When we work in an office, we often don’t realize how many things are already taken care of for us. Remote work is a different story. Many people start working from home with an uncomfortable stool and a laptop on the kitchen table. But today, let’s talk about why that’s not enough for the long haul. Let’s share the experiences of colleagues who have been working from home for 10 years or more.
As always, when discussing health issues, we emphasize that this whole conversation is for those who do not have a diagnosis and strict restrictions from doctors (i.e., relatively healthy people). You also need to remember that many things are individual. Listen to yourself when following other people’s advice — don’t turn a blind eye to things that make you uncomfortable, uncomfortable, or unfocused. Look for the reason and don’t think that the chair is to blame for all the troubles. Look at the situation as a whole.
Furniture question
When discussing comfortable furniture that doesn’t hurt your back, it is important to understand that your work and rest schedule (not only remotely, but in general) is inextricably linked with regular physical activity, proper nutrition, and a sleep routine. Buying only recommended interior items will not solve all the problems at once. In the office, following this routine is a little easier because there is a working day, which, if not officially fixed, is promoted by colleagues. There is a need to get to this office, expending some calories. When working remotely, a person has complete freedom to focus on work tasks 24 hours a day, letting go of questions about their nutrition and limiting themselves to 20 steps a day along the corridor to the toilet. You can live like this, but, alas, not as long as you would like.
This article is not intended to completely restructure your worldview. It is just a look at one aspect of independent organization of the work process.
What is ergonomic seating?
Since school, we’ve been familiar with this picture.
After 30 (and especially 40) years, you start to think deeper about it, because the body is no longer prepared to sit for 18 hours in front of a computer in a questioning posture.
Several important anatomical points:
- the monitor should be at eye level (the head should not be tilted down);
- It is important to monitor joint angles:
- The angle at the elbow should be about 90 degrees,
- The wrist joint should be as straight as possible;
- The angle between the thigh and knee on the back surface should be 95 degrees or more;
- The desk should be correctly positioned relative to the window and other light sources.
The posture at the workstation should be comfortable in itself and allow for frequent changes in position to prevent the body from becoming stiff. A chair that you can’t get out of is not our option. By the way, fitness trackers and smartwatches are capable of reminding you to stand up and take a walk when you’ve been sitting too long.
Choosing a chair and desk should be done together because when organizing ergonomic seating, one affects the other — it’s important not to make a mistake so you don’t have to improvise later. The height of the desk partly determines the rest of the workstation setup, so let’s start with it.
Table
From an ergonomic standpoint, we’re interested in just a couple of parameters when it comes to workspace:
- Desk height — a crucial aspect: fixed or adjustable;
- Desk surface area — at the very least, it should accommodate the arms, but there’s no limit to perfection.
In Maxilect, there are several fans of height-adjustable desks (https://habr.com/ru/companies/maxilect/articles/693352/). An important point to note is that they don’t stand behind them constantly.
Often with exotic furniture or home gym equipment, the same story unfolds. A new item is actively used at first, but at some point, it’s forgotten — a stationary bike becomes a clever clothes hanger, and an adjustable desk turns into a regular seated one. However, in our case, colleagues say that among the various workspace setups, this one has proven to be the most effective.
Standing turned out to be convenient for conducting meetings, especially when there are many and there’s no chance to get up and stretch during the process. One of the colleagues, by the way, mentioned that he appreciated the benefits of adjustment after his role changed — he became a team leader. Now he’s glad he didn’t skimp on an automatically adjustable desk height.
Most colleagues prefer desks with ample surface area. For comparison, a school desk, which is typically shared by two people, is considered small, fitting only a keyboard, mouse, and notepad before running out of space.
The golden standard for desks among colleagues is 120x80 cm (for comparison, a school desk typically measures 120x50 cm). Colleagues who are into DIY projects use larger desks — 170x80 cm — to accommodate additional equipment (such as an oscilloscope or soldering station). However, we don’t recommend chasing the maximum desk size “just in case.” Using huge desks when they’re not needed is simply inconvenient. You’ll literally have to get up and walk to the other end of the table for equipment placed there, plus dust tends to collect around the edges.
120x80 cm desks are the size of IKEA work desks, but since the company has left the country, alternatives must be found. For instance, you can place a kitchen countertop on IKEA table legs or purchase separate table legs and a tabletop of the desired shape. And the cheapest hack is to buy a 20 mm plywood sheet and cut it in half. This results in a decent (though non-standard) desk — 1525 x 762.5 mm.
Interestingly, many people speak positively about various cutouts in tabletops. But in reality, most Maxilect employees sit at straight desks.
Armchair
“The prototype of an office chair” — an exhibit from the Pulkovo Observatory museum. The chair is designed for prolonged observation through a telescope of celestial objects. Like a modern office chair, the backrest tilt is adjustable.
The chair should be such that:
- the distance from the body to the desk is no more than 8–10 cm;
- it’s not possible to relax in an improper posture (e.g., slide under the desk);
- it provides support for the back and lumbar region considering ergonomics (height, back width);
- with the working position of the backrest at approximately 110 degrees to the seating plane;
- it doesn’t compress blood vessels in the legs;
- it supports the elbows in a relaxed position (on a soft surface);
- it’s comfortable to periodically move around.
In Maxilect, many people use various models of the Samurai chair.
Chairs with a mesh material for the seat have proven to be the best. They maintain strength longer, although over time their appearance deteriorates too.
This grid is 2 years old
When operating over a long distance, Samurai have a number of problems:
- A crunching sound appears when swinging and other movements.
- The lumbar support breaks — on those models where it is organized with belts (especially on older versions).
- The leatherette covering wears out — it lasts for a maximum of 2–3 years. There is a question not only of appearance, but also of inconvenience of landing. In case of large-scale damage, you must either change the upholstery (which in cost reaches ⅔ of a new Samurai) or buy a new chair.
The imitation leather on the armrests of the old Samurai chairs is damaged.
However, the seating in the Samurai chairs is good — none of my colleagues have found anything better for the same price.
Replacement parts for the Samurai chairs are available in online stores and from aggregators — you can buy lumbar support separately or replace worn-out armrests. This way, the lifespan of the chair can be extended.
Samurai chairs are designed for tall people. For shorter individuals, it’s convenient to use a footstool with such a chair — it prevents legs from swelling. However, this option requires a table height that doesn’t interfere (typically, this means there should be no drawers or sliding keyboard trays above the knees). Overall, this is a universal tip — if your legs swell during work, experiment with their position.
Interestingly, the second most mentioned item at the last meeting on workspace arrangement was rocking chairs. Their seats are not parallel to the floor, so the load is distributed on the back quite comfortably. It creates a good posture for working with a laptop or tablet. Of course, sitting like this for 8 hours a day is not advisable. It’s convenient to move around on a rocking chair when you need to think about something, almost without using the keyboard. The weak point of this seating position is the neck, and it’s a matter of preference.
Other exotic chairs are not popular in our team.
Lighting
Your workspace should not be dark. Natural lighting is best. Colleagues, especially those from southern regions, noted that it’s easier to focus on tasks with natural lighting. However, it’s important to remember about screen glare — the desk should be positioned so that it doesn’t interfere with work (the screen coating also plays a role — glossy or matte).
If natural lighting is insufficient, artificial lighting will be necessary. In darkness, due to the high contrast between the monitor (equipment backlight) and the dark environment, it can strain the eyes too much. This situation is comfortable for only a few. Obviously, much depends on the adjusted brightness and individual perception of contrast. But if your eyes tire quickly, reduce the brightness of the backlight or add ambient lighting.
When installing ambient lighting, it’s important to remember that bright light sources should not fall within your field of view during normal computer use. Lampshades are better suited for lamps.
Equipment
Considering everything we’ve just discussed in the context of the workspace, it’s obvious that working solely on a laptop won’t suffice. Comfortable seating without additional equipment is impossible. Of course, temporarily or in travel conditions, you can manage with just a laptop. But for the long haul, either an external keyboard or an external monitor is necessary.
If you’re using your laptop’s own monitor, it’s convenient to set it up on a special stand. However, to prevent your hands from cramping (to avoid the “dinosaur paw” effect), an external keyboard is absolutely necessary.
If you’re connecting an external monitor, then a laptop on a stand will be inconvenient. You’ll have to position it to ensure comfortable arm positioning.
Whether to use one large monitor or several relatively small ones is a matter of preference. It’s important to set them up so that you don’t have to turn your head too much. Two monitors are usually placed side by side so that if you do have to turn your head, it’s horizontally rather than vertically.
Monitors can be conveniently placed on special stands or on the wall. This keeps their position steady and frees up space on the desktop.
Atmosphere
The workspace is not just about technology, desk, and chair. A comfortable environment includes:
- background noise,
- temperature,
- humidity,
- air composition in the room.
Many colleagues prefer to work in silence. However, it all depends on the nature of the tasks at hand and personal preferences. Some people find solace in music, either using it as a distraction or as a means to focus on work by blocking out the surrounding environment.
If the task allows for background music, it’s more convenient to use speakers or listen through a soundbar. Wearing even the most comfortable headphones for an extended period can be uncomfortable.
The workspace should not be too warm. However, while we may monitor temperature from the outset, humidity is often overlooked. According to standards, humidity in an apartment should range from 30 to 60%. Unfortunately, in the real world, these parameters are far from ideal. In humid regions like St. Petersburg, humidity can reach 90% in the summer and hover around 70–80% most of the time. In winter, heating systems can reduce humidity to 20% and below. Combatting this can be done with humidifiers. However, even in a relatively small space, it’s challenging to raise humidity by 50% (from, say, 5% to 55%) with a household device.
Air composition is also important. You’ll likely feel tired before realizing that something is amiss with the air in your workspace. If you feel unbearably sleepy periodically throughout the workday, it’s worth ventilating the area more frequently. This might not be immediately obvious — freshness of air and sleepiness aren’t often immediately linked. Of course, don’t take this advice as the best way to combat sleepiness in conditions of chronic sleep deprivation. Sleep is as vital to our brains as maintaining our cognitive abilities, and it’s essential to prioritize it during intellectual work.
Additional perks
One thing many of us miss compared to the almost forgotten office routine is having a coffee machine nearby. We joked at the meeting about having a refrigerator on our desks, but here we encounter another problem — excess calories from a sedentary lifestyle. So, joking aside, no one is putting kitchen equipment on their work desk. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s beneficial to take periodic breaks. Going to the fridge or for coffee is a good reason to do so (we’ve already planned to discuss the benefits of breaks at one of our meetings early next year — stay tuned for insights on this topic).
A good practice is to keep a water bottle on your desk to maintain hydration. A bottle is safer than a mug in this case, as it’s harder to spill on the keyboard.
A desktop vacuum cleaner can be useful for regular cleaning of your workspace. Although if you organize all the small items properly, you’ll just need to wipe the desk clean easily.
What other tips would you recommend for setting up a home workspace?
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