Positive Posture

One of the ways that we can improve concentration and increase confidence is by adopting a good posture. ¹ An upright posture increases blood circulation and promotes comfortable breathing. Your brain can then function more effectively causing you to be more awake and feel more positive. When slouching over at your desk or while on your phone, you increase existing anxiety and decrease your ability to retrieve memories. ²

Ergonomics at your desk

Learning to keep our head up and our back straight also enables us to take care of our body while sitting at our desks. At work, this means that you should try to set up your desk and chair in such a way so to help you sit comfortably.

Here is a short 4 minute video on how to optimise your desk space.

Body Alignment

Spine-Health notes that good posture also avoids back pain. ³ This becomes even more important when sitting at a desk 8 hours a day, every day.

They encourage you to sit up straight with your ears, shoulders, and hips aligned. If you are sitting for a long time, you will benefit from shifting your weight around in your chair; “Shifting forward to the edge of the seat with a straight back can be alternated with sitting back against the support of the office chair to ease the work of back muscles.” ⁴

Move

Finally, you got to keep moving! Sitting in the same position for too long makes your muscles tired and so you begin to lean or slouch. Set a reminder on your computer or phone to get up or lean back in your chair every 20 minutes  (free desktop reminder here). These breaks can be short; even a 2 minute change of posture gives your muscles the opportunity to rest enabling you to be awesome at work and life once again.

Resources:

 

1. E. Peper et al., ‘Do better in math: How your body posture may change stereotype threat response.’, NeuroRegulation [website], 2018, <https://www.neuroregulation.org/article/view/18396>, accessed 20 August 2019.
2. H. Tsai, E. Peper, I. Lin, ‘EEG Patterns Under Positive/Negative Body Postures and Emotion Recall Tasks’, Vol. 3 no. 1 2016, Neuro Regulation [website], <https://www.neuroregulation.org/article/view/16083/10205>, accessed 20 August 2019.
3. Andrews, ‘Ten tips for improving posture and ergonomics’, Spine-Health [website], 2013, <https://www.spine-health.com/wellness/ergonomics/ten-tips-improving-posture-and-ergonomics>, accessed 20 August 2019.
4. Andrews, ‘Ten tips for improving posture and ergonomics’, Spine-Health [website], 2013, para 4, <https://www.spine-health.com/wellness/ergonomics/ten-tips-improving-posture-and-ergonomics>, accessed 20 August 2019.