Are you a writer? An editor? An accountant?
Someone who types for a living?
Lengthy sitting periods and long hours of typing can be more damaging than manual labor.
That’s why proper typing posture is so important.
Years of improper typing posture can lead to repetitive strain injury (RSI) such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
You’d wish you had done something about it then, but it will be too late.
Just do it now.
Proper keyboarding posture is not hard to achieve, but you need to be mindful until you get used to it.
Here, follow these guidelines, and you should be fine.
Yes, the first step towards achieving a healthy typing position is adopting the correct sitting posture. Rest your back against the chair. It’s best if your chair has height adjustment and lower back support.
Keep your knees at or slightly below hip level. The back of your knees should not touch the front edge of the seat pan.
Keep your back and your neck straight. Make sure to rest your feet flat on the floor. If you can’t reach it for some reason, use a footrest.
Don’t lean forward and distribute your body weight equally on both hips.
It’s only natural that the keyboard is your essential tool for typing, thus the most critical object you need to set up on your desk.
Here’s how to do ergonomic typing:
Yeah, I know that following all these rules may feel a bit uncomfortable. Some people say good posture hurts, and there is some truth to that. However, once you pass the initial adaptation period, you’ll feel much better.
It’s similar to healthy eating. At first, you feel hungry and crave the junk food you stopped, but you start feeling healthier and happier after some time, totally forgetting about your bad old habits.
Working on a laptop is very different from working on a PC in terms of ergonomics and typing position. Laptops have their own keyboards, and most people use them, even though it’s not always the best choice.
Step-by-step guide on how to type on a laptop ergonomically:
Things you should avoid at all costs include working on the laptop in your bed, couch, or on the floor. Just focus on your work when you work and leave the other stuff for when you’re resting.
I know it may sound tempting to work on the couch cuddling with your dog or cat, but it will not be good for your neck, back, and wrists.
Let’s take a look at some handy typing advice (pun intended).
The proper way to place your fingers on the keyboard is:
Place your left hand on the left side of the keyboard, and your right hand on the right side, with the T G B keys being the divider.
Left-hand fingers: pinky on A, ringer on S, middle finger on D, index finger on F.
Right-hand – pinky on ; (semicolon), ringer on L, middle finger on K, index finger on J.
Rest both thumbs on the space bar.
Straight and neutral is the proper wrist position for typing. Do not tilt your wrists up or down, as it will create tension, which can lead to severe health conditions in the long run.
If your wrists get tired quickly, you can consider using a wrist rest or a palm rest. Just remember that wrist pads, counterintuitively, are not ideal for resting your wrists. It’s actually a place to rest the fleshy part of your palms.
comfortable. Have you thought about using a mechanical keyboard?
What’s that
Well, a mechanical keyboard uses mechanical switches beneath every key. Ordinary or membrane keyboards have keys resting on membranes that send a signal when pressed.
The significant difference between the two is that you get the actual sensation of hitting the keys with a mechanical keyboard. It does feel more satisfying, and it’s no wonder both gamers and regular typists prefer mechanical keyboards.
It’s okay to type on your phone from time to time, but it’s only okay if it’s a short message. Leave the long responses and emails for when you can use a keyboard.
Typing on the phone promotes bad posture, as your head is tilted down and your wrists and shoulders are under constant pressure.
No matter what you do, there’s no avoiding this step. Ideally, you should take a break from typing once every 20-30 minutes. Use the break to stretch your wrists, walk around the office, drink water, or eat an apple.
Whether you bang the enter button or you press it gently, the result will be the same. So there’s no point in taking out your frustration on the keyboard. You’ll either break it or hurt your fingers.
Something else to avoid at all costs is looking at the keyboard while typing. It slows you down, lowers your accuracy, and it’s bad for your head because of the continuous up and down movement.
Now that you know all there is to know about proper typing posture, it’s time to start practicing. It may seem a bit unnatural at first, but you will start feeling the benefits once you get used to it.
Proper keyboarding posture can improve your workflow and lead to better health and productivity.
And it will save you a lot of medical taxes, pain, and time off from work.
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