By Karen Porter

The Administrative Professional
Job Performance and Career Success Coach
Assisting Administrative Support Professionals Since 2004

If you're an office professional, chances are you sit a lot. Sounds easy and painless. And you don't even break a sweat in your job, right? While the latter part might be true most of the time, the real truth is that sitting at a desk most of the day can cause you tremendous musculoskeletal disorder difficulties (also called muscle-skeletal injury). Translation: It can become very painful for you in the long-term if you don't follow good ergonomics in the workplace or office – even if you feel fine right now.

For one, you can develop problems with your back. That may seem odd when you consider you're just sitting, often not even lifting anything heavier than a pencil or phone receiver. But it's true. Sitting incorrectly, too long during a period of time, and/or in a "bad" chair can cause damage to your back – giving you the kind of problems you'll feel significantly one day (and many days from then on). Practicing ergonomics can prevent this. (Keep reading to learn just what is ergonomics.)

Other health hazards from not following ergonomic procedures can include visual fatigue, stress, neck ache, shoulder ache, a pain in your hand – or you can even get a pain in your butt, literally. And that's not all just a result of sitting. Everything from how you use a keyboard to what posture you use when talking on the phone can contribute to these health problems. So can external factors in your environment such as what type of lighting you're using. Even what you don't do – such as take the right amount or type of breaks – can lead to these problems. And if you have some genetic predispositions to musculoskeletal disorders, you could get health problems faster than the person next to you doing the same things.

However, you can prevent what is essentially bad health by learning about office or workplace ergonomics and implementing what you learn. This may mean buying some new equipment and furniture, making some makeshift adjustments to what you have or supplementing it, or implementing some new habits and routines into your day. It may mean changing the way you perform a task.

The results to you personally will be well worth it: Increased or ongoing satisfaction and mobility in your life due to eliminating health hazards in your work space or workplace. You'll live a better life physically and mentally. And since national health statistics say people are living longer than ever, you most definitely need to stay healthy and physically mobile longer in life.

And there is even a benefit to your manager and executive for practicing ergonomics. In fact, there are lots of benefits to your employer: Healthier, happier, and more energetic employees. Less staff absenteeism due to health problems. Less employee health insurance claims on the employer's health plan. Less workers compensation claims. Less accidents in the workplace. More comfortable and thus more productive employees.

No matter how you look at it, office or workplace ergonomics is a good thing with no downside to it. See Tip Sheet #16 for more insight into office ergonomics and making it work for you, even your whole office team, starting now. You'll find it in Admin Pro Pack #4 at this page.