Stay relaxed at work

Adjust the height of your chair so that your feet are flat on the floor. The thighs and lower legs should form an angle of at least 90 degrees; this encourages good circulation to the lower extremities. The backrest of the chair should be adjusted so that the bulge supports your lower back when you are sitting upright.

The desk should be adjusted so that you can rest your arms on it in a relaxed way without having to hunch your shoulders. If you can’t adjust the height of your desk, then you should adjust the height of the chair instead.

Place the screen straight in front of you so that you don’t have to turn your head to look at it. The upper edge of the screen should be a hand’s breadth below your eye level.

The distance between your eyes and the screen should be at least arm’s length – or a little more for larger monitors. If you can’t see the text clearly on the screen, don’t move the screen closer. Instead, increase the font size in the application.

If you sit twisted to one side or hunched or with some kind of one-sided stress, this can lead to cramps, headaches and back pain in the long run. You should set up your workplace in a way that improves your circulation and encourages an upright, relaxed working posture.

If you’re using your laptop at home for more than an hour at a time, you should really get yourself a separate keyboard and mouse. If the screen is too low, the laptop can be raised at the back, using a document holder for example.

If you regularly use your notebook for more than two hours at a time, it’s worth buying an external screen.

But even if the workplace is ergonomically optimised, your body will still get tired if you stay in the same position for long periods. Consciously plan to take microbreaks. Take time out to stretch and, if possible, change your sitting position frequently,

because «the best posture is the next one». This simply means that our body needs to experience a variety of stresses.