by Pamela Allardice
If you spend a large part of your life sitting at a desk, it makes sense to ensure that it’s safe and comfortable. These stress relieving ideas should make desk work a breeze…
- Keep it clean – The average desk harbours 400 times more bacteria than an office toilet seat. Disinfect germ-laden troublespots like phones regularly.
- Ease eye strain– Adjust your computer monitor contrast so that the image is sharp. Avoid glare with a screen. Refocus every 10 minutes by looking around and rolling your eyes in circles, first left, then right.
- Switch your coffee – Replace at least one coffee with a cup of nourishing miso soup. Keep sachets of this tasty, protein-rich soybean extract in your drawer for a quick, hot, anytime snack.
- Move your keyboard – Position your keyboard so that your hands hover slightly above it, keeping your wrists straight. Give yourself a soothing hand massage a couple of times a day. Search out sore spots, press with your thumbs and hold for 10 seconds.
- Add a little nature– A Norwegian study has found a 25 percent decrease in colds when plants were placed on employees’ desks. For the gardening-impaired, cast iron plants, snake plants and Chinese evergreens are virtually indestructible.
- Create harmony – Feng shui practitioners say computers create fire energy, which weakens concentration, so introduce water energy with a vase of flowers. And don’t position your desk at right angles to another as this can lead to confrontation.
- Sit pretty– Adjust your chair so your feet are flat on the floor with your spine against the backrest. Arrange your desk so you don’t have to make repeated stretching movements. Never cradle the phone between your head and shoulder; use a headset.
- Still stressed?
Keep a yo-yo in your drawer to help relieve tension and relax hands and wrists.Boost vitality by increasing the number of energising negative ions in the atmosphere with a desktop ioniser. Some brands also filter out pollen and dust.Encourage yourself with simple, positive affirmations, eg. “Today I will take one step at a time.” (Or one for bad days — “It could be worse: I could be related to these people.”)