Day 2: Being a Healthier Author
Office improvements!
Today I want to discuss some changes I have made to an area that authors and many other professions spend a great deal of time. The Office.
First, let's start with a really important subject. Being present. How many authors and professionals dread going into the office? My guess is quite a few.
My advice:
Personally creating small changes to your office can help renew your energy and excitement. That's one trick I learned when I started writing, change of location or scenery is a good thing. So while it's important to try to be conscious about ways to improve posture, and reduce time sitting for long periods. The most important thing for someone who makes a living sitting behind a computer is to be there.
Every so often Feng shui your space or if COVID allows, take a day to go work at a coffee shop. Simply moving your stuff around also forces you to organize, which will tick off a mental task you probably didn't know you were holding onto.
Second, ergonomic support and conscious health.
How many writers begin writing on a laptop sitting in bed or on a couch?
Again my guess is quite a few.
My advice:
That's amazing that you are getting words on the page. Keep doing it. Don't change anything if it's working for you. However, once you start to feel your back complaining or any other part of your body screaming at you consider making some of these changes.
Office Chair: Get something that is appropriately sized and offers good support. You will spend a lot of time in it. Personally, I purchased a Secret Lab chair cause it was the only one that had a size comfortable for a half-giant.
Standing Desk: Consider getting yourself one. Set some timers and adjust your posture to standing for a certain length of time. As much as I just said buy a good chair. Get your butt out of it from time to time. Keep your blood flowing and move around. It really helps. My standing desk is pretty basic and just an add-on. In the future, I hope to buy a better one.
Ergonomic Keyboard: This is my newest purchase and arrived yesterday. I was lucky enough to try a coworker's KINESIS Freestyle and realized that I could write without hunching my shoulders. There are many options here but doing something every day trains your body. Take it from an athlete who counted on this phenomenon to excel. Don't train your back or shoulders to hunch while you write!
Future considerations:
Ergonomic Mouse: When the time is right I am going to try purchasing one of these. I know a lot of editors who spend most of their time scrolling and could use this.
Lighting: Make sure you have proper lighting. Especially for those times that you need to spend extra non-daylight hours in the office to finish up a project. My next goal is to install better lighting.
That's it for my tidbits that I have discovered. I would love to hear yours. Feel free to comment.
Today's goals:
Be active (8000 Steps or equivalent) (Yesterday was biking in the basement. Kind of on quarantine lockdown)
Eat healthier
Perform some sort of stretching routine