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What are Ergonomics?

The definition on ergonomics is “the study of people’s efficiency in their working environment” (definition credit: Google/Oxford Languages). Ergonomics are much more than just posture. Posture is the position of a person’s body. In our case, the position we are in while sitting or standing at a computer workstation. Posture is an important variable. But when we add the variable of working for an extended period of time, it’s important that our ergonomics aims at a well-rounded practice of multiple variables.

What are Ergonomics?

Sitting and standing at a computer for long periods of time delivers a high risk of injury. It’s up to us to ensure we are working in a safe working environment. I understand that sometimes we are at the mercy of external factors. A lot of work just has to be done on a computer. Often, there is a lot of that work. This requires us to work in the same vulnerable position for long periods of time, which brings an increased risk of injury. However, there are plenty of human factors we can practice in order to maintain safe work at a computer. Today, I’ll talk about 4 subtopics of computer ergonomics that are very important for safety and health. They are sleep, breathing, hydration, and posture.

Decrease Your Head and Neck Tension (with 2 tennis balls and a sock)

I used to suffer from painful headaches often. These weren’t the typical tension type headaches, where a couple pills would make it go away. These were bad. Every muscle in my head, face, and neck would have tension and pain. The side of the head hurt, as well as the front and back. My eyelids would have muscle spasms. There were many variables that contributed to this muscle tension.

Physical therapy wasn’t going to help. Any work they could do would just be undone the next week I sat at a computer for 40 hours. Regardless if I had good posture or poor posture, repetitive strain would cause me tension type headaches.

Dear desk jockeys, (an open letter)

Dear desk jockeys,

We sit at a computer desk 40+ hours per week. The human body wasn’t designed to do that. It actually wasn’t designed to be in ANY one (same) position that long. It’s only going to cause massive pain and dysfunction in our bodies.

As desk jockeys, it’s not our fault. But, it IS our responsibility to adapt, change, and heal.

Many years ago, it was a fascinating new concept to sit at a computer desk and make a living. People realized they could pay for a house, cars, all their bills while not even getting out of their chair. They realized they hardly had to move at work anymore. Work was going to be great and life was going to change tremendously. They were right about one of those.