to act. And the next day I had to venture out anyway, so I decided I should go and buy myself a mouse and keyboard and see if I could improve the situation. In order to avoid over-cluttering my not-so-big desk I went for a wireless set.

I installed these. And put a blanket on my chair to raise me up. And put a little rug down as wrist support. And put the laptop on a thick book, and moved it back. It still wasn't ideal; I could feel that configuration in my back. I suppose the design of the chair means that as soon as you add padding, the back doesn't follow the contours of your back anymore. It's a bit difficult! After a while I decided to alternate the use of my old, hard, armrest-free chair and the soft, armrest-festooned one. I suppose that might help! I need to get this right. We might be at home for months to come. If RSI start regularly affecting my sleep I'm toast!





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