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Create your own Ergonomic Workstation

emily — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:47:10 +0000

Are you comfortable at your workstation? You aren’t always able to pick out your own furniture or workstation set up at a standard 9-to-5 job, but there are several small things you can do to create a better ergonomic work space. Here are some easy fixes for a more comfortable, productive workstation.

Adjust your monitor height. Too often computer users spend hours each day looking down (or up, or to the side) at a computer screen that was never properly adjusted to their height. The ideal setup for your monitor is directly in front of you, at eye level, about your arm’s length away. A monitor riser is simple to install and can provide the height you need for a more comfortable view.

Utilize a document holder. If you frequently read from a paper or notepad when typing, this one item can eliminate the neck and shoulder pain that quickly results from constantly looking down at a text. Incredibly, this little tool can also significantly increase your productivity. You no longer have to continuously look back and forth from your monitor, losing your place and slowing down your typing.

Put on a phone headset. Frequent phone calls can decrease productivity and increase physical discomfort. Many people find it frustrating to sit with idle hands, while holding a phone receiver. But if you cradle the phone between your shoulder and ear in an attempt to write or type while on the phone, this will very quickly stain your shoulders and neck. A headset will easily free your hands for other tasks and make your workstation more comfortable.

Move your keyboard. This might be the most important adjustment you can make to any work space. Your keyboard should rest just below the height of your elbow, sloping slightly downward, away from your body. In this position, your hands can remain in a relaxed even when reaching for the top keys. An adjustable keyboard tray allows the user to customize the keyboard height and angle. This can maximize your comfort and extend your productivity over a full day’s work.

Although you rarely have the opportunity to choose all the details of your work environment, there are a few important adjustments you can make to almost any work space. Taking the time to customize your desk into an ergonomic workstation can help you create a more productive and comfortable work experience.

Maximizing Ergonomics and Productivity for Laptop Users

emily — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:09:51 +0000

Laptop Pros and Cons

We love our laptops, but they don't love us.

I love my laptop and will never go back to a desktop by choice. But my current job requires more time on my computer and I have begun to notice the strain. Laptops are designed for compact mobility, not ergonomics. Long term use can take its toll on your body. I need to evaluate my work space to maximize comfort and productivity.

The goal of any computer work space should be to provide a neutral position for the user. This ideal sitting posture minimizes the work stress on your muscles while both stationary and while typing. This position is not possible on a laptop computer; however, a few peripheral items can make a significant difference.

For a neutral position, the keyboard should rest just below the height of your elbows and the keys should slope downward slightly away from you, so that your hands can remain in a relaxed position even when reaching for the top keys. The use of an ergonomic keyboard on an adjustable keyboard tray can provide the correct height and angle for the keyboard to create a restful position while typing.

Next, your feet should rest firmly on the floor, and your chair should provide proper lumbar support without catching you behind the knees. This neutral position allows the muscles in your back, arms and shoulders to relax while you type. Evaluate your chair, confirming that it fits comfortably and provides the needed support. You may need to add additional back support, or possibly replace your chair with one that will provide long-term benefits.

To provide the proper position for your neck, the computer screen should be at eye-level, so that you can clearly see it without bending you neck. This may require that you elevate your laptop above the desk or work surface.

These three tools can create a restful, neutral position for any laptop user and are essential to the health of any full-time user. Taking a little care with your workspace can provide a comfortable and productive laptop experience.

Ergonomic keyboards and the Video Game Player

admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:07:51 +0000

With the advent of new technologies, video games today games now feature better graphics, more complex gameplay, and, in many cases, demand more playtime. The most popular massively-multiplayer online game today has 10 million players worldwide, each of them playing an average of 17 hours a week. This rapid increase in the gaming population has also resulted in a change in the players themselves.

Take the rise of the professional gamer, for example- video game players who compete in video game events on national and international levels. For example, now there are professional video game players- gamers who play for money, in tournaments held nationally and internationally. In South Korea (where, as of 2005, some 35 percent of all males — 17 million people — regularly play videogames) professional gamers are treated like royalty. Gamers like these earn money from television appearances and endorsements, sign autographs, and are mobbed by fans in the street. Countries like the US, Germany and the United Kingdom are also churning out professional gamers, and televised matches are watched by millions all over the world.

And, as in sports, the rise of professional players has spurred the development of professional equipment- if you take your games seriously, you’ll want to invest in these. Take your ergonomic keyboard, for example. This keyboard is designed to relieve the strain of holding your wrists over the keyboard for extended periods of time. These designs are perfect for those marathon gaming sessions, where the wrists are held in a relatively still position for hours on end. For the gamer who already has to deal with eyestrain for the monitor and back-aches from sitting down for many hours, an ergonomic keyboard is a blessing.

Many keyboards also feature some useful functions for the serious player. Some brands feature high key responsiveness, meaning a shorter delay between the actual button press and the signal being registered by your computer. The difference between good and bad responsiveness in measured in milliseconds, but in shooter games and sports games, these milliseconds can significantly tip the odds!

Another feature that unfortunately not in your average ergonomic keyboard (yet) is the anti-ghosting capability. A feature like this prevents your computer from registering errors when multiple keys are pressed at the same time, which happens frequently in many games. Anti-ghosting hasn’t quite hit the ergonomic keyboard sector yet, but there are some design and manufacturing companies working on it, so we should be able to see a product like this soon.

The design of an ergonomic keyboard for gaming is tricky: it should balance efficiency and comfort, but also have the best in responsiveness and have features like anti-ghosting. But seeing how quickly things are developing in the games industry, I wouldn’t be surprised if one has been released in the time it took to write this article. So fire up the keyboard, and ready your mouse. Happy hunting!

Frank Barnett has been both writer, gamer, and sales representative for a computer retail chain for eight years. When not extolling the virtues of the ergonomic keyboard to customers, he spends his time online, dispensing advice on computer hardware and peripherals. He regularly plays flight simulators and first-person shooters on the PC , and dreams of one day turning pro.

- Frank Barnett