New workspace

My workspace (computer) is finished. My new desk came on Wednesday and now I have everything (paper, files, books, disks etc etc) all in one place.  I took this before everything was set up, but I just had to hook up the computer so I could listen to my online music. The size is deceiving in the picture, the length is about 5 1/2’ long, and just about the same in height. The keyboard is down below now, so no more typing uphill and hurting my wrists and arms reaching up.

I went back to the wireless mouse yesterday to get rid of one more wire hanging down. The rest of the wires are behind the desk, so no more spider web of cables everywhere. There are a few behind the monitor, but I can’t see much of them. Hubby got this for me, but I bought a new chair, foot rest and plastic mat for the floor myself.

This the new foot rest. I can adjust it to angle in a couple of other positions and is very good for shorties like me. 5’4” isn’t always compatible and being left handed doesn’t help either…. I like the raised bumps on the foot rest, it’s like a massage on your feet because they press lightly on the pressure points of your feet.

So this is the old chair. It has some things that aren’t obvious in the picture, but they are:  it’s to wide for me so I was leaning one way or the other which is bad for your back for starters. The seat is too concave and so I had to sit on blankets or towels to fill that space because again it was putting my body in a position where I had to sit forward to type, and again, not a good thing for the back.

Some other points to consider when buying a new chair, the armrests. This old chair had arm rests that are too long which didn’t allow my arms to relax meaning that where the arms ended was right at my wrists causing more stress. The length of the seat itself.

Okay if you have long legs, but if you have short ones like me, the position the seat against the back of your legs can press on nerves restricting the blood flow. Ever felt tingling or numbness in your legs when sitting for a while…that could be why.  The other consideration is the back of the chair. While you can find okay chairs with a short back on them, they aren’t the best choice. There is nothing more comfortable than a chair that goes right up the back and it gives you better support.

This new chair is perfect for me. It’s narrower, has a raised sitting area, the back of the chair has padded areas that fit snuggly into the small of my back, and across the shoulder blades and the seat is the right length so that the back of knees are resting against the chair seat and there is no pressure.

If you’re considering a new chair, don’t rush to buy one. Save up and buy a good one, it’s the best investment you can make if you spend any amount of time at the computer. Don’t be caught up in the hype of saving money on a cheaper chair, don’t let anyone discourage you from buying what you want. This is for your comfort nobody else. Find out if someone in the store is experienced in fitting customers to the chairs. I asked at the store and they have someone who did all the checks for me, she was great. Made sure that it was the right fit for me.

There are lots and lots of chairs out there, but don’t be in a hurry to buy something, make sure it’s the one for you. Save your money instead of buying the first one you see, it’s worth it. Since using this new chair I am so much more comfortable and I don’t get up with aches and pains from moving around and shifting positions in the old one to find a comfortable spot. I hope this is a help to someone and good luck…