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In the new reality, you have probably been spending more time working from home—maybe even pulling longer work hours. Whether you work from home or a shared office, you should keep in mind the following ergonomic workspace tips and tools to help you achieve good body posture.

Body Awareness

• Be conscious of what your body is telling you. It doesn’t matter if you’re working from a desk, on the dining table, or propped up in bed: the basic rule is that your body should not feel discomfort.
• Check on your posture every 15 minutes, as this is the time window in which we start slouching into postures more hurtful to our spine and arms.
• Move around, preferably by getting up and walking around, every 30 to 40 minutes. Even if you are in a comfortable position, you should not keep the same posture for more than an hour. During these breaks, stretch a little to relieve your muscles and avoid tensing up.
• When you are looking down on your laptop screen, avoid tilting your head. Instead, look down with your eyes or prop your screen up to eye level.
• If you need to be on the phone while working, start using a headset. Avoid holding up the phone between your ear and shoulder, use the speaker whenever possible, and remember to hold your phone with your dominant hand.

Tools and Devices

• Though a laptop stand is ideal, if you cannot have one to bring your screen up to eye level, use a pile of books or a wooden crate—they can be just as good!
• You may spend hours holding a mouse or using a laptop touch pad, which can put tension on the palm of your hand, your fingers, and even your arm. Try using a mouse that fits comfortably under your hand and is fast to respond.
• Though wireless keyboards are more convenient, you may want to consider one that can do both. This would give you the flexibility to change posture, move further away from your screen, or hold the keyboard a different way. If you are working exclusively on a desk, think of adding padding to the front end of your keyboard to relieve pressure on your wrists.

Standing Desks

• Studies suggest that use of a standing desk creates an ergonomic workplace that reduces the risk of shoulder and back pain, as well as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. If you are considering a standing desk, your budget is better off with some DIY ideas, such as the IKEA option.
• It is optimal for standing desks to be height adjustable, so purchasing an inexpensive IKEA side table to prop up on your regular desk would bring the screen up to eye level. Additionally, a shelving unit can act as a keyboard stand that will be right at your fingertips! To learn more, check out this articleon how to build an IKEA standup desk for $22.