Sitting with the right leg height.
When you sit in a chair for a long period of time, it is important that
blood circulation to your legs continues. To this end, you should sit
so that your thighs are parallel to the floor when your lower legs are
perpendicular to the floor. In other words, the front of your seat
should not cut off the blood supply in your legs. You can always use a
little foot platform to lift up your feet and legs, if you need to have
your seat higher than otherwise permissible.
Sitting back with proper neck, shoulder and upper back support.
It is very important to support your neck and shoulders as you read.
Hunching forward is almost guaranteed to cause neck and back pain and
reduce your focus, concentration and the amount of time you can read.
The proper approach is to sit back with your neck and shoulders
supported. This means you are sitting against support just past the
vertical position. You will note that your relaxed line of vision rises
up when you do this. This is why E-Tool has the book raised up, so as to
match your new, relaxed line of vision, now that you are sitting with
proper neck and back support. Your seat and the back of your chair
should be cushioned.
Head Tilt.
Do not bend your head down to read. You should not lower your head to
read. This causes a lot of neck stress. Set the height of E-Tool
properly for your seat, which you may be able to raise or lower.
Elbows.
Do not raise your elbows awkwardly to type. Doing so will cause a lot
of stress on your shoulders. Ideally, you should rest your elbows on
side rests or side arms, adjusted so that the weight of the arms is off
the shoulders.
Wrist position.
Ideally, when you type, your forearms and the back of your hands should
be all on one flat line. Your laptop can be in your lap, or you can use
an extended keyboard if necessary, placed in a comfortable position,
like on a lower keyboard tray or on a pillow in your lap. With an
extended keyboard, your laptop can be on a table and at some distance
from the extended keyboard. If you need to raise your hands and forearms
substantially, tilt the back of the keyboard up to compensate, so that
the flat line discussed above is maintained.
Forearms.
Do not type with your forearms below your armrests. This is also very
awkward. If you are sitting in an armchair, place your extended keyboard
or laptop on a small pillow or attaché on your lap. This will allow you
to use the armrests and type with level forearms. Your mouse can rest
on a small side table. You can quickly place the keyboard or laptop on
this side table or main table if you need to get up.
Lumbar support.
Make sure your lumbar area is supported by a small pillow or bend in
the back of your chair. Otherwise, you are going to have pain.
In-Line reading and typing.
As you work you should not have to turn your head from left to right.
The centers of your keyboard, screen and workspace (for books or papers)
should all line up on the same centerline. Turning your head repeatedly
is a sure way to hurt yourself and loose concentration and accuracy,
especially when editing, transcribing or entering data, or taking notes
from reading. Make sure you line up your work elements properly. See many more pictures at E-Tool.
By far the easiest and
quickest way for anybody to improve his or her reading concentration is
to remove physical discomfort when reading. Also, typing notes as you
read greatly increases concentration and comprehension.
No comments:
Post a Comment