"Home office" was slowly but surely becoming more common and accepted, until March 2020 when most of the office employees around Europe and worldwide were sent home to continue working remotely due to the outbreak of the Corona virus. Not all employees will return to their offices - the trend for remote work will continue long after COVID-19 pandemic is over. That's why it is important to consider ergonomic aspects of working from home.
There is plenty of organizational advice on how to maintain high level of productivity when working remotely from home, yet little is being said on the technical set-up of an efficient home office. Most agree on the need for a dedicated workspace where you can concentrate. If you are spending 8 hours in an environment and have work to be done then it is better be a physically comfortable one. Deep focus and high productivity are achieved when you eliminate all of the distractions. Apart from obvious productivity-killers like daily gossip with your colleagues there are physical factors like stiff neck and back pain which result from poor ergonomic design of your workplace. If you are reading this sitting in an office chair having your laptop (possibly with an external monitor) standing on an office table, then "congratulations!" - your work place has a poor ergonomic design and you are not working as efficiently as you could. The widely accepted advice to sit up straight turned out to be a hoax - that's not really making things any better. Spending long hours in a sitting position, no matter whether you keep your posture or slouch subjects you to prolonged exposure to vertical spine compression forces. Muscle strain and sore back are guaranteed – it is just a matter of time.
With the LEVUS workstation we have addressed the ergonomic problem of sitting during work by eliminating the "sitting" part out of the equation entirely. By stretching your body horizontally thus spreading weight along the entire body length and an open hip-spine angle we achieved a dramatic reduction of vertical pressure on your spine. With the neck roll headrest and precise positioning of the monitors the tech-neck problem is gone for good too. The great thing about a reclined working position is that gravity pulls you into a correct posture so that you don’t have to think about it.
When I am researching on what people consider to be an ergonomic home office workplace, I keep finding those little tables with giant monitors, squeezed into some living room corner surrounded by crammed DIY shelves, a foot-rest on the floor and an expensive mesh office chair with a million knobs and adjustment handles from some fancy designer house. Folks, let’s be clear on it - this is NOT an ergonomic workplace - this is just another sitting set-up. Many complain that they don't have enough space for a full-scale workstation. It is not a matter of space - it is simply a matter of priority. If you priority is to have that 100" TV with a sofa and a guest chair in your living room - well fair enough. If, however, you need true comfort for your back, focus and productivity in your work - then go and find that space: clean-up your flat, throw things away - and buy and keep only those things that truly matter.