For many of us the way we work has changed. The last few years has forced a new normal and for some its been a refreshing step to break the shackles of 9-5 drudgery, for others a time of anxiety and stress as you have to adapt to new tech and a new way of making it work.
Whichever camp you sit in, we have all had to make huge adaptations to our life. So how do we learn to manage this new normal and still create the right work life balance we crave.
WORK FROM HOME
Forced to set up an office and start working in isolation was the mandate for many last couple years. We scrabbled around to create a workspace that would ‘do’ and updated tech overnight to cope with remote working. Internet speed and bandwidth became the most important factors within a household and finding a quiet corner to set up ‘workcamp’ was crucial to family dynamics.
Having now had a year of making this work, how many of you are still on the same chair, in the same corner, requesting all other residents ‘come off the internet’ for the next zoom call. It's time to reassess and upgrade. Whilst some will be going back to the office, a vast majority will return to some form of new normal, where working from home is an integral part of the working week. Companies have realised productivity is not compromised and not everyone needs to be in all of the time. Cost savings are immense and zoom calls have been a revelation to the expenses bill.
So now is the time to look at how you work, where you work and your kit. Home office installations have been booming and spare rooms have been converted to permanent multi functional spaces. Ditch the dining room chair and invest in a decent ergonomic home office chair, with proper lumbar support, back rest, arm rest, gas lift, twin air cell seat pad, or indeed full mesh back, seat & head rest. Like a mattress, if you are spending most of your life sitting on it, why compromise? The dining room chair needs to go back to the dining room!
STRESS
Everyone manages stress in a different way, with individual coping mechanisms, but make no mistake this last few year has been stressful for all. How have you coped? Have you coped or have you parked the symptoms of stress, as quite frankly, you don’t have the time to address them? Taking time out this spring is essential to reset your batteries. Everyone needs a break. Whether it be a walk in the sunshine or a week by the seaside, time to switch off and really focus on your health and wellness will be the most beneficial time of the month.
Giving yourself headspace is one of the kindest things you can offer yourself. How do you do that? You switch off your tech, you change your scenery, then you think about something new and uplifting.
STRUCTURE
Daily life has blurred and the lines between work time home time merged into one. Make sure you delineate your time so you can switch off when you need to and pump the gas when it’s time to race.
Starting your workday at the same time as you always did in the office seems like a simple task, however I bet many have been sat in PJs with a coffee at 7.10am just ‘checking in’ on overnight emails – as colleagues have emailed at 10.35pm the previous night. Workdays have widened and whilst this has made everyone more flexible and nimble which has to be welcomed, it can be a slippery slope and boundaries need to be set. Even if its caveats on your email ‘Let me know tomorrow, speak to you later on this’… if you’re sending an email at midnight, make sure the recipient knows a response is not required at 12.10am!
CHAIROLOGY
So if your house has evolved into a hot desking emporium, its time to really re think your work space. Ergonomics is the fancy term for the function and space around you, your chair is an integral part of this jigsaw. Choosing the right chair for your body is crucial for good back care. Your height, leg length and health issues all need to be considered. Your thighs need to be angled slightly downwards when seated to stimulate optimum posture for both your back and hips. A seat tilt function will help address this.”
Use the chair’s gas height adjustment to align your eye sight with the top of your screen, whilst keeping your feet flat on the floor. If you are not average on body height, short or long in the leg, make sure to look for a chair with seat depth adjustment (slide seat) feature so that you can fit on it nicely without getting your legs tired easily. Lumbar support & mesh seats can aid good posture and comfort when sitting for 8 hrs a day, which let’s be honest, human bodies were not ideally made for, so choose chairs which offer extra inflatable support, adjustable throughout the day.
Make sure the arm rests can be set up for different heights. This will enable you to slide the chair close to the desk but still supporting the arms when using the keyboard. Finally, the most important consideration to protect your back from the ravages of working at a desk, is to take regular breaks out of the chair. So keep moving.”
