Healthy habits for working at a computer

Working comfortably at a computer: good posture, monitor and keyboard set-up, the 20-20-20 rule for your eyes, breaks, gentle stretches and a checklist.

An accountant spends the whole day in spreadsheets, a call-centre operator answers customers, a student sits through an online class in the evening. For many people a day at the computer lasts 6–8 hours or more. By the evening the neck is stiff, the eyes sting and the back is tired, and we often accept this as “part of the job”. In fact, some of this discomfort can be reduced with small everyday habits. In this guide we look at the core principles of ergonomics and how to apply them every day: sitting well, positioning the monitor, laptop, keyboard and mouse, looking after your eyes and the 20-20-20 rule, breaks and simple stretches, phones and late-night work, tips for children, and talking to your workplace about your set-up. At the end you will find an illustrative example, common mistakes, a daily exercise and a checklist.

We covered how to equip a workspace at home (choosing a desk, lighting, internet and cables) in our article on setting up a home workspace. Here the focus is not on equipment but on habits throughout the day.

An important note: this article offers general advice and is not a substitute for medical advice. If pain, numbness or vision problems last for several days or get worse, see a doctor.

Ergonomic principles: a comfortable position for the body

Ergonomics is the field concerned with fitting the workplace, equipment and way of working to the person. The idea is simple: people should not twist themselves to suit the equipment; the equipment should adapt to the person. In everyday life it comes down to a few principles.

A neutral position. Joints stay in a middle, natural position: the head is not pushed forward, the shoulders are not raised, the wrists are not bent. Any “hunched” position tires the muscles if it lasts a long time.
Movement is the best posture. Even the most correct way of sitting is hard on the body if it does not change for hours. That is why it matters to shift position often and get up for a walk.
Keep frequently used things close. The keyboard, mouse, phone and documents should be within reach without stretching.
Your eyes need rest too. Looking at a screen for a long time holds the eye muscles in one position.
Small change, big benefit. Often you do not need new furniture, just a better arrangement of what you already have.

These principles underpin all the advice that follows. In the next sections we apply them to specific situations.

Sitting well: from feet to shoulders

It is easiest to check your posture from the bottom up. Set aside a minute for it every day before you start work.

Feet and knees

Feet on the floor. The soles of your feet rest fully on the floor. If the chair is high and cannot be lowered, put a small box, a thick book or a footrest under your feet.
Knees at roughly a right angle. Knees level with your hips or slightly lower. Try to cross your legs or tuck them under the chair less often.
Not on the edge of the seat. Sit fully on the seat, but without the front edge pressing hard behind your knees.

Lower back and back

Lower back against the backrest. For the lower back to keep its natural curve, the backrest should support exactly that area. If your chair has no such support, place a small cushion or a rolled-up towel behind your lower back.
Leaning back slightly is fine. Sitting well does not mean sitting bolt upright like a post. Most people find it more comfortable to lean back a little against the backrest.

Shoulders, elbows and head

Shoulders relaxed. Do not raise your shoulders or hunch them forward. Check in with yourself now and then: if your shoulders have crept up towards your ears, let them drop.
Elbows close to the body. The elbow is at roughly a right angle or slightly more open, and the arm does not reach out to the side.
Head straight. The chin is not pushed forward and the ear sits roughly above the shoulder. The habit of “diving” into the screen tires the neck; if the text is small, make it bigger.

To enlarge text in Windows, increase the scaling under Settings → System → Display → Scale; in a browser, press Ctrl and plus.

Monitor, laptop, keyboard and mouse

Monitor distance and height

The general recommendation is this: the screen sits roughly an arm’s length away, with its top edge at eye level or slightly below. Place the screen directly in front of you so that your head is not constantly turned to one side. If you have two monitors, put the one you use most in front of you and the second to the side.

People who wear glasses, especially bifocals, may find it more comfortable to place the screen a little lower; otherwise they end up tilting their head back to see. In that case, talk to a specialist about choosing glasses.

Working with a laptop

On a laptop the screen and keyboard are joined: raise the screen and the keyboard rises with it. So for long working sessions the solution has two parts:

A stand. Put the laptop on a stand, a few thick books or a sturdy box to bring the screen closer to eye level.
A separate keyboard and mouse. These stay on the desk at a comfortable height for your hands.

For short sessions (on the road, in a waiting room) this is not essential, but if you work on a laptop for hours every day, these two things make a noticeable difference. Avoid working for long with the laptop on your lap, on the sofa or in bed.

Keyboard and mouse position

Keyboard directly in front of you. The middle of the keyboard (roughly the B key) lines up with the middle of your body.
Mouse next to the keyboard. Use it without stretching your arm, keeping your elbow close to your body.
Keyboard feet. Many keyboards have fold-out feet at the back. They can bend the wrist upwards; most people find a flat position more comfortable.
Wrists straight. When typing, the wrist does not bend up, down or to the side. Do not type with your wrist propped on the edge of the desk or with your hands “hovering”.
A light touch. Do not hammer the keys or grip the mouse too tightly.

If the mouse pointer is too slow, your hand has to move more. In Windows, adjust Mouse pointer speed under Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Mouse. Keyboard shortcuts also mean reaching for the mouse less often.

Looking after your eyes: the 20-20-20 rule and lighting

The 20-20-20 rule

When you look at a screen for a long time, your eyes settle on a short distance and you blink less. One widely shared, simple recommendation is the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet (about 6 metres) away for 20 seconds. It could be a tree outside the window, the far corner of the room or a door down the corridor.

If the rule is hard to remember, set a repeating timer on your phone or do it at the end of each work block.

Blinking

When we concentrate on a screen we blink less, and our eyes can become dry. Every so often, blink fully and deliberately a few times. If dryness, redness or stinging keeps coming back, do not choose eye drops on your own; see an eye doctor.

Lighting and screen brightness

Match the screen to the room. A bright screen in a dark room or a dim screen on a sunny day both tire the eyes. In Windows, brightness is under Settings → System → Display → Brightness; on macOS, under System Settings → Displays.
Reduce glare. The window should be to the side of the screen. If a lamp or a window is reflected in the screen, turn the screen slightly, close the curtain or move the lamp.
Text contrast. Instead of light grey text on a light grey background, choose a clear, high-contrast view.
Keep the screen clean. Dust and smudges also blur the picture. Wipe the screen with a soft cloth as the manufacturer recommends.

Breaks, movement and simple stretches

Get up every hour

The simplest and most useful habit is to stand up roughly once an hour. Walk around for a few minutes, pour yourself some water, go to the window. Taking a phone call standing up is another good opportunity.

For reminders you can use a phone timer, the Focus sessions feature in the Windows Clock app, or a simple paper chart. The work blocks described in our articles on time management and calendar planning make it easier to build breaks into your plan.

Simple stretches

The following movements can be done sitting down or next to your chair. Do them slowly, without bouncing. If you feel pain, stop immediately. If you already have problems with your neck, back or joints, check with a doctor first.

Neck. Slowly tilt your head towards your right shoulder, hold for a few seconds, then towards the left. Do not tip your head back or roll it backwards.
Shoulders. Slowly lift your shoulders, roll them back and lower them. Repeat 5–6 times.
Shoulder blades. Draw your shoulder blades together, opening the chest slightly, and hold for a few seconds.
Wrists and fingers. Stretch your arm out in front and gently pull the palm towards you, then the other way. Make a fist, then spread your fingers wide.
Lower back. Stand up, put your hands on your lower back and lean back gently, or while seated slowly turn your upper body to the right and to the left.
Legs. While seated, pull your toes towards you and release, then stand up and sit down a few times.

The whole routine takes two or three minutes. You can do it several times a day, for example before lunch and at the end of the working day.

Drinking water

When you are absorbed in work, it is easy to go all day without drinking water. Keep a bottle of water with a lid on your desk: it reminds you both to drink and to get up. The lid protects the keyboard from spills.

Phones, late-night work and children

Phones and “text neck”

When looking at a phone, many people bend their head down. For a short while this is not a problem, but over a day the position is repeated for hours. What you can do:

raise the phone closer to eye level and lower your eyes rather than your head;
use a computer for long reading or typing;
use headphones for long calls rather than clamping the phone between your shoulder and ear;
keep an eye on screen time: on iPhone, Settings → Screen Time; on Android, Settings → Digital Wellbeing & parental controls (the name may vary by manufacturer).

Late-night work, screens and sleep

Sitting in front of a bright screen late in the evening makes it harder for many people to fall asleep. Some general tips:

in the evening, lower the screen brightness and switch on a warmer colour mode: in Windows, Settings → System → Display → Night light; on macOS, System Settings → Displays → Night Shift; on iPhone, Settings → Display & Brightness → Night Shift;
do not sit in a room lit only by the screen; turn on the main light as well;
spend a little time without a screen before bed;
if late-night work has become a habit, rethink your daytime schedule.

We also discussed tiredness and pressure in our article on managing stress.

Children and teenagers

When children sit at a desk and chair made for adults, their feet dangle and the screen ends up above eye level. For homework and online lessons:

put a footrest under their feet and, if needed, add a cushion to the seat to adjust the height;
set the screen at the child’s eye level, raising the laptop on books;
make standing up and moving between lessons a habit, turning it into a game;
cut down on long sessions with a phone or tablet lying down or hunched over;
agree on evening screen time as a family.

If a child often complains of pain in the eyes, head or back, do not ignore it; take them to a paediatrician or an appropriate doctor.

Agreeing on conditions at the office

In an office the chair, desk and monitor are usually provided, and we feel awkward about changing anything. Yet many problems can be solved with a simple, polite request.

Adjust things yourself first. Many chairs let you adjust the height, the backrest and sometimes the armrests; check the levers under the seat. A few thick folders are enough to raise a monitor.
Describe the problem precisely. Not “everything is uncomfortable” but “the monitor is too low and my neck is tired by the end of the day”.
Suggest a specific solution. For example, an unused monitor stand from the storeroom, a different chair or a separate keyboard.
Ask the right person. That might be your line manager, the facilities team or HR. A written request (a short email) is more likely to be remembered.
Respect your colleagues. Ask before moving anything on a shared desk or in a shared room.

How to phrase a request politely, and workplace etiquette in general, are covered in detail in our article on workplace etiquette.

Example: Shakhzod’s two weeks

The example is illustrative; the name and situation are made up.

Shakhzod is an accountant at a small trading firm in Samarkand. He spends many hours a day on reports, his laptop lies flat on the desk and he sits hunched close to the screen. By the evening his neck and shoulders are stiff and his eyes sting. He decided to change his habits step by step over two weeks.

Days 1–3. The workspace. He raised his laptop on some thick reference books nobody was using and asked the facilities team for an old keyboard and mouse. He lowered his chair so that his feet now rest fully on the floor, and put a small cushion behind his lower back.

Days 4–6. Eyes. He increased the screen scaling, so he no longer leans forward to read the figures. He turned the screen so the window no longer reflects in it. He set a timer on his phone that vibrates every 20 minutes and looks at the tree outside the window.

Days 7–10. Movement. Every hour he gets up and walks to the kettle. Before lunch and at the end of the day he does a two-minute stretching routine. He put a bottle of water on his desk.

Days 11–14. Evenings. He cut back on checking reports at home late into the night, switched on Night light and leaves his phone in another room before going to bed.

After two weeks Shakhzod noticed he was less tired at the end of the day than before. Not everything became perfect at once: on some days he switched the timer off. But because he introduced each change separately, the habits stuck. He had also decided in advance that if his neck pain continued, he would see a doctor.

Common mistakes, a daily exercise and a checklist

Common mistakes

Changing everything in one day. When there are too many new habits, they are quickly forgotten. Add one a day.
Freezing in the “correct” posture. Even the best posture does little good without movement. Keep changing position.
Working for hours with the laptop flat on the desk. Your neck is constantly bent down.
Leaning in towards small text. Bring the text closer to you, not yourself closer to the screen: increase the scaling.
Seeing breaks as “wasted time”. A short break also helps you focus.
Ignoring pain. Lasting or worsening pain is a reason to see a doctor; do not try to “fix it with exercises” on your own.
Stretching too hard. Bouncing or stretching into pain may do harm rather than good.

Practice exercise: a daily checklist for one week

For one week, every morning and at the end of the working day, answer “yes” or “no” to the questions below. You can do this in a notebook, a note on your phone or a small spreadsheet. At the end of the week, see which item got the most “no” answers and focus on that one the following week.

Did I check my posture from the bottom up when I started work?
Is the top of the screen at eye level or slightly below?
Are my wrists straight and my shoulders relaxed?
Did I follow the 20-20-20 rule at least a few times?
Did I get up every hour?
Did I do the stretching routine at least once?
Did I drink water during the day?
Did I lower the screen brightness in the evening?

Checklist

Feet on the floor, knees at roughly a right angle.
Lower back against the backrest, shoulders relaxed.
Screen at arm’s length, top edge at eye level or slightly below.
Laptop raised, separate keyboard and mouse connected.
Wrists straight, mouse next to the keyboard.
No glare on the screen, brightness matched to the room.
A timer or reminder set for breaks.
Water on the desk.
Night light or Night Shift switched on in the evening.
A plan to see a doctor if pain does not go away.

Healthy working habits do not form in a day, but each of them is simple. Pick one today, such as raising your screen or getting up every hour, and keep it up for a week. If you would like to learn to work with a computer systematically, along with skills related to remote work and computer hardware, our free computer literacy programme can help.

Take a look at our association’s other free training programmes too. When you are ready, submit an application and our specialists will get in touch.