What every desk worker needs to know for pain-free productivity

I’m not trying to sound dramatic, but if you work at a desk, finding the right office setup is the difference between:

“I had a terrific work day and got so much done!” 😁

and

“It feels like I broke my arm but all I did was work for 8 hours.” 😫

Have you ever experienced pain from your desk setup, {first_name}? Hit REPLY to let me know 💛

Story time…

(read all the way through, I promise this will help you understand how YOU can achieve a better office setup!)

Within the last 6 months, my husband Garrett was promoted to Assistant Director of Rehab at a nursing home (he’s also an Occupational Therapist, and we met while we were studying OT - a super sweet story for another day 😍).

With this promotion also came a new office space. And let me tell you… it is the OPPOSITE of an ergonomic setup.

(You’d really think healthcare would understand the importance of a good office setup…but we often get the LEAST ergonomic tools 🙄)

For the first few months, he didn’t think twice about his setup. But he started to get consistent pain in his neck and shoulder - especially on his right (dominant) side.

With both him and I being OTs (and the fact that I've helped hundreds of people with their office setups), you’d think we would’ve put two and two together:

new crappy office setup = new pain in Garrett’s body

But that’s the sneaky thing about office ergonomics - a poor office setup has the ability to absolutely WRECK your body in the least obvious ways.

Garrett was in pain for several weeks. He even went to physical therapy and got some new exercises.

But I’m disappointed to say it wasn’t until I started telling him about my new upcoming workshop, ‘Pain-Free Productivity: Your Solution for Hand, Wrist, and Arm Pain in the Office,’ that he said…

“…wait a minute. I think I know why the right side of my neck and shoulder have been hurting these past few months.”

🖥 We went on to talk in-depth about his new office setup at work, and we realized his current desk is WAY too high, and he’s had to hike up his shoulders for typing and mouse clicking.

Garrett does a lot of mousework with his right hand, which is why his right shoulder is more sore than his left.

His desk unfortunately has a large drawer underneath it, so my usual recommendation for a keyboard tray to lower his keyboard and mouse was out of question.

(Keyboard trays typically only attach to a desk without a drawer)

💡 With some creative thinking, I recommended the following for him:

• A lap desk to lower the height his hands rest on for typing and mousework

• An ergonomic keyboard with a trackball mouse and scroller (there was concern his current mouse wouldn’t have space to fit on the lap desk, but we were excited to find a keyboard with a mouse option)

• A vertical mouse to better position his right hand, wrist, and forearm (if he finds himself unable to use the trackball mouse on his keyboard)

Now, while there usually ARE ways to get your employer to cover your new ergonomic office supplies…

(...more on that in my upcoming workshop, ‘Pain-Free Productivity: Your Solution for Hand, Wrist, and Arm Pain in the Office,’)

…we wanted a quick solution without waiting for Garrett’s (often slow-to-respond) employer to approve these items.

So that evening, we ordered the lap desk and ergonomic keyboard. 

Within 2 days he was taking them into work.

👀 Here’s a text message I got from him later that day:

Garrett’s neck and shoulder pain stopped since he adjusted his setup a few weeks ago 🎉

When I asked him the other day if he was still using his new office supplies, he replied,

“I’m never going back to my old setup. I really feel a difference now that my shoulders aren’t all hiked up.”

{first_name}​​​​​​​, here’s the thing.

Half of people who work with computers suffer from repetitive strain injury symptoms just like Garrett.

AND! 

So, so, often…

…the solution is a few simple tweaks or some new supplies.

Your key to pain-free productivity is everything you’re going to learn about in my upcoming workshop, ‘Pain-Free Productivity: Your Solution for Hand, Wrist, and Arm Pain in the Office.’

You can sign up starting November 29 with a massive Black Friday discount!

This program is packed with solutions to reduce your hand pain, prevent injury, and optimize your office setup—so you can work comfortably, all day long 🙌

🗓 So make sure you mark your calendar to check your email this Black Friday, you won’t want to miss this deal!