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Considering how much time the average young professional spends at her job, it’s no wonder so many otherwise healthy women are developing conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, bursitis, repetitive strain injuries, and back problems due to poor work habits. Think of it this way: if you spend a third of your life at work (depressing, but true for most of us) and 75% of your day at a desk, the way you sit at that desk can have a massive impact on your health. And that’s only the beginning: the type of chair you sit in, your typing technique, even the way you hold the phone can all affect your body, especially when you repeat the same activities over and over throughout the day.

Obviously, different jobs provide different ergonomic challenges, and this article would be 50 pages long if we tackled them all. So we’ll focus on the office workers, since the majority of young women spend their day in front of a computer, indoors, and seated – basically a three-part recipe for poor ergonomics. Let’s take a step-by-step journey through a typical office worker’s day, finding the ergonomic challenges and solutions as we go.

8:00 am: You get to work and sit down at your desk.

Ok, you already did one major thing wrong: you forgot to get coffee. Seriously, who cares about ergonomics if you can’t stay awake? Duh. So get that taken care of, pronto.

Once you get back from the coffeemaker, take a seat. You might be stuck with a crappy chair (if at all possible, ask your employer to invest in some ergonomically correct chairs – they make a significant difference), but there’s still some things you can do to protect yourself. Most office chairs are adjustable; make sure yours is at a height where your knees can fit comfortably under your desk and your feet are flat on the floor (this helps eliminate back strain). If you have armrests, use them to keep your arms close to your sides. Try and keep your ears, shoulders and hips in a straight line, and change up your position throughout the day. Lastly, don’t sit like a “lady” – crossing your legs is like the worst possible position for your lower back – but don’t sit like a shlub either; slumping over or leaning to one side is equally troublesome.

Another great tip is to bring an exercise ball to the office. Sitting on one of these bad boys forces your abs to do most of the work, which is not only ergonomically correct, but gives you a killer stomach to boot.

8:10 am: You log in to check email

And thus starts an 8-or-more-hour-long period of being plugged in and tuned out to the outside world. You’ll be staring at your computer for the rest of the day, most likely, so make sure the screen is at eye level and less than an arm’s length away from you. Avoid eye strain by investing in a glare reducer (or if your company has the cash, a plasma screen, which has far less glare) and keeping the font at a large enough size that you don’t need to squint. (This can be an issue if you have 10 windows open at once, like I often do – sometimes my print needs to be the size of a flea in order for me to see all my ducks in a row. I look at it like my own daily vision test. This can be filed under the do as the writer says, not as the writer does, by the way.)

8:45 am: You start working

Like how I gave you 35 minutes to surf the web and answer personal emails? You’re welcome.

Now that we are starting the real work of the day, let’s talk about repetitive strain injuries. These are physical maladies that occur when we overuse specific muscles. When we type for long periods of time, we start doing things like pounding the keyboard (note to self: do not take anger out on computer) and resting our wrists on our desks, placing the bulk of the effort on the “wrong” muscles. By using proper typing technique we can avoid repetitive strain which causes things like carpal tunnel or tendonitis.

5 quick tips for good typing technique:
1. Keep your wrists up and relaxed (no resting them on the keyboard or desk)
2. Make sure your fingers are slightly curled, and don’t stretch them to reach keys – rather, have the motion initiate from your arms
3. Type with the pads of your fingers, not the nails or tips (that may mean asking your manicurist to shorten those talons).
4. When using the mouse (which should be placed close to your keyboard), don’t grip it tightly or move it using your wrists; rather, use the stronger parts of your arm (shoulders and elbows) to work an external mouse.
5. If your keyboard is adjustable, try tilting it different ways to find the most comfortable position.

10:30 am: You take a break

Congratulations – you just did something ergonomically correct! Taking frequent breaks helps rest overtired muscles and gives your eyes a rest from the glare of the computer. Make it even more beneficial by unplugging completely: don’t make any phone calls or start texting; instead, go for a quick 10-minute walk outside, weather permitting. A little vitamin D and fresh air will revive you, clearing your head from “digital fog” (what experts call the overload of technology we are constantly bombarded with) and allowing you to stretch your cramped body.

11:00 am: Conference Call

Make like one of those girls on Mad Men and use a headset. Holding the phone up to your ear causes tension in your neck, arm and shoulder. You can also use speakerphone, which allows you to stand up and move around while on the call.

12:00: Lunchtime

Eating healthy and exercising can enhance your general health, which helps you avoid repetitive strain injuries and sickness from bad air or stress. According to Brodie, “Discomfort in the office environment is related to postures, workstations, equipment, etc., but it is also significantly related to the basic health of the person . . . The office is a sedentary work place for the most part, and people must do what they can to counter this (and) create an overall positive lifestyle.” Take home message? Use your lunch hour to do a yoga class, or at least skip the Big Mac and get a salad.

A clean, organized workspace is one of the main tenets of good office ergonomics. By streamlining your work processes, you’ll avoid reaching, bending and turning around like a madwomen while desperately trying to find that important report that was here just a second ago. Also, part of ergonomics is avoiding accidents and injury on the job, so the cleaner your area, the better – not to mention, there’s nothing like tripping over a file box and biting it in front of the whole office to enhance your professional image.

You can also improve your office space by personalizing it. It may sound funny, but according to an article by Dr. Loretta Lanphier, a Doctor of Naturopath, Certified Clinical Nutritionist and Holistic Health Practitioner, “If you work and are spending one third to one half of your day in an office setting then your surroundings there are as important as those in your home. “ She recommends using colors that stimulate you, playing enjoyable music, and even using aromatherapy to enhance the work experience.

2:00-5:00 pm: Work, work and more work

What with email, voicemail, paperwork and phone calls, you may get stuck at your desk for the next three hours. If possible, vary your tasks as much as possible. Work on the computer for a half hour; switch to a phone call; then do a bit of reading. By rotating your tasks, you’ll give certain parts of your body a break while using others, and vice versa. Just be careful not to multitask while trying this technique – it doesn’t work if you are the type to answer emails while reading another document and chatting on the phone simultaneously. The whole point is to focus on one thing at a time – give your brain a rest along with your body!

The Economics of Ergonomics

Unfortunately, due to the economy, most of us are too busy trying to keep our jobs to nag our bosses about improving the workplace environment. But it actually behooves employers to create “healthy” offices, since the healthier the employee, the less sick time that employee is going to take. Small fixes like exchanging the bad fluorescent lighting in the office with full-spectrum lighting can ease employees’ eye strain, improve their mood, and reduce stress.

Air quality is another issue that green (or liability-minded) employers are dealing with these days. Poor ventilation, chemicals and other indoor pollutants are blamed for a variety of ailments, including depression and allergies. Specialty companies are making a killing doing complete overhauls of “sick” office buildings, but if this isn’t an option, there’s a cheap and easy solution. A recent study at the University of Technology Sydney found that putting small potted plants around an office could reduce coughing, sneezing, headaches and depression in workers. Apparently, the bacteria found in potting soil sucks up chemical compounds from plastics, furniture, carpets and computers, as well as carbon dioxide from air conditioners. Bonus: plants are pretty. It’s a win-win.

There are a number of products on the market that claim ergonomic design. These include chairs, keyboards, mice, and workstations. Some of these might be worthy investments if you have specific problems; i.e., if you have a bad back, a good office chair can do wonders for your posture; carpal tunnel sufferers could find relief with an arm support or better keyboard. It doesn’t hurt to ask your HR contact or boss if your company would consider purchasing such tools. Most employers are knowledgeable about the cost/benefit of providing ergonomic office supplies to their workforce, as it saves them money and health care costs in the long run.

EC is the New PC- How to Be “Ergonomically Correct”

Still, Brodie suggests that even with an employer’s best intentions, it ultimately falls to the employee to protect their own health. “Providing the newest and expensive products is not the solution. These products may provide a benefit, but this benefit will not be achieved unless an employee is trained on how to use the product correctly to achieve its intended goal,” he says. The key, then, is education: “If you look at younger workers, the question comes as to when we should be educating them about ergonomics. We used to teach students how to type in school. Maybe now we need to teach students how to sit and set themselves up a computer. Ergonomics is a word that a student should know before they get to the workplace.”

Ergo . . . I think I may have to trade in my cute, little blue notebook. Maybe for something that doesn’t make my hands hurt like hell after I’ve written an overly-long article on ergonomics.