We humans are prone to seek comfort at every turn, and that doesn’t exclude our workplace. When you work in an office for most of your daylight hours, it’s really important that you have a comfortable chair to sit in. Many studies conducted in the workplace have demonstrated the effects of discomfort on employees and productivity. These studies lead to the creation of ergonomics, which can be a key player in helping you choose a chair for work.
Sitting at a desk takes a big toll on a person’s body and it’s not uncommon for people to feel the side-effects of it. The side-effects can include bad posture, headaches, neck/back pain, chest pain, and hip pain. Unfortunately, if your job requires you to sit, there’s not a lot you can do in your workplace to change your circumstances. Before you despair, there is a light in this tunnel. Through the work of many researchers over time, it has been determined that chairs with certain characteristics can lessen these painful side-effects. This links to employee productivity since discomfort leads to a slow pace of work and likely a low quality of work. If employees have the right chair, it alleviates their discomfort and brings the quality and pace of their work up. As an employee, you’ll find your workday is drastically better when you’re not struggling with pain.
How do we know if it’s the right chair? The first thing you want to look for is adjustability. This chair needs to be able to change the height and the backrest. If you want to go the full nine, then you can look for adjustable arm rests as well. It’s hard to be comfortable in a chair that is too low to or too high off the ground because it puts strain on your hips and tailbone. Having your chair at the right height for your size already reduces the strain put on your body. However, you just adjust the height of your chair. Adjusting the backrest of your chair gives you the opportunity to properly support your lower back. It also encourages better posture, which in turn will help with neck pain and headaches.
The next thing you want to be aware of is the depth and width of the seat. If the seats depth is not suited to you, then the back of your calf will sit flush against the seat edge, which puts pressure on the artery that carries blood to your legs. Ideally, there should be a space between the back of your legs and the chair, as well as some space between your hips and the sides of the chair. The last, but not the least, important thing to look for in a chair is if it can swivel easily. This allows you move about your space freely without straining yourself.
Being comfortable and supported while you work will make any workday 100 times easier and even improve your mood and your work. The best way to choose a chair for this is to see if it is adjustable, supportive, and a size that correlates with your body size and height.