3 min read

Maintaining Good Posture when working from home.

When speaking to many of my clients, more often I hear people are working from home a few days a week. The reason they may visit me is that they might have tight shoulders or their neck is stiff. It is normal to have tight shoulders an stiff neck occasionally and regular massage may help to release the tension. But poor posture may contribute to increasing the tension in the neck and shoulders.

When I use to work in an office many moons ago, within my management role, I regularly had to assess each member of my team’s workspace, ensuring their chair were set in right position to their computer and phone. If a footrest was required or if their computer screen had to be raised so it was in the right position, I had to order the equipment required to ensure my team was working at optimum comfort so they could complete their roles. It was the company’s way of ensuring maximum productivity and reducing sickness.

You have to remember you are working at a desk all day from 9 to 5, you are encouraged to have breaks throughout the day, but ultimately you need to be comfortable. When I hear clients are working from home, I do ask if they work from a computer or a laptop to help me understand their routines/posture. 9 times out of 10 it’s a laptop. When you think about sitting at a laptop for 7-8 hours, your neck in looking down towards the screen, your arms may be stretched out too far because you can’t see the screen because it’s too close to you. You are sat at the kitchen table which is too low, your elbows are sticking out to try and type, which makes you slouch. Can you imagine what you look like? No wonder your neck shoulders and back hurt.

Now, we all know are not really made to sit at a desk every day, walking and exercise are great to counterbalance our sedentary lifestyles. Regular massage is also great to iron out stresses and tension. (but I am biased)

Through technology, businesses are finding it easier to operate and there is becoming less of a need to work from an office and more people are becoming home-based. So I wanted to help you set up your workspace at home.

I have found this video which I think is great, its really basic but it summarises and highlights what you need to be aware of when you work at home and how you can set yourself to be more comfortable which may help to reduce neck and shoulder tightness.