Developers, what do your workstations look like?
I've been coding for most of the day and I'm hurting in places that I don't think nature intended. I'm interested to know what you guys do to ease the strain on yourselves.
Specifically things like standing vs sitting workstations, ergonomic keyboards and mice, mechanical keyboards etc
Specifically things like standing vs sitting workstations, ergonomic keyboards and mice, mechanical keyboards etc
Comments
Where are you hurting?
So a short description:
Messy as all fuck. Cricket has a reserved corner on one of my screen at all times.
Now with feeling:
So a little untidy. No special ergonomic considerations, I do know people who do a standing / sitting alternation in 2 - 4 hour stints. The chair, for me, is the most important thing though. I have a kinda weak lower back that can flair up if I don't take care of it, so I've thought about it quite a bit. Though this is just something that has worked for me specifically, can guarantee it's universal. Getting a good chair is important, and as counter intuitive as it sounds (though I did find some research backing this up), I have to have a chair that can lean back easily or be locked in that lean-back position. Also chair must not be too high so that I'm on my toes most times, since I'm leaning back, the chair is usually lowered so I can fully slide under the desk, rather than lean forward to get over the keyboard. Also, I've heard, eyes should be about level with the center of the screen (or was it that the screen must be a bit higher than your eye level, I can't remember). But I've had friends prop up their screen with a dictionary and they say it helps their neck.
The only other thing that worked 100% for me was exercise actually. So I don't know your level of fitness so I'm going to just speak generally, this is just stuff I've learnt over the years, I'm no expert and definitely not a fitness buff atm, so I hope it doesn't come across as arrogant or anything.
What specifically did wonders for my back was core stability training. So running, pushups, holding plank position (I've read just doing this for 2 mins a day has very noticeable positive effects... if you are doing them right! If you do them wrong you might hurt yourself more, so I'd see a physio or at least someone who knows their stuff). A note to this is that things like crunches and situps do work the core but are not core stability, they target the inner core muscles and not so much the surrounding ones. Unfortunately, since it is literally the muscles that connect all your major extremities, working this usually means working other muscles as well so it's not aaaaall that easy to target, but that's kinda the point. It allows all your other muscles to share the burden, so to speak. So my back problems were basically that my core wasn't strong and stable enough to hold my body in that sitting position for long and would give up and the back would take on the strain.
It's odd to talk about muscles giving up when you are sitting down not really using them, but it is amazing how having some strong muscles will just hold you together better. Not saying klap the gym, but it'll go a long way to do a few pushups or planks in the morning or evening, or even a light jog. If you jog properly, maintaining a good posture then it'll naturally engage your core stabilisation muscles owing to your extremities having to work together (again, see a pro about this, running with poor posture will mean your core flops about and puts strain on your back). Also swimming (properly) is great for core stabalisation I hear (not surfing, I've tried that and the board acts as your stable core, meaning you get minimal benefit there. It just works the arms more than anything).
So again, you might be a gym buff and your pains therefore unrelated to core stability and muscle strength. But I thought I'd share my (rather long now that I look up and see it) story.
Also if there are any physios or experts on exercise around, I profusely apologise for probably butchering terms. Let me know if I've said anything that is not true or might be ill-recommended, I'm just sharing what I've learned and what worked for me.
If I don't have something supporting my elbows at just below desk/mousing surface level, carpal tunnel happens.
If I start getting a sore back, neck or shoulders, I know that I've been slipping in my exercise regimen... I'm probably not the right person to talk to about any of this stuff, seeing as I'm one of those self-driving martial arts people, but @raxter speaks a lot of truth about core strength being super important. Your posture comes from having a strong core, not from constantly reminding a weak core not to slouch. Get a pull-up bar and do the odd set to get you thinking differently. Make sure your push-up form is good, then do the 100 push-up challenge, it works. Sit-ups are a joke. Yes, they sort of eventually help, but they hurt your back if you're not super careful and crunches are better. Leg-ups are better still. L-sits and V-sits win everything. Every time you do a core exercise, make sure you stress your back too, back-arches save lives and nuke back pain (at least for me).
I actually get a little manic if I'm working a ton and can't make the time to go blow off energy elsewhere. While DD was pushing us to the launch date I would randomly just head out and run. Again, I'm one of those barefoot/minimalist running types these days and can talk about forefoot running technique for far too long if I'm not careful, so I don't really trust my advice for people that aren't me... Bottom line: If you decide to take up running, read up on forefoot striking first, then work up to doing it slowly. The first time I tried it I ran less than 2km and could hardly walk for a week - after spending all of highschool running 10km a week (which I hated) and loads of leg fitness on top of that (soccer, martial arts, rollerblading). Switching to forefoot striking is hard, but it made running actually fun for me for the first time in my life :)
1. Make sure you have a comfortable, supportive chair that you can sit back into, that leans a bit back, but that can fit close enough to or under your desk so that your arms can be naturally supported at a comfortable distance to type from. Essentially you need to be able to code from a "rest" position (no, not lying down :P)
2. The top of your monitor should be just about in line with the top of your head when you code, so that you don't have spend too much time looking up or down. Ideally if you use two monitors, your primary should also be directly in front of you. I know some people prefer to have two monitors with the "join" being in front of them, and the monitors at a slight angle, but I've found that for code at lest I'm likely to focus most on one monitor with the other being supplemental, so it may as well be in the ideal location. This also lets you keep more distracting things on your second monitor out of your direct sight ;)
3. This is a biggie that many people just don't think about. Think carefully about how comfortable you are working with text at default size in all your applications-maybe you're leaning forward because you want that text to be just a little bit larger and don't even realize it. Try testing with Chrome: Open up a text heavy wikipedia page and read it at normal font size, now zoom in a bit and read some more (Ctrl+Scroll Wheel), see what feels most comfortable to you. If you find that it's the slightly larger text, it may be worth fiddling with your system settings to bump the text size a bit.
Also: +1 million
Like Danny says, if you're exercising less (likely, because you're used to walking around campus each day, so you would naturally have been getting at least some exercise), you're quite likely to start getting general aches and pains in your joints and muscles.
And now, just for completeness, my setup (note, I do use an ergonomic KB, but that's really not for everyone) :P
I've put my chair back at a ~100 degree angle, so that I can recline in the chair, with my elbows resting just below the desk, and my eye level just reaches the top of the monitors. (I've put the monitors up on some packing styrofoam).
I also have a box under the desk on which to rest my feet up off the floor.
I find this setup is actually more comfortable than what I have at home. I think the desk height is something most people overlook as something they cant change, but I think it's very important as it defines how high you have to put your chair to get the correct height.
Some useful advice a chiropractor gave me though:
- Legs and arms should be resting at 90 degree angles.
- Rather lean slightly towards your screen than away (very slightly).
- Because we mouse and do everything else with the right hand (well most of us), the right muscles develop a lot more and can end up slowly pulling the spine slightly to the side (this is why I want to him in the first place, had neck pain caused by this). Other than some exercises he also recommended swapping my mouse to the other hand (as well as brushing teeth etc).
- Also keeping the top of your monitors at eye level.
Lastly (and this is just a personal thing but he said it helps too) is "gym bru". Stomach, lower and upper back exercises strengthen the "sitting muscles" (that's anatomical term :p). And I find getting up once an hour to make tea, chase the cat, poke a colleague and just get a 2 minute break from sitting and staring at my pc screen results in a much less haggard feeling by the end of the day.
Anyone have any experience with Gunnars Glasses? Quite a few places down here are selling them and I've been considering getting a pair but can't determine whether it's just a marketing gimmick.
Here's one I could find: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6187080.stm
@mattbenic: MS Ergonomic all the way! I've actually stockpiled a few of these, I've got 4 or 5 of them in circulation between my home and work and laptop bags :D
Regarding sitting position, I've heard that your screen's meant to be positioned so that the top of your screen is at eye level (I use old phone books for this :D)
Again this was just my experience and diagnosis but with most things in life it's best to try each method for yourself and see which works best for you ;)
This is actually one of the two desks I move between. This is a Windows 8.1 machine set up for Windows Store, Phone and Gamestick dev. Nico in handy throwing distance :) Both monitors raised although I inherited that from Cobus and its just much easier on the neck and back esp since I got glasses (years ago now).
The monitor on the right switches between the Gamestick and a 2nd monitor for dev.
Ironically unlike @dislekcia if you put arm supports on my chair I will most probably get an axe. I much prefer having the freedom of movement. Since I don't sit for long. When I think or take calls I like to get up and walk around and the arm rests feel like jail.
Keyboard wise I try not to be too fussy, but my best are "clicky" keyboards. Just guess I grew up having to obliterate a key when I typed. Soft whispering keyboards don't give me nice tactile feedback on the up side they make less noise for the people that share the space with me.
Seriously though: I found the posture of Jonathan Blow, creator of Braid very interesting when he develops, as can be seen in Indie Game: The Movie. He stands up straight when he codes. Very unique and it makes total sense to me.