Your Best Posture is Your Next Posture: A Teacher’s Guide to Ergonomics
We recently had the pleasure of chatting with some local teachers about workstation ergonomics. In this blog we hope to create a resource of the fundamentals of workplace ergonomics; how to set up your desk, why office chairs matter, and the golden rule of ergonomics: none of it matters if you stay perfectly still all day.
Let’s be honest – most of us don’t give our desk setup a second thought. We sit down, open the laptop, and get to work. But if you’re regularly finishing the day with a stiff neck, an aching lower back, or “tight hip flexors,” then your workstation might be doing more harm than you realise.
The good news is that small, simple changes can make a significant difference. You don’t need to overhaul your entire office or spend a fortune on equipment. You just need to know what to look for.
Setting Up Your Workspace: Chair First, Desk Second
The very first thing you should do when setting up your workstation is adjust your chair. Set the chair up to suit you perfectly, then slide into the desk and adjust the desk to suit your height.
The chair that we most commonly recommend: The Goldilocks – “Just Right”
Here is what you are looking for:
- Feet flat on the floor: If your chair is as low as it can go and your feet still don’t reach the ground, use a footstool. Lacking that anchor point puts far too much load on your lower back.
- Knees slightly lower than hips: This helps open up your hips and maintain a natural curve in your spine.
- Two to three fingers of distance: You want this small gap between the front of your chair seat and the back of your knees.
- Clear the clutter: Absolutely no junk underneath your desk. No trash cans, no bags, no drawers. Do the same for what sits on top of your desk. A messy desk makes you cramped and tense. But it also limits your capacity to move freely.
The Problem with Desk Drawers and Armrests
I highly recommend desks without built-in drawers. While they sneak in extra storage, they often do so at the detriment of your comfort. To fit your legs under a desk with drawers, you usually have to sit bolt upright, leaving no space between your forearms and thighs.
And armrests?
There is virtually never a circumstance where I will recommend an armrest. I would much prefer you to be in close to the desk, with your arms supported by the desk itself rather than the chair. Armrests prevent you from sliding the adequately sliding your chair in under the desk. The only exception is if a workstation is so shallow that the screen is right in your face, and we need armrests to allow you to sit back while still supporting your elbows.
The 90-Degree Myth
We’ve all seen the standard diagrams of the “perfect” posture showing someone sitting rigidly at a 90° angle. While 90° is acceptable for some, it actually puts more pressure on your lower back discs than when you recline a little.
Here is a quick breakdown of how your sitting angle affects the pressure on your lower back, assuming standard standing is our 100% baseline:
If we can get a small recline in the backrest and tilt the seat pan so your knees are lower than your hips, it alleviates a ton of discomfort. Many people mistake this lower back/pelvic pressure for “tight hip flexors.” We test for this in the clinic all the time, and trust me, your hip flexor length is usually fine—your chair is just holding your hips hostage.
Laptops and Adjustable Desks
The Laptop Trap
The way people use laptops is notoriously bad, and it’s a massive bugbear for us at the clinic. Looking down at a screen all day is a sure way to get a sore neck. It is incredibly cheap, easy, and accessible to buy a laptop stand (or screen raiser), a Bluetooth mouse, and a Bluetooth keyboard. It is way cheaper than having to come and see us for neck pain!
Pro Tip: Set your screen height so your eyes are level with a point about 2/3 of the way up the screen. I try to avoid a head-down position at all costs.
Adjustable Desks
Adjustable desks are brilliant, but they are about more than just standing. They allow you to make the desk height suit your body perfectly.
Manual vs. Electric: I use a $250 manual adjustable desk from IKEA because I rarely sit for long periods. If you spend significant time at your desk, get an electric one with a button. If it’s hard to adjust, you won’t use it.
Here is a link to the adjustable desk that we recommend: Vertilift 2 Leg Frame
Sitting vs. Standing: We do not advocate standing all day. People who stand all day are more likely to get an aching lower back and varicose veins. We recommend a ratio of about 3/4 sitting to 1/4 standing. The common recommendation is 45 minutes sitting to 15 minutes standing. If you can manage, I’m even happier with you trying 15 minutes of sitting followed by 5 minutes of standing. The more you move the better.
Your Best Posture is Your Next Posture
I don’t care if you sit perfectly upright. I don’t care if you sit with a leg tucked underneath you. The biggest driver of pain we see in the clinic is people being completely still for too long.
Part of the reason we see a spike in neck and back aches during the cooler months isn’t just the cold—it’s the shorter daylight hours. People finish work, get home, and sit on the couch because it’s dark outside, whereas in summer, they might go for a walk or play outside.
Enter the “Exercise Snack”
It doesn’t matter how perfectly set up your workstation is; you still need to move. An “exercise snack” is a short, few-minute burst of movement designed to get your body moving without derailing your workflow.
When you sit at a computer, time vanishes. You might feel like taking a break will ruin your momentum, but staying completely still actually slows down your brain’s processing speed and focus.
Try scheduling 60 second movement snacks regularly throughout your day. Here are a few ideas:
- Desk pushups.
- Star jumps or push-ups.
- Squats or calf raises.
- Child’s pose, cat-camel, or “thread the needle” stretches.
- Lunging stretches.
- A brisk two-minute walk around the office or staffroom.
A real life example
This client was a teacher struggling with pain in her neck, shoulders and middle back. We took a look at her workstation set up to see if there was anything that stood out. Here is the breakdown of the core issues we identified in the initial assessment, and exactly how we structurally resolved them to create the ideal setup.
The Original Ergonomic Issues Identified
- The “Busy Workstation” Effect (Clutter): Visual and physical clutter restricts freedom of movement. A cramped desk forces you to stay in one rigid position because you lack the physical clearance to shift your body, keyboard, or mouse comfortably throughout the day.
- The Under-Desk Obstruction (Drawers): A rolling set of drawers underneath the desk severely limits legroom. This prevents you from moving on your chair naturally as well as utilizing the entire space on your desk.
- Improper Chair Anatomy (Armrests): The original chair featured fixed armrests that collided with the desk edge, preventing the user from sliding inward. It also lacked the necessary multi-lever functionality required to custom-tune seat pan tilt and back support.
- Suboptimal Screen Hierarchy: The smaller laptop screen was positioned directly in front of the user while the large, secondary monitor was off to the side. This forces repetitive neck twisting to look at the larger screen, which should ideally host your primary, center-focused tasks.
- Cable and Cords: A messy tangle of power strips and device cords underneath the desk limits foot movement and creates an unorganized, tangled workspace that particularly limits users of adjustable desks.
Modifications Made in the Final Setup
To demonstrate an ideal, clean slate for a modern ergonomic setup, we executed the following structural modifications:
- Complete Clutter Clearance: A serious tidy was completed. Loose papers, and miscellaneous desk objects were entirely removed. This highlights the importance of a clean workspace that allows unrestricted movement of the keyboard, mouse, and arms. Don’t get me wrong. A few pictures, or in this case teddies are important if they improve our wellbeing at work. We’re just highlighting “technical optimal” here.
- Removal of the Under-Desk Drawers: The under-desk filing drawers were moved to another part of the office. This was probably the hardest part of the project. As this office space was created as an afterthought and space was a real limiting factor here. However, doing this opened up crucial legroom, allowing the chair to slide fully under the desk. So the person could sit within the workspace rather than having to lean forward.
- Cord clearing: Clutter under the desk is a real bug bear of mine! And this includes cables. We tucked the power cables in behind the desk and swapped over to a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. This showcases a hyper-clean, modern, wireless aesthetic that emphasizes an organized and hazard-free workstation.
- Screen Alignment Correction: The setup now reflects an improved arrangement where the large monitor takes central priority, sitting at a correct ergonomic eye level on its riser to prevent chronic neck strain.
We’re Here To Help.
The resources are right here if you want to reference them again. Amy and I are happy to assist you with any personal issues that you might be having. Whether it being pain, or a general struggle with your own workstation set up.
Keep moving, stay comfortable, and good luck with the rest of the school year!
