At Google, they've got ergonomics evaluators on staff. You can schedule one to come by and check out how you're working. They'll fix your chair, remind you how to sit, mouse, and keyboard, and also put in orders for special equipment should you need it. Things like vertical oriented mice, natural keyboards, and boosters for your monitor can make a lot of difference for comfort.
Ass goes on chair.
They'll fix your chair
Ass goes on chair.
remind you how to sit
Ass goes on chair.
OT: does anybody know how I can determine the exact model type of my Aeron chair, as I would like to put it up on ebay?
The plastic on the sides makes it difficult to sit cross-legged in the chair. Granted, I've never had a chair that let me do this very well.
It's impossible to kneel on the chair comfortably. This sounds silly maybe, but the last chair I used had a very soft cushion to sit on, and the back was adjustable such that there were spaces where you could dangle your feet. It was possible to kneel without causing much strain on feet or ankles.
I've found both kneeling and cross-legged positions to be very stable, comfortable, and conducive to proper breathing-- so long as you don't wind up losing circulation in your legs.
Nobody else at the company goes quite so far, but the two other main programmers do have Aeron chairs, at least.
I suspect I'd give any ergonomic evaluator a heart attack. Right now, I'm lying down on the floor, propped up on my elbows. Other favored positions include cross-legged on the floor, kneeling on my bed with the laptop on my thighs, half-kneeling on the floor with my chin on my knee, prone in bed with about 3 pillows under my chest, in bed on my side wit my elbow propping my upper body up, reclining in a chair with the laptop on my lap and feet up, and sitting in a tree (no, I don't take the laptop up there, but I'll frequently bring pencil & paper to work out some design problem).
The one place I absolutely will not work if I have a choice about it is at a table or desk. Been like that since before I had a computer; in elementary school, I absolutely refused to do my homework at the table, always preferring the floor.
You'd think this would result in lots of RSI problems, but I haven't had anything since I was 12, which ironically was when my parents made a concerted effort to get me to sit at a desk and do my homework like a normal person. I suspect it's because I don't actually do anything repetitive at a computer. I get up to pace a lot - 5 times in the process of writing this comment, and I've switched to 3 different positions. That's another reason I really dislike desks - they make getting up a chore, so I don't get up, and so I find my productivity dropping off from lack of exercise.
I've settled into a nice place now, with a good monitor that raises up almost high enough (a Dell 2005), an Aeron chair, an IBM small form factor keyboard with good IBM keys, and a Logitech mouse that I still try to use as little as possible. I still have occasional back and shoulder pain, but I have some injuries from bike accidents in my youth. But I definitely take ergonomics seriously. I can't concentrate when I'm in pain.
One thing that I've found makes a big difference for me: Exercise. Almost all of my various aches and pains are less pronounced and less debilitating when I'm getting regular exercise.
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productde...
