{"id":1623,"date":"2009-12-15T16:28:37","date_gmt":"2009-12-16T00:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nnlm.gov\/pnr\/dragonfly\/?p=1623"},"modified":"2026-01-27T15:46:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T15:46:49","slug":"techtweak","status":"archive","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/techtweak\/","title":{"rendered":"When Technology Tries to Tweak You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of us spend the majority of our work day sitting at our desks, typing away on our computer keyboards, and looking at our monitor screens.\u00a0 When we’re not doing that, we are on our cell phones, often balancing it between our shoulder and our ear while rummaging through a purse or backpack.\u00a0 Of course, we can also multitask by text messaging on the bus, at the airport, or just about anywhere else.\u00a0 While technology offers convenience and mobility, our bodies are simply not designed for sitting at computers or\u00a0 looking down at a small screen for long periods of time.<\/p>\n

We need to acknowledge that we must interact with technology on a daily basis in the current work (and home!) environments.\u00a0 After all, there’s a whole generation now that’s being described as “born digital” or “digital natives.”\u00a0 But we mus also remember to take care of ourselves in the process.\u00a0 There are some simple steps you can take to maintain your ergonomic health so that you can continue to be productive well into the future.\u00a0 Some of the tips below are drawn from a post on\u00a0 Lifehacker.com<\/a> and on the UC Riverside Library’s web site:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. If it hurts, don’t do it! <\/strong>Pay attention to how you’re feeling, how you’re sitting, and what hurts.<\/li>\n
  2. Keep moving<\/strong> – Stretch, wiggle, get up!<\/li>\n
  3. Invest in a real <\/em>mouse and keyboard – <\/strong>Invest in the tools on which your hands spend thousands of hours every year.\u00a0 Don’t simply go with the “default” issued with your computer if it is uncomfortable for you.<\/li>\n
  4. Find your chair’s instruction book and adjust your chair. <\/strong>Learn how the controls work.\u00a0 If your chair does not adjust, work on getting a replacement.\u00a0 Alternatively, get a seat that positions you correctly.\u00a0 I sit on a fitness ball that helps me align my hips properly, but also allows me to move around naturally throughout the day (plus it makes a great conversation piece!).<\/li>\n
  5. Put your monitor (or laptop) at eye level – <\/strong>You can raise or lower your monitor screen or get a stand for your laptop.<\/li>\n
  6. Don’t stick your neck out<\/strong> – literally.\u00a0 Your head weighs about 15 pounds.\u00a0 Keep it balanced over your neck and spare your neck and shoulders.<\/li>\n
  7. Use exercises to avoid Repetitive Stress Injury<\/strong> – There’s a video linked from the Lifehacker site<\/a> with some suggested wrist and hand exercises.\u00a0 Also position the mouse as close as possible to you, and use two hands to type combination keys (such things as CTRL and F7) instead of one-hand stretching or clicking.<\/li>\n
  8. Avoid eye strain<\/strong> – There are some easy eye fixes, like keeping your monitor slightly <\/em>below eye level to bring less glare into your retinas.\u00a0 And, simply using a darker desktop theme is a way to avoid staring into a bright light all day.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Your host institution may have an ergonomics specialist with whom you can consult.\u00a0 The best thing, however, is to simply take a quick break every 30-60 minutes by getting up and changing position as well as giving your eyes a rest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Many of us spend the majority of our work day sitting at our desks, typing away on our computer keyboards, and looking at our monitor screens.\u00a0 When we’re not doing that, we are on our cell phones, often balancing it between our shoulder and our ear while rummaging through a purse or backpack.\u00a0 Of course,… Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1623","post","type-post","status-archive","format-standard","hentry","category-regional-news","category-technology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1623"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17805,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1623\/revisions\/17805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}