Working From Home

[Funt Solo]

I'm working from home as a teacher, and so's my wife (who also works in schools), and so's my daughter (who's a school student).

It's been okay - we're lucky enough to have space so that our home-offices are in separate rooms, which helps. The budgie has been relegated to the (lit) basement due her loud tweets of excitement at having us all nearby.

Due to Internet limitations, we've changed things up recently and the adults alternate going into work (our buildings are open, and fully socially-distanced and so on) because they have really good Net-speeds.

The biggest problem is my shoulder - something to do with the home setup - and being constantly on the computer (for work and play) is having a negative effect in my right shoulder. So ... maybe a standing desk?

[Tiplodocus]

Oh yeah, the WiFi.

It only ever reached half of our house (old cottage with three foot thick walls in places. And two separate ring mains so we couldn't use one of those plug gizmos.

Fortunately we'd already invested in a Mesh system to better support the Amazon Echoes we got for Christmas.

So I added a couple more nodes for the offices and that makes everything connect fine. Two of us working from home and Tiny Tips browsing and Netflixing at same time.

[IndigoPrime]

Funt: shoulder issues can be for a range of reasons. What is your current set-up?

[Funt Solo]

Office chair and desk with laptop and mouse.

What I've noticed is that I tend to keep my hand on the mouse nearly all the time, even when I'm not actively doing anything (like resting in neutral). And because work is now mostly Zoom (not classroom), and because a lot of my hobbies are also computer driven, I'm kind of sitting in the same position for most of the day.

I've tried raising the chair a bit, and tried not using the mouse so much, but I still find my hand resting there and my shoulder hurting. Something in there is clicking when I try to stretch and flex it, as well.

(The only reason I haven't gone to the Doc yet is that I'm still doing PT for me knee, which had a meniscus tear and then a partial meniscectomy back in March, and is still doing poorly with patellar tracking. Ooh, me olde bones etc.)

[IndigoPrime]

I'm assuming PC, not Mac?

[Funt Solo]

Well, yes, it's a PC. You're not going to tell me that right-clicking makes a difference?

[Tiplodocus]

I'm working from home as a teacher, and so's my wife (who also works in schools), and so's my daughter...

No, I'm Spartacus

[IndigoPrime]

Well, yes, it's a PC. You're not going to tell me that right-clicking makes a difference?

No. But if you'd been using Mac, my advice would have been to switch to a trackpad. That might still be a good option, but I cannot recommend specific hardware on a PC. Holding your hand on the mouse means your muscles are tensed for the entire time you do that. Mouse use forces the arm into an unnatural position. It sounds like your body is warning you, and you are at risk of some kind of long-term problem. (TL;DR: this is what my RSO started out like.

Generic advice as follows:

1. Ensure you have a GOOD chair
2. Have your screen with your eyeline within its top third
3. Sit up fairly straight, ideally with your feet on the floor; your forearms should be flat, and your arms naturally in an L shape
4. Fidget, often; get up and move about every 25 minutes if you can, or every hour if you can't
5. Research and find desk stretching exercises and do them, even if you feel like a twonk

Specific advice:

1. If you're using an extended keyboard, swap it for a non-extended one OR move your pointing device to the left
2. Standing desks can help, but not all day; ease yourself into using one and only do so with proper footwear
3. Try where possible to replace mouse use with keyboard use (e.g. keyboard shortcuts)
4. Trackpads > mice, for the most part BUT if you get a Wacom with a stylus, don't hold the stylus while typing (my bad habit, which is apparently quite common)

[Funt Solo]

Thanks for all the advice!

This started being painful before the summer, tailed off during the summer with less computer work but has come back with a vengeance now that school's started back up.

I see an ergonomic keyboard in my future, and I've already switched the main screen to be the one that's in my eyeline.

[Jim_Campbell]

On the subject of ergonomics, beyond all of IP's very sensible advice, I started using a pair of these articulated elbow supports.

Particularly good for your mouse hand, where the temptation is to rest your wrist on the edge of the desk and let the rest of your arm hang free, which means the entire weight of your arm pulls down through your elbow. They're also height adjustable so you can get your arm in the ergonomically-recommended right-angle position without relying on the arm-rests of your chair (which tends to encourage you to slouch).

[Funt Solo]

Thanks, Jim - reckon I'll invest. In my mind, I'll be like:

[Jim_Campbell]

Thanks, Jim - reckon I'll invest. In my mind, I'll be like:

Hah! You should see the state of me at my desk these days... trying to undo twenty-five years of damage caused by ignoring all the sensible advice on workstation ergonomics. I've got articulated arm supports, I'm strapped into a posture-correcting back brace... seriously, get this stuff right at the start, it's a hell of lot easier than doing the damage and then trying to fix it.

[IndigoPrime]

So the way you should work is with your arms defaulting to an L. Your elbows should ideally be just behind the edge of the desk. Your forearms should be lightly flat on the table but not pressed into it. You may find the keyboard works better if slightly angled, but always ensure the letter keys are centrally in front of you. (This is very important if you've an extended keyboard or one of those bloody awful laptops with a number pad. Do not twist your back to type.)

Keyboard type is down to personal preference. I'm very happy with the low-profile Apple one. Other journos love clacky mechanical keyboards. Ergonomic ones can be fine, but your position will do more for you than an ergonomic keyboard, *some* designs for which are snake oil. (I get a lot of tech pitches. Some are ergonomic kit seemingly designed by someone who presumably also owns private medical firms for backs and arms.)

[IndigoPrime]

Those supports Jim mentions might be a good idea depending on your set up, but fuck me re the photos. If you're going to pimp ergonomic kit, have your people sitting and working properly in the pics! Argh! My RSI is twinging just looking at them.

[Jim_Campbell]

Your elbows should ideally be just behind the edge of the desk. Your forearms should be lightly flat on the table but not pressed into it.

This is pretty much why I got the arm supports — I have limited space and not enough depth on my desk to set the monitor and keyboard far enough back to work like that. (Also, the main monitor is a Cintiq, so if I set it that far back, it would be too far away to draw on).