Ergonomic furniture is really seeing a rise in popularity in recent years and will likely have already been installed in your office, but with a lot of offices now being part of our homes it’s well worth investing in ergonomic furniture to ensure your physical health, mental health and productivity. The study of ergonomics is the study of how the human body interacts with the world around it and can be applied to any tool or environment to make them easier to use and more efficient. To return to the office we mentioned earlier: slouching in a chair and typing all day can result in a variety of aches and pains even if you are using a big and tall office chair and if left untreated, it can develop into more serious health conditions further down the line. An ergonomically designed chair would help ensure you maintain a proper posture while sitting at your desk and thus prevent many of these pains before they even start. Here we will look at the benefits of ergonomic furniture, and why it’s worth investing in.
Ergonomic furniture is better for your health
As mentioned, an ergonomic chair is designed to be supportive. They will ensure you maintain a proper posture through back supports, armrests, a comfortable seat, and the correct height. All of this should be adjustable to ensure they are usable by anyone. When matched with more furniture such as an ergonomic desk and keyboard, your wrists and neck will be better supported too. Proper posture cannot be understated, and studies have found that having an optimised setup can reduce musculoskeletal issues.
Better physical health results in better mental health
We know that wellbeing is a holistic enterprise which cannot be reduced to any one of the five pillars which compose it. (Physical, mental, financial, social, environmental). Just suffering from chronic pain can be hugely detrimental to your mental health so using furniture which is specifically designed to mitigate and eliminate this kind of pain can be a huge boost to your mood. Exercise has long been credited with having beneficial effects on mental health as well as physical, and being free from chronic pain can enable you to engage in more activities while having some good ergonomic furniture means you have a comfortable place to rest and recover afterwards.
Quite simply, ergonomic furniture is more comfortable
The comfort element is not something to be ignored. Discomfort is often waved away as being something impermanent but it’s your body’s way of trying to tell you something is wrong. The adjustability of good ergonomic furniture means that it can be used by anyone and that you can tailor your environment to suit you (quite literally with the option to have ergonomic furniture custom made). Having a comfortable environment can result in increased physical health and a further boost to your mood, thus resulting in higher levels of productivity which leads us to our next point.
Ergonomic furniture increases productivity
Using an ergonomically designed environment was found to increase the physical health and performance of school children. If you’re now working from home, alongside a large amount of the population, it can be more difficult to focus on tasks. Distractions are more readily available and it’s harder to separate your working life from your home life than it would be if your work was in a different building. Having ways to improve productivity can help alleviate feelings of frustration of anxiety from not getting enough done, and is definitely worth investing in.
These are some of the key benefits to investing in ergonomic furniture, and it’s not a great leap to say that it can really be considered a necessity if you’re going to be using it in an environment in which you spend a lot of time. The health benefits, both physical and mental, the productivity benefits and comfort benefits mean that investing in ergonomic furniture is investing in you. Mitigating pain in your back, neck and wrists and encouraging a proper posture is always worthwhile and even if you’re not experiencing any pain right now it’s worth considering the future and switching to ergonomic furniture before the pain even starts so that you can always be the healthiest and happiest you.