The Ergonomic Home Office: Everything You Need

In the last couple years, many accountancy firm owners have shifted to a work-from-home or hybrid model. This is all well and good, but here’s a question: do you have an ergonomic home office setup? 

While working from home is fantastic, having the right ergonomic home office setup is important for spine health and keeping your mind productive. (Especially during the busy periods of the accounting year!) And… if you don’t have a comfortable, ergonomic desk setup, I can almost guarantee that your back is killing you and you might not be feeling super productive.

How do I know this? Because when I first started working from home a few years ago, I felt the same thing. I had just started working from home, and I was sitting on a hard dining room chair for 6-7 hours a day. Not the cushy, ergonomic chair I had at many office jobs as an executive assistant. And no amount of stretch breaks, yoga or abdominal exercises were helping. It didn’t matter that I had my monitor at the right height, my chair was terrible and I needed some lumbar (lower back) support.

So I bought a lumbar cushion on Amazon, and I cannot tell you what a difference it made. And when I decided to buy a proper office chair? You should have heard my back sing with joy. Studies have shown that a good ergonomic setup can vastly improve your working experience.

6 Ergonomic Home Office Essentials

Here are some ergonomic essentials that can help make working at your desk—formerly known as the dining room table—setup more comfortable.

 

1. Lumbar cushion 

As I mentioned above, a lumbar cushion will make a huge difference for any chair. Depending on your torso length and the height of your desk/table, you might also need to sit on a cushion to get rid of feeling hunched up. A thick cushion that you already have in your home also works well as lumbar support.

2. Adjustable desk chair

If your budget allows, I’d suggest getting a proper desk chair that you can adjust to your body. My lower back sang with joy when I bought mine as it’s similar to ones I used to have in offices I’ve worked at. And it was a decent price point. At the very least, you want a padded seat and back, adjustable lumbar support, and adjustable seat height.

3. Monitor

If your budget allows, it’s a game changer to be able to plug your laptop into a monitor. Less hunching over plus a bigger screen make for a happier neck, shoulders and back. It doesn’t need to be super fancy or expensive, but it’s worth making a bit of an investment. I currently have an HP 24” and it was under £200.

4. Monitor Stand

It’s important to elevate your laptop or monitor screen to a height where your eye line meets just above the middle of the screen. (Your neck will thank you!) Mine is similar to this one for my laptop and I have another that I have my big monitor on (similar to this one). It’s not the prettiest setup, but it makes my work life better.

I recently also discovered the delights of a travel monitor stand for my laptop. If you don’t want the bother or additional cost, yoga blocks or a stack of your old textbooks will do in a pinch. (I used to use CD binders.)

5. Bluetooth keyboard and mouse set

This makes a huge difference for laptop users, especially if that laptop is on the aforementioned monitor stand. Your wrists and hands will be happy. There are also super ergonomic options available for anyone with wrist or hand issues. You can bargain hunt on this purchase, but I wouldn’t get very tight about it as you get what you pay for. 

6. Yoga mat for your stretch breaks

While a yoga mat has nothing to do with your desk setup, it’s where you can work out the kinks when you take your stretch/movement breaks. (Make sure to schedule these in your diary!) If you don’t have a mat, a towel on the floor also works well.

Other things to consider are good lighting and keeping your most used tools and equipment to hand.

Once you’ve got it all… Set yourself up for ergonomic success (and remember to encourage your team to do the same)! Below is a great visual of how we should be sitting at our desk (or table). It can vary by person, but these are some great general guidelines from Ergonomic Trends.

I hope these ergonomic essentials and tips help you with your home office setup. They’ve certainly helped me with mine.