San Francisco, CA – Proper Typing Advice | Tips From an Ergonomic Consultant

Are you maintaining the right posture while typing at your computer workstation? Read on to study proper typing advice from an ergonomic expert.

Given the sedentary nature of most jobs today, maintaining proper posture while typing is more important than ever. Many professionals don’t realize that typing posture entails more than just the placement of one’s fingers on the keyboard. It has to do with the placement of one’s entire body as well as the height of one’s computer screen.

When your posture is all wrong, repetitive typing can be a serious health hazard. The prolonged performance of continual actions in inappropriate ways can lead to impairment of function in the muscles and tendons or cause injury and pain.

To avoid any such issues, follow these ergonomic typing tips from an ergonomic consultant: 

Maintain an Ideal Typing Posture

According to ergonomic experts, the keyboard should be placed below your elbow height when sitting.  Keep your wrists straight when typing; they shouldn’t be rested against the desk surface. Resting your wrists on the desk surface cuts off blood circulation and exerts pressure on your tendons.

Many users prefer to use a keyboard with legs at the back end to prop up the keyboard. The resultant positive tilt makes it easier to access the back keys but proves detrimental from an ergonomic viewpoint. It will cause your wrist to maintain an upward flexed posture all the time unless your seat’s backrest is significantly reclined.

Thus, if you stay upright or in a slightly reclined sitting position while typing, a negatively tilted or flat keyboard should be more ergonomically sound.  An ergonomic keyboard or a keyboard tray can help you achieve the negative tilt.

Place Your Fingers Correctly

When typing, the positioning of your fingers is just as important as any other aspect of your typing posture. Ideally, they must be placed on specific keys in your keyboard’s home row. On the standard QWERTY keyboard, home keys include A, S, D, F, and J, K, L. Also, the thumbs should rest in the space bar.

Develop a Habit to Type Lightly

Some users tend to be very aggressive when they type on the keyboard. This puts unnecessary pressure on their fingers. On top of that, typing aggressively not only reduces your keyboard’s lifespan but also irritates other people nearby.

Hence, experts advise that you should practice typing lightly, using a minimal amount of force to press keys.

Advice for Laptop Users

The problem with laptops is that the screen and the keyboard are very close together. If you use a laptop, use an external keyboard and mouse to maintain that critical posture and a neutral wrist position. Also, to make sure that the top line of your laptop screen is at eye level, consider using a laptop stand.  You will truly thank these accessories as they keep you fit in the long run.

These were some valuable ergonomic typing tips for computer users.

To learn more about setting up ergonomic workstations, book a free consultation with Ergobility.