No matter your age, occupation, or lifestyle, improving your quality of life involves investing in holistic wellness—an approach to wellness that integrates the various aspects of physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health. A previous post entitled ‘The Mind-Body Connection’ guides you through cultivating holistic mental and emotional health through tips for managing your sleep, emotions, and stress levels. For example, you can create a holistic self-care routine by establishing a consistent bedtime, engaging in mindfulness practices like breathwork and meditation, and being physically active.
Beyond these strategies, you can enhance all aspects of your mind, body, and spirit by paying attention to ergonomics. Defined as the process of designing and arranging spaces in ways that help individuals work safely and efficiently, ergonomics plays a critical role in not just boosting your productivity but, more importantly, reducing the physical and mental problems associated with unhealthy work environments. With the view that work is an essential aspect of life, whether you work at home or in the office, we outline below the holistic health benefits of ergonomics and how you can incorporate its principles into your daily routines.
Holistic health benefits of ergonomics
Ergonomics' primary goal is improving comfort, safety, and efficiency in work-related tasks, equipment, and spaces. It can significantly contribute to employees’ holistic health and well-being by designing the entire work environment in alignment with their physical, cognitive, and psychological needs.
To better illustrate the importance of ergonomics, a study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that prioritizing workplace aspects like optimal temperature, minimal background noise, comfortable furniture, and overall aesthetics can improve workers’ performance. When you perform better at work, you can reduce the risk of mental health problems like chronic stress, fatigue, and burnout.
Additionally, being comfortable at work can help minimize the physical strain associated with long work hours, such as back, shoulder, and neck pain caused by sitting in front of a computer for prolonged periods. Whether your work arrangement is remote, hybrid, or in-person, a workspace that aligns with ergonomic principles benefits your whole being by reducing the physical obstacles and mental pressures commonly experienced by employees. The following section provides tips on applying ergonomic practices for improved holistic health.
Ergonomic practices to incorporate into your life
Maintain a proper working posture
As previously discussed, working in the same position for consecutive hours can affect your physical health through pain and discomfort. Experiencing this on a daily basis can then impact your mental health, as your ability to concentrate and finish your tasks efficiently is diminished.
Fortunately, you can manage these negative effects by investing in an ergonomic chair that helps you maintain a proper working posture. The website Pain Free Working highlights features to look for in ergonomic chairs, such as the tilt mechanism of the Herman Miller Aeron Chair, which lets you select the most comfortable sitting position. Meanwhile, the Steelcase Gesture Chair has a back support that adapts to your spine’s natural curve and movement.
Look into your screen settings
In addition to experiencing neck, shoulder, and back pain at work, you can also suffer from visual fatigue when using digital devices for uninterrupted periods. Since healthy eyes are essential for being productive, minimizing errors, and improving your overall wellness, avoid straining the eyes by reducing your screen’s harsh glare and brightness.
A notable ergonomic practice is using dark mode to make it easier for your eyes to focus and adjust, especially in dimly lit environments. If you use Apple devices like iPhones and iPads, you can also use their built-in “screen distance” feature, which alerts you when you’re holding the device too close to your face and thus straining your eyes.
Take regular breaks
Lastly, you can increase your awareness of ergonomics at work and in daily life by reminding yourself to take regular breaks, ideally every 30 minutes or every hour. Use these short breaks to get up, stretch, and move.
This way, you can relieve the stress and pressure on the muscles of your neck, shoulders, back, and overall body, while also boosting your mood, alertness, and mental clarity. While these movements may be small and repetitive, their impact can build up over time and ultimately make you feel, think, and work better.
In summary, ergonomics aims to improve the physical, mental, and psychological aspects of your working environment for holistic wellness. Simple practices like adopting the right working posture and taking breaks can significantly improve your job performance, satisfaction, and overall quality of life.
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