If you just started working from home, chances are that you’ve got about six and a half dozen problems to deal with. You need to keep the business afloat while working from home, plus you need to keep those kids in check too. Yeah, life can be extremely stressful, so one of the silly little problems that you don’t need to be dealing with is a desk that’s too low down for your comfort.
It may sound like a really minor problem, but the fact of the matter is that your comfort is important. In terms of your stress levels, your mood at the end of the day, and your productivity at work, how comfortable you are is directly related to all of these things.
If you don’t want to end up with terrible back pain at the end of the day, having your desk at the right height is extremely important. If your desk is too low, you’re going to want to raise it. So let’s find out how to raise your office desk.
How to Raise Your Office Desk
The Importance of Ergonomics
Before we get to talking what the right height for your desk is, as well as different ways to achieve this goal, let’s quickly go over why you need to do this. The reason why this is so important, is because if you don’t pay attention to ergonomics, you are going to end up in severe pain at the end of the day.
For instance, if your back isn’t straight and your head is always tilted down, you’re going to end up with a sore back and neck.
Over time this can actually lead to permanent damage and some pretty severe problems. This is especially the case if you are a full-time worker who is at the desk eight to ten hours a day, five to seven days a week. The right desk height will prevent you from being in pain and grumpy.
In terms of ergonomics, there’s enough content and information to write a whole book about, but the bottom line is that this is not something to be ignored.
The Proper Ergonomic Position
Before we talk about how to raise your desk to the right height, it is probably a good idea for you to know what the proper seating position is that will keep you the most comfortable. Let’s go over some quick tips on this matter.
- Your back should be perfectly straight, and of course, don’t forget that lumbar support.
- When looking at your computer or laptop screen, your neck should be straight. In other words, the top of your head should be perfectly in line with your spine. If you are bending your head either up or down to look at the screen, there’s a problem.
- The bottom of your feet should be flat on the ground with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle.
- Your forearms should be parallel with your upper thighs. In other words, your back needs to be straight and your arms need to be bent at a 90-degree angle at the elbows.
These are the four most important points that will help you determine not only the ideal height for your desk, but also the ideal height of your chair.
Ways to Raise Your Desk for Ergonomic Efficiency
Now that all of that is figured out, let’s talk about how you can actually achieve this ergonomic position. How do you raise your office desk?
1. Use a Base
Perhaps the simplest way to raise your desk is to use a base. There are special desk bases that you can buy in office stores and other specialty stores designed specifically for this purpose. On the other hand, if you’re a handy kind of person, you can always get some plywood and build your own base.
The good thing about building your own base is that you can choose exactly how to build it, and you can save some money too.
2. Raise Everything on the Desk
OK, so you don’t actually have to raise the desk. Another option at your disposal is to raise everything on the desk. Now, depending on your exact situation, this might not suit your needs, but it is a solution that works for some people.
In other words, get a little raised stand for your monitor and your keyboard, as this will prevent you from having to bend your neck and arms in ways that are not ergonomically correct.
3. Lower Yourself
If you’re finding that your desk is too low in comparison to you, another solution that you could possibly undertake is to lower yourself. Remember that your feet should be flat on the ground with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle.
If you find that this is not the case, or in other words, if you are sitting too high up, then you should lower your chair. This should take care of the desk height problem all on its own.
4. Get an Adjustable Desk
By far the easiest solution to this problem is to just buy an adjustable desk that has a motor in it. With the push of a button, you can raise or lower the desk at will. Something we might recommend looking into is a standing desk.
If you get a standing desk, one with a motor in it, then you can adjust it as needed, and in some cases these adjustable standing desks may even allow you to lower the desk enough to sit at it.
Conclusion
Remember that having the right desk height is very important for your physical health, so it’s really not an issue that you should sweep under the rug.