More thoughts before getting to the chairs…

Yep, you know it, what else would I say?

When it comes to sitting at your desk all day….

DONT MONKEY AROUND!

(My apologies to all the simians out there who actually sit right!)

As I said yesterday, there are other things to consider before purchasing an ergonomic chair….

Visual by www.PDImages.com

Today, it will be monitor arms.

With todays flatscreen monitors, people found they have all sorts of new real estate on their desks, and despite the recent decline in real estate values, the sort that’s on top of your desk will always be in short supply!

Soooo, they take the monitor, put it allll the way to the back of the desk, put the keyboard right in front of it, and end up having to lean out of the chair just to see the monitor!

Remember that rock from yesterday? Yep, for all the good any chair is going to do you….

Try getting a monitor arm, they really do work.

Now some are better than others, granted, but frankly, any of them is better than none!

I use, here at work, a humanscale M4 monitor arm, (another crass commercial ad: Available at SitBetter.com!) and frankly, I love it! It gives me tons of desk space, it’s very stable and it’s highly adjustable.

I can put paperwork underneath it, swing it out of the way when I want to, and bring the screen up close when I need to use it (fine fine fine, I’m always on the computer so it’s always right there!).

In other words, monitor arms are great space AND back savers.

It’s not just the chair….

Well hello again!

In the hunt for a good chair for you, one thing most people don’t consider is that how they work at the desk means they could be sitting on a rock, for all the good the chair is going to do you.

I’ve seen some rather…. interesting search terms on google- chairs for short, petite chairs, chairs for petite people, chairs for small, chairs for tiny people- you get the point?

If you’re not that tall, try using a foot rest. The type that move are great, allowing you actually move your legs while seated increase blood flow and reduce pressure points. In fact, had a 5′2″ customer in this morning, the second thing I showed her was a foot rest and she was amazed at the difference in how she sat.

Think about it, when you’re shorter, the weight of your legs is not supported, so they are actually pulling your body out from the back of the chair. When your legs are supported, you end up sitting back into the chair as you’re supposed to do. It really does feel good, try it!

Here’s a picture of the Humanscale foot rest (commercial plug- ) available at SitBetter.com

Some like how this rolls easily, but I’ve found that is not a universal preference. Sitting in a chair with wheels on very thin carpet, floor mat or hardwood floor, some people find themselves actually moving about a bit much.

This is not a problem in areas with thicker carpet, since the chair does not tend to move easily.

If you feel that may be an issue for you, try this sort. It does not move as easily, and there are little rubber stoppers on the legs to keep it stable, in fact.

Again, the main purpose of these is to give the feet a platform on which to support. There are many out there from which to choose, just consider that it’s going to help adapt your environment to your body type, which is a far better thing than trying to force your body to adapt to your environment!

For more information (of course, another crass commercial plug!), contact me here or at Sitbetter.com!