Jess Lee

Posted on Jan 20, 2020

Has your job impacted your physical health?

#discuss

My main woes are wrist pain and strained eyes!

Top comments (32)

Ryan Smith • Jan 20 '20

Aside from occasional eye irritation, nothing too concerning here. I am very mindful of the potential issues and try to avoid them. Here are my tips:

Invest in a good chair. I have the Steelcase Leap which is not cheap, but worth the investment since being at the computer is my job and hobbies, so I spend a lot of time there.
Sit with good posture. Having the nice chair isn't enough, don't hunch over the keyboard or "zoom in" with your neck.
Invest in a comfortable keyboard. I prefer ergonomic keyboards because they more naturally fit your hands and wrists. Microsoft's Ergonomic Keyboard is not too expensive and has served me well. That fancy RGB-lit mechanical keyboard may be a dream to type on, but if you have to strain and contort yourself to do so, it isn't worth it.
Do wrist stretches every so often to help prevent carpal tunnel or repetitive stress injury.
Take a break every so often and go for a walk.
Exercise in your free time.
For the eyes, I have screen brightness set fairly low and use the night light overlay.

Rick Mills • Jan 20 '20 • Edited

Couldn't agree more on the chair. I have a Herman Miller Mirra, which after trying the Aeron I found to be a lot more comfortable. It's got a hard plastic back which you'd think would be uncomfortable but is the total opposite. Combined with adjustable seat pitch, lumbar, arm wrests etc make it great.

I've had it ~10 years now and its still going strong. If you're sitting on one of the local staples / office depot fake leather things you're in for a world of pain in your future - a decent chair is absolutely worth the price.

Also the breaks thing is super important. Even getting up to make a coffee is better than nothing. I see people at my workplace sit without moving all day and its just the worst thing you can do. It also acts as a good way to force yourself to step away from your code - some of my best ideas and thoughts on how to do things come when I'm away from my desk.

Nick Taylor • Jan 20 '20

Ahh interesting, I was going to pick up a used Herman Miller Aeron. We had them at my last job and they were pretty comfortable. I might have to try a Herman Miller Mirra before going either Aeron.

Anower Jahan Shofol • Jan 20 '20

Hi Ryan, I was looking for some recommendations about the chair. I always set my mind for a good chair but seeing the price, I am still away from it but my back hurts now and then. Can you show yours or recommend a good one as you said about the keyboard?

Ryan Smith • Jan 20 '20

I'm not too sure about other chair recommendations as I have used the Steelcase Leap for a while. I think you may have to do some research and see if you can try sitting in some of them.

zach • Jan 20 '20

I worked at a company for most of 2019 that would consistently work me > 70 hour works. My mental health diminished. I was angry and agitated all the time, to the dismay of everyone who came into contact with me.
In addition, my physical health diminished. I started eating foods that were more convenient, staying up later, and generally not exercising.

I learned from this experience, that you can't be successful if you're not taking care of yourself first. That applies to your professional and personal life.

Bruce Axtens • Jan 20 '20

And let's not talk about mental health ...

Shad Mirza • Jan 20 '20

When you start as a fresher in a startup with you being only dev then the answer is obviously Yes!!.
I had to learn a lot over a very short span of time and that resulted in a headache, sleepless nights, overworking and a hell lot of tension.
I was popping headache pills once every two days just to show up to work every day, it was really hard for the starting 4-5 months.
It did enable me to gain a lot of knowledge quickly but it's not something I'm really proud of.
Eye strains are another thing you face when you're in front of screen for 80% of the day.
I have seen weight loss due to tension and haven't slept for up to 3 days straight, again because of work stress.
I was using a bed table to study and code at room and it resulted in back problems that I'm still going through.
It was horrible. It wasn't too long, I'm talking about 2019.
Now, I don't mind taking a day off just to stay in bed and get a reset when things start to become too overwhelming.
I'm starting to understand that one should always put health over literally anything and taking care of myself more sincerely.
I didn't know earlier what productivity a good chair and a table bring but I must say that it's really important to invest in your workspace. It's worth it. At last, getting good sleep should be your top priority. It does wonders. Staying awake to get work done is not an idea, sleep early and wake up early instead. You will get work done in half the time, believe me on this. After a lot of tries, I was successful to get into the habit of waking up early and it's the most perfect thing if you want to be 2x productive.
Early morning is not really necessary but getting a nap before doing some work resets you and put you into optimum performance mode. Time doesn't really matter.

sibi • Jan 20 '20

I would like to mention the positive impact of my physical health in my current job:

My workspace is 6kms (3.7 miles) from my home and I prefer commuting by walk always which makes me cover at least 6 miles every day so that I burn a lot of calories even before I hit the gym at night time after the work. Bonus benefit, body fat dropped from 21% to 17% in a span of 3 months without even focussing on diet part(I know I should focus on that too ;) ).
I constantly run during my weekends, it started with 2 km run last year and now I can run up to 10kms in a stretch. I kind of addicted to it because I love the after run effect :D
Constant break and stretching during work every 30 mins for a short walk within the office helps
No Friday pizza parties or free sodas instead we have sports match often and a lot of devs are interested in sports that they formed a team to play badminton or football most of the mornings.

Anower Jahan Shofol • Jan 20 '20 • Edited

Back pain. Neck Pain. It was so painful that I had to take a break for a week last year.

The doctor advised regular physical exercise.
And also advised not to sit for a long time. Take rest after 20-30 mins. Stand, walk or do something for a while and then come back to sit again. But, it is hard to remember and maintain due to work pressure. But still trying to maintain it.

And, due to lack of physical exercise and a lot of sitting, obesity is almost at my home :/ In the last limit of normal BMI.

Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D • Jan 20 '20

God, yes! Absolutely.

That eye strain is real.
As is the digital addiction and attention fragmentation (less focused work, more multi-tasking)

I also deal constantly with weight issues, anxiety and stress as a result of work hours, travel and routines that don't necessarily create clear boundaries or healthy habits. All of these are things that can be fixed with mindfulness, self-care and discipline. And on paper that sounds easy. But when you juggle work, parenting, home and a dozen other responsibilities, it gets harder to find the time to plan and execute these in an intentional way.

Two things that help:

Forgive yourself when you fail. Try. Try again. My superpower is I never give up on myself.
Find good support systems to help you stay the course. My support system is family.

The thing I am working most on is self-care. We live in a workaholic culture where peer pressure can be strong and it takes a lot of willpower and self-esteem to be okay with making choices that are right for you. Still very much a WIP for me so if others have tips, I'm here to listen.

Arit Developer • Jan 21 '20

I felt this ... all the way ❤️

Jean-Michel 🕵🏻‍♂️ Fayard • Jan 20 '20 • Edited

Oh yes it did! I had a depression crisis because of a bad job and have been struggling for this from time to time in the last 10 yeears. This explains why I'm quite opiniated about the idea that people should not try so hard to work with bad companies. If the company doesn't feel right, trust your instinct and find better ones, there are lots of them.

HS • Jan 20 '20

Back, back, back, eyes, neck, wrist, elbows, lost muscles on my arms...

Anyway now, at work, I'm getting on 6th floor by stairs, trying to exercise each morning quickly before work, just push ups 15 to 20 for now but I think I need to dramatically increase quantity, and back of screens after work. It appears that my arms getting back in shape although not enough so I'll try doing more.