Even if you don’t work from home every day, many of us do it occasionally. Making sure you’re comfortable is key to any good setup.
With some help from the experts at Consumer Reports, adding a few ergonomic upgrades can boost your office—and maybe even your productivity.
Setting up a comfortable and ergonomic home office can be challenging. Consumer Reports’ ergonomics experts recently evaluated budget office chairs to help people find comfort while working from home.
When looking for an ergonomic chair, the one thing to focus on is adjustability, which will allow you to fit the chair to your body. CR says the Staples Dexley Chair costs $199.99 and you can adjust the height, armrests, lumbar, and headrest.
If you’re working on a laptop, a stand can raise the top of your screen to eye level so you don’t strain your neck looking down. The Insignia Ergonomic Laptop Stand, which costs $29.99, requires no assembly or tools to adjust the height.
While using a mouse, a wrist rest can keep your wrist in a neutral position to help reduce hand or wrist discomfort. Consider the small and supportive one from Belkin WaveRest Gel Wrist Pad, which costs $9.99.
If your feet don’t rest flat on the floor, try a footrest. A footrest helps support the feet and takes some pressure off the underside of the thigh, which you would have if your feet were dangling.
The Mount-It Ergonomic Footrest costs $33.99 and will bring the floor to you.
CR says it’s helpful to try out the chairs at a store before buying or from a site with an easy return option. But no matter how long it takes to upgrade your space to fit your needs, it’s worth the work.