4 Simple Ways To Take Care of Yourself When Working Long Hours
Cyan Ta'eed
Most of us know the basic rules for ensuring we don’t cripple ourselves at our desks. The problem of course is that often we do not actually practice them. One recurring shoulder injury later, and I am realizing the value of a bit of pre-emptive action. The following are easy steps to take that will make a difference to your working life and help keep your body from withering away:
Invest in a proper, ergonomic chair or pilates ball
A good chair can be pricey, but if you’re going to be spending long hours at work it is worth the cash. A cheap chair equals back pain, no matter what your age. Consider how much you might spend on say a car and how much time you actually spend in a car vs sitting at your desk, in that context spending a little extra makes sense.
If a proper chair is out of your price range, why not try a pilates ball? Go to a fitness equipment store and get help choosing the right size for your height. They generally go from US$10 to US$30. You may only be able to manage sitting on a pilates ball for a small portion of the day at first because they really work your muscles, but if you use it regularly it will significantly lessen the risk of back pain (and work your abs – woo)!
Exercise your eyeballs
I, like most freelancers spend long hours in front of a computer screen. Logically our eyes were not meant to stare at a brightly lit flat object for hours a day, so we can get headaches, blurred vision, and generally feel crummy. To avoid this, try the following:
- Take a 10 minute break every 2 to 3 hours and look at other things. Ideally look at things that are far away and things that are close up. Try to position your desk next to a window so you can look out regularly.
- Keep your eyes at least 18 inches (45cm) from the screen.
- Don’t work in the dark or in dim lighting.
- Blink more often when you think about it.
- Roll your eyes when you think about it (preferably not at co-workers).
Try this link for more on screens.
Exercise the rest of you
Make sure you get up every few hours and move around. Stretch a little – especially your neck and shoulders. You can find some simple exercises here that should make a big difference to how you feel at the end of the day. Dr Gillian McKeith - you might know her as that very healthy lady from British TV - has a mini trampoline in her office that she bounces on between meetings. I personally think this is a brilliant idea, and am planning on doing it (I’ll let you know how it goes).
Spend time with humans
Make sure you find somebody to talk to every day. Skype and email do not count. This is easy if you have a partner or kids nearby, but some of us live and work at home alone, so making time to see people is very important. If you can’t get out for whatever reason, call one of your clients about a current project rather than emailing them. Not only will it make sure you get minimal human contact but you’ll build a stronger relationship with your client.
So those are the things I’m trying to do to take care of myself during my (often long) work days. I’ve found it not only keeps me healthy but also makes me feel better throughout the day! If you have any other tips please share them in the comments…
Michael
April 19th, 2007
I have an old managers chair… not all that comfortable. I’m sure a great chair is worth the money, but which ones are great… anyone have any suggestions?
Proops
April 19th, 2007
Gillian McKeith is no doctor… and no viable health reference. You might want to look up her legal history.
Cory Miller
April 19th, 2007
I’ve been spending a LOT more time in front of a computer screen lately and my back, eyeballs and arms are telling me to slow down or give them a break. This is excellent advice for me, thanks!
David Bradley
April 19th, 2007
When you say find someone to talk to, for most at-home workers, spouses and kids really are not enough. Fantastic as family life can be, you really need to get off your butt and out into the real world away from the family cocoon and interact with people who do not have a vested interest in your wellbeing. Join a club, take up a new sport, work with a local voluntary group, just do it, reap the benefits and you’ll become a more effective family member AND have something to talk to your spouse and kids about too.
Brandon
April 19th, 2007
When I was working long hours from home, one thing that I found helped clear my mind was to take it a step further and actually get outside and go for a walk. Even just taking a walk around the block is a nice amount of exercise and doesn’t take a big chunk out of your day. Plus, you’re getting some fresh air while you’re at it.
Esteban
April 19th, 2007
Wish I had a girl like that while working long hours…
Seriously, I tried working with my girlfriend late at night; she was helping me with some PSDs and some scanning, also preparing some coffe or tea, chit-chatting, trying to make those heavy extra-hours merrier…
But it was worse. We both ended tired and wasted, arguing about some design matter; I stopped working and we didn’t talk to each other for that night. Bad.
Therefore, I think it is not a good idea to involve someone beloved, friend, wife, whatever, in your hard-working peak hours. Personally, if I know I’ll be working late at night, I try to isolate myself, put some music or enjoy the silence, no traffic noise, no people screaming around you. Get introspective.
Fernando Lins
April 19th, 2007
I exercise my eyeballs rolling them with some clients requests. Socialization is a good tip. As someone who works alone at home, I go out at least twice a day and meet someone for luch or dinner. And there’s school too, at night.
bruno
April 19th, 2007
Im going to try it, but i hardly ever remember to do anything of these tricks :o(
dotjay
April 19th, 2007
If you find yourself forgetting to take breaks or just thinking of exercises to do, I highly recommend Workrave - it’s a free break reminder program with the option for it to annoy you with exercises to do:
http://www.workrave.org/welcome/
Incidentally, I bought a gym ball to use as my office chair a couple of weeks back and it’s pretty good. Some people don’t get on well with them, but it’s been OK for me - once I was used to it - and definitely cheaper than getting an ergonomic chair.
Reese
April 19th, 2007
I had a good chuckle at the last one.
I still need to improve on this and expand my human contact beyond him, but it can be tough.
Until my husband came to join our business full time, I would often go out for lunch for the mere sake of human contact
Will
April 19th, 2007
I always feel bad taking breaks as im employed (not a freelancer) , but I guess im allowed to take a few 15min breaks throughout the day.
Eric
April 19th, 2007
I just stumbled upon your site from CSSRemix. This is the first blog that I have actually found useful. Thank you for putting thought and time into your fellow freelancers. I will be suggesting your page to everyone in the business. Thanks again!!
Per
April 19th, 2007
For all you ppl who use Macintosh I recommend AntiRSI (http://tech.inhelsinki.nl/antirsi/). The application tells you when to take micro pauses and also longer breaks. Try it out!
Nate Whitehill
April 19th, 2007
Great tips. I enjoyed the part about spending time with “humans.” Animals don’t count? What about monkeys? After 6+ hours of desk sitting I do need a little bit of human interaction. Maybe I should consider getting a monkey though.
Kirk
April 19th, 2007
I’m glad I found this post. My eyes have been bugging me lately and I finally went to get an eye exam. Turns out my eyes were fine, but the physician gave me a few pointers that were listed above. He mentioned looking at things far away. I didn’t know about looking at things close up. That’s great.
I got to thinking about the affects of computer monitors on our eyes and if the human eye will evolve after a few generations of having computers. Will our eyes get stronger? I was wondering if people had the same problems with their eyes wit the advent of books. Did our ancestor’s eyes have to adjust to reading a book?
dotjay
April 19th, 2007
People may find Workrave a useful tool for reminding you to exercise - it even has suggestions for exercises that pop up. And it’s free! Just Google for it.
Jon
Cyan
April 20th, 2007
I just installed AntiRSI as suggested by Per. It’s such a good idea!
As Proop suggested I looked up “Gillian McKeith legal” in Google and it seems there is some controversy surrounding her. I won’t comment either way but if you want further information take a look.
After reading up I still like her mini-tramp advice and feel it is entirely uncontroversial - so will stand by the suggestion!
Thanks for the tip though Proop - interesting reading
Jermayn Parker
April 20th, 2007
Totally agree with all of that.
I have a chin up bar in my lounge room (live at a bacholar pad) which can be handy for the shoulders and that BUT totally agree with excerise (how much snack food do we freelancers eat?) and human touch, which keeps us sane and human
Did anyone when reading “Blink more often when you think about it.” start to blink more often?? I know I did
RAN
April 20th, 2007
Ey Cyan….i also installed the AntiRSI …see if it helps to plan in breaks….ohhhhh just wait…ehhh…I see 2 screens…is it because….oh no…i have 2 screens….pffffff….I thought something’s wrong…
yep…its all about balancing…but thats one of the most dif. exercises
David Bradley
April 20th, 2007
If you can’t bear live human contact then a pet that requires daily walks is a useful alternative to getting out (I’m thinking: dogs, llamas, horses, cats (not so much), goldfish (next to useless), gators (bit sharp)…
Rohit Malik
April 21st, 2007
Really Interesting posts for home workers!
Jermayn Parker
April 21st, 2007
I think a pet could help,
Dog walk down the park
Birds, go and feed them
cats, go and kick them
Barbara
April 21st, 2007
You can usually find one of those balance chairs that tilts forward and has no back at Goodwill or Salvation Army.Most people can’t stand them, but they are good for the back. Going to try a ball for part of the day. Since when do I have to be a medical expert to tell someone what works for me or the person I am quoting?The Orthopedic Institute and I are on good terms as long as I pay my bill.
Armen
April 23rd, 2007
I read a post recently at - Dietriffic that might be a positive addition to this post.
Benny
April 30th, 2007
Nice article…
I’m a webdesigner and I have had (or still have) quite a lot of RSI. This was built up from years of long hours in front of the computer, using the mouse. My biggest problem was my wrist and arm, but I had problems with my shoulders and back too.
The bottom side of the wrist was always red from resting on the table using a mouse. Now I can’t work without a wrist band (that one of tennis players). Back then I did a lot of 3D which was very intensive on the amount of mouse clicks, that caused a lot of the pain.
A year ago I switched to a Wacom Intuos3 for all my mousing activity and it was (is) a godsend! I have a lot less pain now. But using the Wacom has brought a new type of pain in my arm (much less than with a mouse although), so unfortunately it is not magic. I still have to be careful.
My solution is to: rest well, take regular breaks, stretch alot and do things to relieve stress like jogging, and of course the tablet. Always sit straight… Also try to use the computer less often, a lot of things can be done with a piece of paper and pencil. Oh, a good chair has helped me a lot too!
Stefan
April 14th, 2008
There is a good book at: http://www.lazyway.net/
“The lazy way to success”. Good read when one is working long hours.