Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Too Much Desk Time Is Bad For Our Health

I own right up to borrowing this brilliant blog article from the Colorado Springs Business Journal-but don't try this at home:

Sit in a stationary position for eight to 10 hours. Keep your fingers moving in patterns pushing buttons. Squint.

This can be risky behaviour for many parts of your body, especially your eyes, back, and wrists. Yet most of us do it five days a week or more.At the very least, get up and walk around (to change up your back strain), look at things of varying distances (to work those eyeball-focusing muscles), and keep your wrist elevated (we all know that one, right?)Want to take things further? Want to be able to lift things in your retirement? Want to be able to type for another few years? Want to stave off the reading glasses? There's lots you can do!

Stay hydrated, don't let the HVAC blow dry air in your eyes, get up and stretch more frequently, and keep your office space well lit. Don't let the monitor be the brightest thing in your field of vision, and avoid glares. Move your desk if you have to. The Mayo clicnic recommends these stretches, you can get a new chair, and there's even yoga you can do in your cubicle (free videos!).

Last but not least, check out the Treadputer.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your passionate approach to such a wide variety of subjects never ceases to amaze me.

Jeffrey Anshel, OD said...

Yes, we call this computer vision syndrome and it's been my career passion for over 17 years now. At least SOME health and safety professionals are starting to figure it out....

Spencer Thornton, M.D. said...

Both the problem and the recommended remedies are well dealt with here. There is really no "best" answer, but scheduling regular rest breaks in addition to exercise breaks are helpful.
It has been shown that one can concentrate better after short rest breaks, even if it is just to get up and walk around the office and drink a glass of water.