7 Bad Postures at Computer You’re Probably Making

As an office worker, you would spend hours sitting at your computer desk and managing tasks on your computer, so you often forget to sit in the right posture and end up having muscle pain. Muscle pain and uneasiness are two things that can easily make you feel tired, exhausted, and less productive at your workplace. So, this clarifies that a bad posture when using a computer can negatively impact your health and productivity, which you would later regret.

At times you are not aware that you have a posture that is bad for your health and productivity. In that regard, you should know every possible wrong posture you would probably make. Once you are aware of that, understanding what is the correct posture for sitting at a computer becomes pretty easy.

All of this leads us to two things to discuss with you: the bad postures that you need to avoid, to learn how to improve posture while sitting at a computer and  the ideal posture that you need to adopt. So, let’s discuss them together. 

Common Posture Mistakes That You Make and How to Avoid

Following are the 7 postural mistakes with its bad computer posture effects that you are probably making and would regret later. Have a look at them so that you avoid them next time. 

1. Slouching

The most common posture mistake is when you do not use your core or abdominal muscles and slouch your lower back while you’re sitting. Sitting with this bad posture at the computer or standing in this position for extended durations can make you suffer from severe lower back pain.

In severe cases, you may also encounter the problem of herniated discs in your lower back.

In order to avoid such discomfort, pull your belly button towards your spine to sit straight and engage your core muscles. This won’t be a difficult task once you get into a habit of doing so. 

2. Hunching Your Shoulders

A bad posture at the computer usually begins when you sit with hunched shoulders. To simplify, hunched shoulders are when you roll your shoulders forward. This position increases the curvature in the upper spine and pulls your head and neck in an unhealthy tilt. In addition, it also decreases your lung capacity.

When you are planning to correct this position, remember that you don't need to overdo your correction and stick out your chest and belly. Simply focus on lengthening your spine and give your maximum body height and relax your shoulders down. 

3. Gazing Downwards for Prolonged Time

Looking down at your keyboard for a prolonged period while typing is bad posture while using the computer. Your head is heavy, so when you place it in a tilted position for too long, it puts undue pressure on your neck and upper back.

To avoid this posture, try holding your head high parallel to the ground. In addition, keep the handheld devices in line with your eyes rather than around your waist. If you're using a computer, place your monitor screen at a height that brings it in line with your sight.

You may think of using a monitor arm or some books to raise your monitor. Along with that, also think of how far should monitors be from your eyes while adjusting your monitor. 

4. Standing More than Sitting

You have an idea that standing is good for your productivity and health, but you don't realize that prolonged standing is as bad as prolonged sitting, so you should avoid it. Standing for too long makes it difficult for your circulatory system to pump blood upwards. This causes blood to pool in your legs and makes you experience muscle soreness and fatigue.

To avoid this, it is better to stand for shorter durations at regular intervals instead of spending hours and hours standing while working. 

5. Using your Couch for Work

You often sit in a bad posture at the computer when you are working while sitting on a couch for a prolonged period. This spoils your posture, so when you resume working on an office chair, you tend to sit in a slouched or hunched back position.

The ideal thing to do is to work as little on a couch as possible and think of working on an office chair and desk usually so that you can sit with a straight back and adopt a good posture at work. 

6. Adjusting Your Office Chair Based on Your Feet Placement Only

You often believe that you are sitting in the right position if your feet are resting flat on the floor. This is true up to some extent, but in the bigger picture, this is not enough and can lead to a bad posture at the computer. Foot placement is not an issue as you can get a footrest for a chair or get a sitting posture corrector and manage that.

The best way to adjust the chair's height and get the proper sitting posture at the computer is to focus on your forearms. If your forearms align with your desk’s height and form a ninety-degree angle with your arms, you are good to go. 

7. Not Stretching Throughout the Day

Lastly, it is important to stretch throughout the day when you are working on your computer. You often become too bound to your work desk that you hardly get some time to move around and stretch. If you continue staying in a particular position for a prolonged time, your muscles will get sore, and your body will start to ache. This eventually leads you to a bad posture at the computer.

To improve your posture while sitting at a computer, ensure that you change your position frequently and stretch multiple times at regular intervals. Practicing this throughout the day helps you a lot with correcting your bad posture while using the computer.