Ergonomics' impact on productivity

- How familiar are you with the concept of ergonomics? Ergonomics in its most simple term is improving your workspace to help you be more productive and put less strain on your body. In this brief tips video, I'm not going to go into a detailed explanation of ergonomics. I'm not an ergonomics expert, but I have learned many of the basics through the years of working with people in their workspace and helping them become more productive. So, I'm going to help you avoid a few of the most common mistakes.

The first principle is to maintain neutral posture. This is just a fancy way of saying have your body in a natural position, so that we're not putting too much strain on your muscles or your joints. For instance, the chair that you sit in should help your back be in a natural, curved position, not that you're hunched too far forward or leaning too far back. And your arms, when they're bent, should be at a natural position that doesn't put strain on the joints. The second principle is to make sure that the things you use most often are within reach.

Now, the most common tool for people working in an office are your keyboard and your mouse. This means that we don't want to have to extend our arms too far to reach them, or if you have other tools that you use on a regular basis, they're quick within your grasp. You don't have to extend your body in a weird way to get to them. The third principle is to reduce the motions that you make. Now, the more often you use a muscle and a joint over and over, the more strain that puts on your body. So, you want to look for actions that you are performing, where you can reduce a motion.

A simple way to do this is rather than dragging or dropping your mouse over and over to close a window, you might use a keyboard shortcut instead. Less motion, less wear and tear. The fourth principle is to reduce the pressure on your body, in particular pressure points. You want to make sure that things aren't pinching or pushing and putting pressure on your body. Again, using the keyboard example, I want to make sure that my wrists are slightly up from the keyboard, rather than resting on a desk where I may be putting a pressure point on my wrists.

And the fifth principle is to take regular breaks. Every so often, just get up from your desk, walk around, stretch those muscles, even give your eyes an opportunity to rest by looking far off into the distance. Every time you give yourself a little break like this, it sort of resets your body, stretches the muscles, and gets you ready to go back to work and be more productive. Remember, your body is the tool that you use to perform work, regardless of what it is that you're doing. By giving a little attention to your body and your workspace, you'll help yourself be more productive.