How to improve your health and wellbeing at your desk

Modern technology has increased the amount of time we spend at a desk with 42 per cent of Brits admitting sitting for too long without taking a break. To help combat this Stephen Bowden, chartered ergonomist at Morgan Maxwell and advisor to office product specialists Fellowes, reveals ways you can keep active to improve your health and well-being in the workplace.

We all know that keeping fit is good for us and can help increase both our life expectancy and quality of life. However, with busy schedules, long working hours and long commutes it can be hard to fit in the time to go the gym after a busy day at the office.

As a chartered ergonomist, I’m often asked by clients who work within offices how long they should sit or stand for during the day. My response is that it’s not how long you sit or stand for, it’s how often you interrupt sitting or standing that is important. The human body is not designed to sit or stand all day, it is designed to move.

There are plenty of things we can do to be more active at work, like using the stairs instead of the lift, visiting a colleague to personally deliver a message instead of emailing them, standing up when using the phone or consider a sit-stand working solution.

Focus on four zones

Office product specialists Fellowes has identified four zones to help combat workplace health issues and to help improve wellbeing.

Zone one: Prevent back tension by ensuring your chair provides lumbar support, this can be prevented by using back support and foot rests.

Zone two: Avoid wrist pressure when working on a laptop by using a separate mouse and keyboard. Plus, using an ergonomic wrist support can help to ease the pressure.

Zone three: Relieve neck strain by adding a monitor, laptop or tablet riser to your work environment, adjusting your screen to the right viewing height will ultimately stop you from straining your neck.

Zone four: Use a sit/stand workstation to help reduce inactivity, by alternating between sitting and standing at your desk, you will engage in a healthy cycle of motion making you feel less stressed and more motivated.

By paying careful attention to our back, wrists and neck and supporting these key areas with quality ergonomic products and good working habits, we can add more movement to the working day while adopting better posture in between.

The sequence to these zones is based on the European Health and Safety Legislation which states that adapting the workstation to meet the individual’s needs should start with the chair, followed by hands, eyes and the rest follows.

By adopting good posture and ensuring your eyes, neck, back and legs are positioned correctly, you will discover a world of difference to the way you feel, both physically and mentally. This in turn ensures that you are much more engaged, motivated and productive.