Today’s wellbeing tip is Ergonomically Working From Home:

Most people don’t have the same equipment at home that they have in the office. That wasn’t a problem until the largest working-from-home experiment in history.

Sure, you can do everything from your laptop while sitting on the wooden chair at your kitchen table. But you can’t do it without putting yourself at risk.

One of the easiest and most important things you can do is to take your keyboard and mouse home from the office with you. Hunched forward with shrugged shoulders, a bent neck, and angled wrists – hardly anyone can use a laptop without a severely restricted posture. It might even be how you are sitting right now.

Do this for a day or two and you’ll probably be fine. But weeks or longer and it is a different story.  An external keyboard and mouse allows you to sit upright with the shoulders squared, in turn helping you keep a neutral spine.

Position the keyboard and mouse in the primary work zone – the area you can access comfortably without bending or reaching.

Arguably the biggest benefit of this is then having the ability to raise your laptop, either with a stand or even just on top of some books. This accomplishes two ergonomic goals; your eyes will no longer be too close to the screen and your neck won’t have to remain tilted.

Position the top of your monitor just below eye level at about one arm’s length away, protecting you from ocular discomfort and neck and upper back pain at the same time.