The biggest mistake I see, amongst professions, such as lawyers, where there is still a lot of paperwork and reading, is the positioning of their paperwork on the desk!
Sounds strange?
Nearly everyone I see, who needs to read and edit from paper documents, puts these in front of their keyboard.
Why is this a problem?
Well, surprisingly our arms are really heavy when we sit! If you put your papers on the desk, in front of the keyboard, the following things will happen:
- You will bend your neck and shoulders forward to read, causing tension and pain build up
- You will push your keyboard forward, where it will tend to stay, even after you move your paperwork
- You will then extend your arms forward to type, bringing the shoulders forward, further building up tension in our shoulders and upper back.
If you carry on this way for hours at a time, days, weeks and months will quickly pass with you repeatedly adopting this position and back pain will creep up on you.
Yet there is a really really simple solution
Instead of placing the paperwork at the front of your desk, pushing your keyboard away, place it between the keyboard and screen on a document holder, as per the image below.
a. Raises the height of the paperwork so you don’t have to bend your neck forward to read
b. You can pull the holder forward, over the keyboard, when you need to make notes on the paperwork, pushing it back to then type.
c. You will can sit upright and relaxed in your chair whilst you type
With your back more supported, muscle tension in your shoulders, neck, upper and lower back should ease.
For more advise on making key changes for a healthier way of working, contact us for your free copy of our Back Pain Leaflet at info@corrigo-design.com