If you are spending large amounts of your time on computer chances are you are doing yourself some harm. This may take the form of a sore back and shoulders or it may show up as an increase in your stress levels. Here is the first of my top four tips to prevent computer injuries.
If you spend a large amount of your work time on a computer, chances are you are doing yourself some harm. Maybe you haven’t got any obvious physical symptoms like a sore back, tense neck and shoulders or numbness and tingling in your hands but, at the very least, the time you spend at the computer most days is likely to be adding considerably to your stress levels. And studies are showing that this extra work-related stress can be surprisingly harmful in the long term.
The good news is that there are a number of easy steps you can take to counteract these problems. I have compiled these into four tips which should help anyone who uses a computer frequently or for long periods. The first of these follows.
Tip 1 – Take a break
If there were just one piece of advice I could offer to reduce the harmful effects of excessive computer work, it would be “take frequent breaks.” That’s all, just get up from your desk every hour or so and do something else for a while. Simple.
The reason taking breaks is important is that it is really very hard on the human body to sit in one position for any length of time. Sitting itself is stressful. Add to that holding your arms out in front of you to type or use a mouse and possibly also craning your head forward to peer to at a computer screen and you have got a dangerous cocktail of postures which put a lot of strain on muscles and joints which just were not designed for the job.
Unfortunately, the muscles and joints you use to operate a computer do not usually send out clear and immediate signals that they are under stress. They adapt and they cause other structures of the body to adapt as well so that you can just carry on doing what you are doing until damage is done. Only days, weeks or maybe even months later will you experience pain and loss of function.
Frequent breaks are the best way to break this cycle. If you tend to get absorbed in what you’re doing – very easy to do with computers - then it might help to set up some kind of alarm to remind you it’s time to stop for a while. One of those cheap digital timers cooks use to keep track of their preparations is ideal but set it up somewhere where you have to get up to turn it off. This will ensure you do actually stop.
If your breaks are frequent they don’t need to be very long. Five or ten minutes every hour or so is fine. Time to prepare a hot drink maybe, catch up with a colleague or make a necessary phone call. Even better, you could use the break to do a few stretches. More about stretching another time.
