We’ve talked before about the importance of good sitting posture before at Office Ink. Bad posture is thought to cause everything from headaches to death. Now, in addition to all the talk about sedentary death syndrome and how sitting slouched in front of your computer all day going to kill you, there’s evidence that poor posture makes you look lazy and depressed. That’s according to Mladen Golubic, medical director for the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Institute:
“We know that when you slouch, you project an attitude of depression and low motivation.” When you sit up straight, he adds, “psychologically, your attitude is better.”
Great. Before your slouching kills you, it’s going to make you look bad in front of your boss and colleagues. We’ve post a lot of tips on improving the ergonomics of your workplace to support good sitting posture at Office Ink. Plus, Dr. Golubic has some good advice as well:
- Yoga: Dr. Golubic says he advises his patients to take up yoga because the first thing they learn is how to sit properly.
- Walking: As Dr. Golubic says, “how you sit is less important than how long you sit.” A good rule of thumb — get up from your desk every two hours and walk around for a bit.
And since there’s an app for everything these days, of course there is an app purporting to help you improve your posture. It’s called PostureTrack, and it works by using your camera to monitor your posture and alerting you when you’re slouching. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s only three bucks and has gotten great reviews, so I might give it a whirl.
Do you have any advice on maintaining good posture at work? No one wants to look lazy, depressed and headed for death, so please share your tips in the comments!
Source: The Wall Street Journal, National Institutes of Health
More articles about ergonomics in the workplace:
- Video: How to avoid eyes strain when working in front of a computer all day.
- How to find the perfect ergonomic desk chair height.
- Video: improve office ergonomics with diy exercise equipment.
