Here Are My 6 Tips For a Healthy Time Behind The Desk

It’s all in the details

I spend a lot of time behind the computer working as a Software Engineer, When I’m not working I will edit photos, write, or code on my side projects. So looking at a screen for periods of time is very normal for me.

Over the years I have found and tried a myriad of things to help me reduce sore eyes, battle RSI(Repetitive strain injury), learned to sit with a better posture at my desk and more.

Here are my 6 Tips.

1. Screen brightness

Don’t put your screen’s brightness on full blast, this is bad for your eyes. I put all my screens on 80% brightness. The only time you should go to full brightness is if you are outside, otherwise, there isn’t a good reason for it.

2. Use F.lux / Nightlight

F.lux is a tool that will reduce the blue tint coming from the screen, this will make your screen a bit red-ish but your eyes will adjust rather quickly.

I use this all the time when I’m not doing any color important work. Only other people will notice it at one point. For me, I’m seeing the colors as normal.

F.lux is available for Windows and macOS. Both Windows and macOS offer a build-in variant as well called Nightlight or Night Shift.

I have noticed that the colors F.lux provides are a bit different than the build-in variants. I would suggest checking out both and see which works the best for you.

3. Get a good mouse

As a Software Engineer, I’m more productive when I lose the mouse while programming. But for all the other things you are doing on a computer, it’s important to have a good one.

I got RSI (Repetitive strain injury) after one a week of using a non-ergonomic mouse.

I’m currently using a Logitech MX Master and it’s perfect for me. You can consider it an expensive mouse, coming in at around 100 euro. But I value my health more than a price tag.

4. Get a good chair

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, we all were confined to our homes. For me, that meant sitting on a chair, which I own for as long as I can remember, and that is not good considering I’m sitting on it for more than 8 hours a day.

This pushed me to buy a good chair. Good chairs are an investment which you should not buy without sitting on one. I tried at least 5 or 7 chairs when I went shopping for one.

Go to a chair store and sit. Bring your laptop, try to work, and see which chair works for you.

5. Stand up and walk

Have only one drink on your desk, when it’s empty you have to get up and walk to fill it back up. Also after lunch get outside and walk around the block or office area.

Getting some fresh air will recharge your energy and gives more focus.

6. Start standing at your desk

When I’m working from home I have a sit/stand desk. I would start the day standing which also wakes me up a bit more and it also increases focus. After a few hours, I will sit and after lunch, I will start with standing again.

When I’m working at the office, I don’t have a standing desk. I will switch it up by going to one of the lounges or when we don’t have clients over at the office I would go over to the flex area, where we have standing desks.

That’s all folks, hope you got some new ideas to think about and try for yourself.