Find yourself hunched over a laptop at your kitchen table while remote working? Maybe your spine looks a bit like a banana while you work and you're wondering why you have so much back and neck pain?
These tips are for you!
You don't need a fancy laptop stand, sit-stand desk (or desk topper) or ergonomic chair to have better posture. I guarantee we can set you up for success with things in your own home or at minimal cost!
1. Stack up some books and put your laptop on top. In lieu of a laptop stand, just placing your laptop higher with your eye-line at the top of the screen will already lengthen your spine.
2. Use cushions on your dining room chair.
Rolling up a cushion to put in your lower back is a great way to get that ergonomic back support you can find in fancy chairs. It'll keep your natural lumbar curve and encourage you to sit up in your chair rather than slouch back. You're already looking less like a banana!
Not only can you use cushions in your lower back, you can add some underneath your bum to give you a bit of height and make sure you're sitting with your knees and elbows at right angles. Don't forget, we should sit up tall out of our sit-bones (the bony bits of your pelvis).
And finally, are you a forward leaner? Craning your neck to get closer to the screen? Putting a cushion in your upper back is helpful as a feedback tool because as soon as you lean forward and away from the back of your chair the cushion will fall down (very annoying) and remind you that you've done it again!
3. Place a book or box on the floor as a foot rest. Find that your feet don't comfortably reach the floor? Resting your feet on a box or book to ensure you have right angles at your hips is also beneficial.
4. Invest (or have your company invest) in a wireless keyboard and mouse. This will enable you to to sit back in your chair, keep right angles at your elbows and avoid you reaching out your arm to use your laptop while it's propped up.
You're now nicely set-up for success!
HOWEVER, sitting at perfect right angles all day long isn't great for you either. I'd encourage you to switch it up, move around between meetings, maybe stack more books on your table to enable standing for a bit, go for a walking meeting with earbuds in. You could even sit up at the front of your chair (on your sit-bones) without back support to train your postural muscles for 20-30 minutes at a time.
The possibilities are endless and variety is the spice of life!
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Thanks!
Meaghan Feldwick
Founder