Upgrade your workstation with an optimized ergonomic desk setup

Setting up an ergonomic desk is the best way to optimize your workstation and improve efficiency when trading. Due to long hours online, the probability of experiencing body strains is high in a forex trading job. The effect can initially be momentary muscle pain but this might also lead to recurrent aches. If untreated, you may risk overall effectiveness when working on daily tasks. Through a comfortable and ergonomic setup, minimize or avoid long term hazards caused by lengthy hours spent on the computer.

What is an ergonomic space?

Over the years, ergonomics has become highly valuable in optimizing one’s well-being while on a desk job. For both short-term and long-term safety, it focuses on enhancing the health of the desk user while improving the systems in which ergonomics are applied. An ergonomic space uses furniture and other tools geared towards providing great comfort and optimal support for the body. It designed to ensure the appropriate posture, correct stationary form and relaxing sensation when working on your desk.When applied daily, an ergonomic desk space can initiate better task performance and improve productivity. For most people, this may not be a critical concern when building a profitable trading career. Despite this, the fact is that forex traders spend an enormous amount of time at their desks. According toErgonomics Now, Australian statistics show that 70 percent of 60 call center agents claimed to have pains largely due to incorrect posture while working. In USA statistics,work-related injuries account for more than 647,000 injuries and illnesses.In the long run, an office that is not dedicated to a ergonomics may face the possibility of lesser productivity levels and challenges in executions. According to ergonomics consultantDan MacLeod, physical ergonomics can be summarized in these 10 principles:

1. Work in neutral postures
2. Reduce excessive force
3. Keep everything in easy reach
4. Work at proper heights
5. Reduce excessive motions
6. Minimize fatigue and static load
7. Minimize pressure points
8. Provide clearance
9. Move, exercise, and stretch
10. Maintain a comfortable environment

All these principles can be applied for better forex trading performance. By keeping these points in mind, you can begin to understand why you need certain equipment and how they should be helping you. The key is to be mindful of your work posture and invest in great ergonomic desk essentials.

Benefits of investing in an ergonomic desk space

• Encourages good posture
• Greatly reduces risks of both short-term and long-term aches
• Enables efficiency and productivity when trading
• Improves quality of work
• Reduces medical costs from possible injuries
• Increases comfort in a work station for better disposition and lesser fatigue
• Optimizes accuracy and focus
• Saves time due to more efficient organization in your work space

Tips for Ergonomic desk essentials

Is your current workspace a healthy and comfortable environment? When trading, does your body feel at ease? Over time, an ergonomic desk prevents different types of muscle strain caused by prolonged hours on your computer station. From digital eye strain to recurring body aches, an uncomfortable office setup can hinder optimized trading performance. To start,here are tips to consider when organizing or searching for the best ergonomic desk essentials:

Desk

• To keep everything within easy reach, make sure your desk allows room for all the files or gadgets you regularly use. Place task materials at a comfortable distance to minimize any extra effort. With frequently used objects, they should be within reach of your forearm. For items that you often use, make sure you can grab them with your full arm.
• Make sure there is room for clearance of your knees. Although a desk chair can easily adjust your sitting position, it is still best to use ergonomically-friendly desks. Clutter underneath the desk also affects placement of your legs. You may check outThe Human Solutionfor their variety of available desks with adjustable heights.
• Avoid simple mistakes like having too much glare on the top of the desk, placing the monitor at an angle from you or allowing too little space for all monitors and other materials.

Office Chair

• Before picking your desk and office chair, make sure their heights and adjustability complement each other.
• There are great options in the market for ergonomic desk chairs. A great desk chair should support your spine and should immediately make you feel comfortable.
• When adjusting your chair, start with your back. Modify the backrest to support the lower back as you sit up straight. After your back, adjust the height of your office chair and make sure your feet are flat on the floor. For your arms, your chair should easily rest while feeling relaxed in the shoulders.

Monitor

• When it comes to monitor placement, the general rule of thumb is to have monitor be directly in front of you with an arm’s length distance. With the top of the screen a little below eye level, your head should face the screen without inclination or bending in the neck. Check if the center of the computer screen is close to your shoulder height.
• The gap between eyes to screen should be be enough that you can effortly focus on the texts or images. Recommended viewing distance is 18-24 inches. You might also want to adjust text size to reduce eye strain. For more information on how to manage digital eye strain, take a look at theBest Eye Care Tips for Perfect Trading.
• Set your monitors at a comfortable brightness. Make sure your computer screen is at the same brightness as your environment.

Keyboards

• Your keyboard must always be placed right in front of your monitor.
• Ergonomic keyboard positioning requires your hand to be levelled with your forearm. Wrists must also be straight.
• Mouse must be right next to keyboard and close to your body. Be sure to maintain a straight line with your forearm and your hand.

Top Ergonomic upgrades

After the essentials, incorporate ergonomic upgrades into your trading station. Once you’ve got the basic equipment and knowledge of an ergonomically sound desk setting, it might be time for an upgrade. When a forex trader has recurring aches and pains due to the physical work environment, it is important to consider more options. Even after investing in the fundamentals of ergonomics, sometimes the additional features can help round up a comfortable work space.Check out these extra features to include in your trading station:

Desk chair upgrade

One of the best upgrades you can invest in is a quality ergonomic desk chair. Office chairs do well in supporting the back but you may also consider finding an ergonomically-focused chair. Because everyone comes in different heights and body proportions, it is crucial to find a chair thatoffers adjustments. Be sure to take note of these pointers:

• Having an adjustable back is one of the most important features of an ergonomic chair. For lower back support, adjustability provides optimal relaxation when trading.
• Find an ergonomic chair that offers seat depth adjustments. This allows you to fine-tune comfort based on the length of your legs.
• Seat height adjustments are perfect for balancing desk height with personal leg length.
• Adjustable tilts can also be beneficial for people who vary in weight. This encourages a more snug sitting position.
• Being able to adjust arm height is a less common concern for most people. But when it comes to proper keyboard positioning, an adjustable arm height can be a necessary feature especially for those who type often.

Practice the correct sitting position

With the sedentary nature of forex trading, the body eventually experiences aches or pains related to long term sitting. Studies show that sitting on a desk for long periods of time can result in a C-curved posture. This causes strain on both back and neck. As much as we try to achieve the correct sitting position, it may be difficult to carry out in a busy trading atmosphere. If you’re a busy or full time trader, keep notes and reminders that enable correct posture.Posturite.comsuggests thesebest tips to prevent long-term injury from working on a desk:

• Keep your head balanced and straight. Avoid bending forward
• Make sure the top of the screen is at an eye level
• Arms should be relaxed at your side and parallel to the desk
• Computer screen should be at an arm’s length
• Feet should stay flat on the floor

Use a footrest

A footrest is highly beneficial when your desk chair and desk height do not exactly complement each other. If your feet do not comfortably rest flat on the floor, using a footrest can provide permanent or temporary relief. To avoid muscle strain in your legs or knees, a footrest can be very helpful. It is suggested that your knees need to bent at an angle of 90 degrees. For more flexibility, pick a footrest that allows adjustable heights. This can be useful when buying online or when changing your desk or chair.

Ergonomics via laptop

Whether for a mobile office or for a simple home office set up, the use of laptops is highly common for forex traders. Since laptops are much more portable and convenient, an ergonomic setting can be difficult to consistently practice.To execute proper ergonomics for your laptop, here is the best upgrade that can help:In ergonomics, it is suggested that the top of the monitor must be at an eye level. When using a laptop on your desk or on a coffee table, there is no way to achieve the ergonomic standard. Because of this, forex traders often experience neck and shoulder strains especially those who work for lengthy hours. The best way to follow correct ergonomics is to use a laptop stand. This allows you to elevate your laptop screen at the proper height. Whether you buy from a store or create a makeshift holder, using a laptop stand is a great upgrade for long hours of trading.As much as laptops allow traders conveniently work from anywhere, the risks for injury can be high over a period of time. When it comes to optimum laptop ergonomics, the best tip is to either switch to a monitor or limit your number of hours of usage.

Ergonomic desk accessories

According toTop 10 Must-Haves for the Ultimate Home Office, desk accessories also play an important role in improving ergonomics and enhancing trading results. Here are the ergonomic desk accessories you can use to upgrade your workstation:

1. Benefit from a document holder. Place the holder next to or close to the monitor screen to minimize efforts for inclination of the neck. This also improves efficiency and saves time.
2. Monitor risers help accomplish general height requirements. These stands and mounts are great solutions to smaller sized monitors. For forex trading, adjustable risers are also great to give similar heights when using multiple monitors.
3. An ergonomic mouse is designed to provide ease of use and better grip. Investing in an ergonomic mouse minimizes the risks of carpal tunnel and wrist strain.
4. To complement a great mouse, a gel mouse pad or a wrist cushion can also support better wrist care.
5. When frequently using the keyboard, a keyboard gel pad is another great tool for better desk ergonomics. In the long run, this accessory decreases stress on the wrist during extensive hours of trading or typing.
6. It is known that digital eye strain is one of the most common concerns of forex traders. Try using anti-glare filters or innovative apps that assist in digital eye strain. Check out the best appshere.
7. A keyboard tray is a great desk accessory for an ergonomic desk. It allows you to bring the keyboard towards you. This can greatly help when you need to increase your eye to screen distance without needing extra space on the desk.
8. When it comes to finding the correct computer screen height, monitor arms provide the best solution for ergonomics. Highly adjustable and versatile, monitor arms allows traders to work efficiently with more flexibility. Having a monitor arm also gives you more desk space.

The most important ergonomic desk essential and upgrade

When optimizing your workspace for ergonomics, the best upgrade you can give yourself is to improve your overall posture. After organizing an ergonomic desk space, the next step is to always practice good posture and avoid any type of injury. Keep in mind that even with highly ergonomic desk essentials and upgrades, you may still have incorrect posture. Follow simple rules like avoid slouching and sit up straight. Because all forex traders spend an amount of time on the computer, it is essential to have good posture and adjust your body to follow proper ergonomics. If you’ve gotten used to leaning forward towards the screen and slouching, it may seem unusual to change your posture. With enough practice, it should come naturally to you. For more tips for better overall posture, check out Spine Health’sPosture to Straighten Your Back.

Upgrade and optimize your trading station

For optimal trading and efficiency, build an ergonomic desk setting and practice ways to prevent further aches.By incorporating correct office ergonomics, you can trade comfortably while improving productivity. Include the proper heights, quality equipment and initiate good desk posture to ensure long-term safety and efficiency. Here arequick reminders to keep in mind:

1. If you don’t feel muscle strain, you still should not dismiss any signs or ignore ergonomics.
2. Even if you have the perfect ergonomic desk set up, it is still important to take breaks and practicedesk exercises.
3. If your muscle pain does not improve after implementation, be sure to visit your doctor.
4. Ergonomics has much to do with your physical state. Being physically fit and active can aid in better posture and minimize muscle pains.
5. Do your research before purchasing ergonomic desk products. Make sure they come from a reliable source.