Making Ergonomics Work for You

Published on December 3, 2015 - By Cecilia Amador

We recently heard about the compensation effect and how standing desks in the office can affect life at home.

According to the compensation effect theory, standing too much at work can lead to an increased level of laziness at home.

Standing desks became popular when people, as well as companies, started to think more about the importance of wellness and wholeness in the work environment. The trend started with the standing desk and rapidly evolved with other ergonomic solutions, up to the point that exercise machines that could be used in the office became highly available.

Reading about the compensation effect we began to think about why it was that this ergonomic solution wasn’t living up to all it was cracked up to be originally. But of course, as with everything else in life, we concluded that it’s about finding a balance, one that works for each individual.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ergonomics as: “an applied science concerned with designing and arranging things people use so that the people and things interact most efficiently and safely.”

The Cambridge Online Dictionaries has a similar definition, with the difference that it’s focused in business/work terms: “the ​scientific ​study of ​people and ​their ​working ​conditions, ​especially done in ​order to ​improve ​effectiveness.”

Ergonomics encompasses more than just desks, whether we’re standing up, sitting down, or moving. A while ago, we discussed how classrooms are specifically designed to drive productivity and how business centers could apply the same concept to their offices.

What we learned was that when designing, one needs to take into account ergonomic solutions, acoustics, space planning, heating, lighting, color, furniture, and storage; as all of these can affect the way we feel about and conduct ourselves in a given environment.

There are various ergonomic solutions providers out there that have a wide array of options. One of them is ESI and their solutions span from furniture to lighting, to technology to accessories, and some more.  

Among some of their newest products, you will find solutions that are easily adjustable to fit different heights, angles, and personal preferences.

Check them out:

Ergoise Lift

Clamps to the front or back of any work surface 30” deep or less. It can hold up to 20 lbs, has a height range of 16” and includes a palm rest on the keyboard platform that can be positioned on the left or the right.

Ergoise Climb

Clamps to the front or back of any work surface 30” deep or less. It can hold up to 20 lbs, has a height range of 17” and includes a palm rest on the keyboard platform that can be positioned on the left or the right. The Climb offers users the versatility of rotating 1-2 monitors to be viewed in landscape or portrait orientation.

Conceal

A cable management accessory that expands and retracts (to a total height of 53.5”)  to keep cables organized and disguised under a height adjustable table base.

Evolve2

An adjustable dual monitor arm, and has optional configurations to adjust for height, tilt, potrait-landscape rotation, and side-to-side slide for optimal mobility.  It can hold up to six monitors.