Be more comfortable at your desk, and think about ergonomics

A few upgrades to your desk setup can make long hours at your Mac significantly more comfortable and healthier, provided you know what's actually worth it.

If you're reading this, chances are you probably spend a little too much time sitting at a computer desk. Whether for business or pleasure, the science is pretty clear about it: sitting at a desk all day isn't great for your health.

Fortunately, there are options to make your time at the desk less detrimental. Most of it is just optimizing your gear to minimize the stress of sitting.

Here's our helpful guide to optimizing ergonomics, including ways you might be doing more harm than good without realizing it.

Desk

Let's start with what should ultimately be your biggest investment: your desk.

Ergonomists suggest that a proper desk should be deep enough that you can place your monitor at the correct distance from your face. For most people, that's about an arm's length away.

Additionally, it will need to be high enough to ensure you can comfortably place your feet on the floor at a 90-degree angle. They also suggest that you not store anything under your desk that could potentially prevent you from being able to freely move your legs for routine stretching.

Ideally, your desk should be adjustable to some degree. A sit-to-stand desk, even if you never plan on using it for standing, is one of the better investments you can make.

Not only does a sit-to-stand desk offer you the option to stand, but it also allows you to bring your body in alignment with your keyboard. We suggest investing in a desk that has a memory feature, allowing you to save the correct height for whatever positions you plan on using your desk in.

What desk you choose ultimately is up to you, and it can be difficult to make a recommendation without knowing your needs. Still, if you just want a general-purpose desk that we've liked, Flexispot makes a great lineup of sit-to-stand desks, including its E6 Max Woodix line, which costs about $450.

Chair

Your chair is every bit as important as your desk. You have a little bit more freedom here than you do with a desk. Unfortunately, chairs are also harder to make work in the event that you don't immediately love them.

If you can, I suggest going to try out a chair in person. However, with the state of retail being what it is, I know that may not be possible; hell, I can't even remember the last time I saw an office supply store, let alone one that still carries preassembled furniture to test.

So, if you're forced to buy a chair sight unseen, try to get one that has adjustable armrests and good back support. If you find that back support isn't sufficient, you'll probably want to pick up a lumbar pillow to help keep your spine aligned for those marathon days at your desk.

Our current pick is the Hon Ignition 2.0 chair, available for about $480 on Amazon. It's got lumbar support, adjustable armrests, and a cushion that is designed to keep your pelvis aligned properly to prevent core fatigue.

Footrests are another option you might want to look into. This is especially true if you tend to be on the shorter side.

A good footrest helps bring the tops of your thighs parallel to the floor, which helps keep your hips in alignment. If possible, estimate how many inches it would take to bring your thighs to where they need to be, and use that to make an informed decision on what would be best to buy.

Smaller footrests are better than larger ones, as they give you the option to move your feet on and off as needed. Rocking footrests allow you to move your feet back and forth for improved circulation.

Some footrests, especially those made of harder materials, can also be used to massage the soles of your feet if you choose to work sans shoes. While this isn't strictly necessary, it is a nice little bonus, and it does encourage fidgeting, which is actually good for you.

Monitor risers

Once you've got your desk and chair situated, it's time to focus on your monitor height. According to the Mayo Clinic, your monitor's top bar should be at or slightly below eye level.

For some people, this won't be an issue because their monitors may already be at the correct height. For those with smaller monitors or laptops, you'll almost certainly want to place your monitor on a stand or riser.

If you wear bifocals or progressive lenses, odds are you may need to lower your monitor a few inches for comfortable reading. You may want to experiment with using books to find the correct height before you make a purchase.

As mentioned before, your monitor should be about an arm's length away. Smaller monitors will need to be closer, larger ones further back.

Keyboard

Now that we've set up the furniture on the desk, it's time to look at the actual interface devices. We'll start with the keyboard.

There are a lot of keyboard options, and much of it will come down to personal preference and what you're willing to experiment with. For users with small to average-sized hands, you can probably get away with most keyboards provided they have a slight angle to them, which helps prevent wrist strain.

If you've got large hands or especially broad shoulders, you may want to consider split keyboards. While they definitely take some getting used to, they allow you to type without rotating your shoulders inwards, which can help take strain off your neck and back.

Keychron, for example, makes the Q11 Ultra 8K wireless keyboard. It's a bit of an investment at $240, but it's Mac-compatible and features hot-swappable switches.

And laptop users shouldn't balk at the idea of picking up an external keyboard. While the portability of a laptop makes it great for travel, its design makes it a nightmare, ergonomically speaking.

If you use your MacBook primarily at a desk, I'd highly suggest thinking about snagging yourself a good dock, external monitor, and essentially treating your machine like a desktop computer.

This is especially the case if you're a person who works long hours, and doubly so if you're safely in or above your mid-30s.

We highly recommend something from the Brydge ProDock lineup. We personally love the Bridge Dock Trio.

It's definitely an investment at $299, but a vertical dock that allows you to work in clamshell mode with support for three displays is a real boon for anyone who has a pro-level desk setup.

Mouse

If there's a more decisive piece of equipment out there, I'm not sure what it is. The humble computer mouse comes in hundreds of forms, and yet, we're not entirely sure what the best one is.

If you're a designer, odds are you're going to be working with a pretty bog-standard three-button mouse setup. Many design programs pretty much require it.

But if you're not a designer, you may have a bit more freedom.

If you find that you're routinely getting a lot of wrist fatigue, an ergonomic mouse, like the Logitech Lift, might help. However, if you routinely move your hand back and forth between an ergonomic mouse and your keyboard, you may introduce additional strain on your wrist, elbow, and shoulder.

A word of caution

There are always things that you can add to your setup to help make yourself comfortable. However, it is important to realize that comfort doesn't necessarily mean ergonomically sound.

Here are a few common items that you may want to re-evaluate in your setup, along with some suggestions on how to make them work.

Wrist wrests

One such tool is the wrist rest. Wrist rests, especially those made with a squishy, gel filling, may feel good in the short term, but many ergonomics experts and orthopedists caution against extended use.

This is because it puts pressure on your carpal tunnel and pinches your median nerve. Repeated use can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome and lasting nerve damage.

Additionally, when you anchor your wrists, it forces your hands to pivot left and right when reaching out with your pinky fingers. This can cause ulnar deviation and often causes strain on the tendons and can cause cubital tunnel syndrome.

If you do want to use them, place them under your palms, rather than your wrists. This should help you type comfortably without putting direct pressure on your carpal tunnel or your cubital tunnel.

Bean bag and memory foam lumbar pillows

It's a great idea to tuck a pillow behind the small of your back if your chair doesn't offer enough support. Unfortunately, not just any pillow will do.

Instead of buying a bolster pillow, which is designed to go under your neck or knees while you're lying down, make sure you're buying a lumbar support pillow.

Avoid anything with shredded memory foam or styrofoam pellets. These will often compress too much, effectively negating any positive effect they could have had.

Instead, opt for something made of supportive, high-density, solid foam.

Chair cushions

Perhaps the shortest of the short-term solutions, chair cushions are often much worse for you than you'd imagine. Not only do they allow your hips to drift and tilt unevenly, but they can also make it so lumbar support doesn't hit where it needs to.

It's also a great way to wind up with circulation problems. Because your legs are now pushed a few inches out of alignment, it's not uncommon for the chair seat to push uncomfortably into the back of your knees.

If you've ever talked to an ergonomic expert, an orthopedist, or a chiropractor, the ideal chair should be quite firm. This helps keep everything in alignment, especially in your pelvis and core.

The correct solution is to upgrade to a better chair, which probably will cost more than you want. If you do find that seats are often too hard to be comfortable, there are many highly rated ergonomic chairs that have been attempting to solve this problem.

One such chair is the Omni Chair from Libernovo. Yes, it costs $900, but it provides extra cushioning built into the seat while still retaining curves that prevent uneven hip tilting and circulation problems.