Guide to heatlhy Computing

[shantanu]

Hello Every one !!!

We all are almost on our Computers for quite a long Time .. I think to fully benefit yourself and Minimize your strain.. we should make some minor changes to our computing experience.. by setting up ourself and comp. system in a correct way.

Source : Microsoft healthy computing guide.


Position Yourself

Whether you are working or playing, it is important to avoid awkward postures and position your body comfortably. Not only can this improve your overall productivity, it may help you avoid MSDs. Keep in mind that changing your posture during extended tasks may also help you avoid discomfort and fatigue.

When working or playing at the computer, adapt your surroundings and arrange your computing equipment to promote a comfortable and relaxed body posture. Setting up your workstation to avoid discomfort depends on your unique body size and work environment. However, the following suggestions may help to provide you with a more comfortable environment.



To support your back, try the following:

• Use a chair that supports your lower back (see detail 1).
  
  
• Adjust your work surface and chair height to assume a comfortable and natural body posture (see detail 2).

To promote comfortable leg postures, try the following:

• Clear away items from beneath your desk to allow comfortable leg positioning and movement.
  
  
• Use a footrest if your feet do not rest comfortably on the floor.

To minimize reaching and to promote comfortable shoulder and arm postures, try the following:

• Place your keyboard and mouse or trackball at the same height; these should be at about elbow level. Your upper arms should fall relaxed at your sides (see detail 3).
  
  
• When typing, center your keyboard in front of you with your mouse or trackball located close to it (see detail 4).
  
  
• Place frequently used items comfortably within arm's reach (see detail 5).

To promote proper wrist and finger postures, try the following:

• Keep your wrists straight while typing and while using a mouse or trackball. Avoid bending your wrists up, down, or to the sides. If your keyboard has legs, extend them if this helps you maintain a comfortable and straight wrist position.
  
  
• Type with your hands and wrists floating above the keyboard, so that you can use your whole arm to reach for distant keys instead of stretching your fingers.

To minimize eye strain, try the following:

• Position your monitor about an arm's length away from you when seated comfortably in front of it.
  
  
• Avoid glare by placing your monitor away from light sources that produce glare, or use window blinds to control light levels.
  
  
• Remember to clean your screen. If you wear glasses, clean them also.
  
  
• Adjust your monitor's brightness and contrast.
  
  
• Adjust onscreen front sizes to make viewing more comfortable for you, if your computer program has this feature.

Go Lightly

Physical forces continuously interact with our bodies. We may think that only high-impact forces, such as car crashes, are likely to injure our bodies. However, low-impact forces may also result in injuries, discomfort, and fatigue if they are repeated or experienced over long periods of time.
Some types of low forces include:

Dynamic force: A force that you exert through movement, such as pressing the keys while typing or clicking the mouse buttons.

Static force: A force that you maintain for a period of time, such as holding your mouse or cradling the phone.

Contact force: A force that occurs when you rest on an edge or hard surface, such as resting your wrists on the edge of your desk.








To reduce the effects of low-impact forces on your body, try the following:

• Type with a light touch, keeping your hands and fingers relaxed, because it takes little effort to activate keyboard keys.
  
  
• Use a light touch when clicking a mouse button or when using a joystick or other gaming controller.
  
  
• Hold the mouse with a relaxed hand and do not grip the mouse tightly.
  
  
• Avoid resting your palms or wrists on any type of surface while typing (see detail 7). The palm rest, if provided, should only be used during breaks from typing.
  
  
• Relax your arms and hands when you are not typing or using your mouse. Do not rest your arms and hands on edges, such as the edge of your desk.
  
  
• Adjust your chair so the seat does not press into the back of your knees (see detail 8).

Take Breaks
Taking breaks can help your body recover from any activity and may help you avoid MSDs. The length and frequency of breaks that are right for you depend on the type of work you are doing. Stopping the activity and relaxing is one way to take a break, but there are other ways, also. For example, just changing tasks - perhaps from sitting while typing to standing while talking on the phone can help some muscles relax while others remain productive.


To vary your daily activities and to work productively, try the following:

• Plan your work and play so that you are not doing the same thing for extended periods of time (such as performing the same activity or using the same part of your body).
  
  
• Use different input devices, such as your mouse and keyboard, to accomplish the same task. For example, to perform a scrolling task, you can use the wheel on the mouse and the arrow keys on the keyboard.
  
  
• Work more efficiently by using software and hardware features to reduce your effort and increase your productivity. For example, you can press the Windows logo key to open the Windows Start menu.
  
  
• Learn about software and hardware features by reading the information that accompanied these products. For example, if you frequently highlight text, assign a mouse button to do ClickLock.

Be Healthy
A healthy lifestyle can help you perform and enjoy your everyday activities, including the time spent at your computer. Also, learning more about your health is an important step in staying comfortable and productive while using your computer.

To help maintain good health, try the following:

• Eat a balanced diet and get adequate rest.
  
  
• Exercise for overall fitness and to improve the strength and flexibility of your body. Consult a qualified health professional to help you choose the stretches and exercises that are right for you.
  
  
• Learn to manage stress. One way to reduce stress at work is to plan your work area and schedule so that noise and distractions are kept to a minimum.
  
  
• See a qualified health professional if you have questions about how your medical and physical conditions may be related to MSDs. While researchers are not yet able to answer many questions about MSDs, there is general agreement that many factors may be linked to their occurrence, including previous injuries, diabetes, hormonal changes (such as pregnancy), and rheumatoid arthritis.

Conclusion
Learning more about working comfortably and productively, as well as your overall health, are important ways to help you enjoy your computing experience.


i hope this guide could enhance the computing Experience of our forum members as we sit and compute for hours
__________
Just Applied all these to myself

[ravi_9793]

thnaks for these useful tips..I use to spend lot of time on internet...so these tips seems to be useful for me.

[shantanu]

yeah provided these coz i am too a daily 20 hr. computer user.. and most of our forum members too ..

[s18000rpm]

good post.

good for long gaming sessions too

[rajesh_nk22]

Thanks a lot, had read on these long time back, but as u know, as time passes we forget this things. After I read it here again, I will follow now seriously. Thanks for posting such a important message.

[shantanu]

its ok buddy !!! i am happy that i helped...

[Kiran.dks]

Yep. These tips are allover our companies intranet and notice boards. Nice to see it hear....good post.

[Arsenal_Gunners]

Nice post.I practically lie flat on my chair after long gaming

[..:: Free Radical ::..]

Thanks for compiling these on one page.
I would have googled otherwise...having my computer table built in a few days (yep.. i dont have one as yet ) Already got bursitis several times by playing quake 3 more often than conducive to the heath of my wrists. Got to get that table before I get carpal tunnel !!!!!
And an ergonomic one at that. Can you also post some info about ideal height of the keyboard desk, monitor position (in numbers ) according to standard furnitures... so that i can explain these to the carpenter

[piyush gupta]

Very gud tips buddy rep u

[dd_wingrider]

great tips, thx a lot, wll try to apply some of them from today

and reps to you for healthy post
cheers

[gaurav_indian]

Very useful info.Thanks.

[shantanu]

Thanks to all of you for such good comments... Its very nice that its usefull for everyone...

Thanks to everyone for their reps

[anandk]

[47shailesh]

nice post dude...

[niku_19jan]

its amazing bro...thnks it will help me a lot.

[Third Eye]

Awesome post...

Will rep you tomorrow because i have given too much reps in the last 24 hrs.

[wizrulz]

i knew it...good post...but i hardly follow them....

[codename_romeo]

Real nice thing bro......wil rep u ( only if i can)

[koolbluez]

Good one... it's called computing ergonomics...

Some more good links..
Ergonomic Guidelines for Computer Workstations - 10 Steps for Users
Computer Workstation Ergonomics

And welcome to zone. The second guy I helped cross the first barrier

[shantanu]

thaks to you buddy

[codename_romeo]

I think this thread should be made a sticky.....will benefit all the people on this forum.......

[dOm1naTOr]

Thnx a lot. I used to sit more than 8 Hr continuously while gamin nd this tips are good at times. reps to u.

[sridatta]

It was an awesome tut particularly for guys like me.. who get strained without follwing proper postures... very nice compilation...
deserved for a R E P

[Vishal Gupta]

thnx for the tut buddy.
Its a nice info.

[premsharma]

Me there atleast 20 hours on pc. It is very useful and I request it be made sticky so that remains on top, otherwise will be lost in a day or two.

This seems directly from Billu, So I doubt your location as dehradoon, Will surely Rep U

[shantanu]

Thanks for your replies Everyone......... I too Hope that MODS make this a sticky.. Thanks again ..

[Arsenal_Gunners]

Since my opinion matters the most here
This thread should be made sticky for us lazyasses' good.

[Choto Cheeta]

great effort... realy i think most of us know, but we never try it...

its really important that we feel that heath is more important than that computer stufff we are doing ...

also Thank you for putting the effort to right in down for us...

[shantanu]

Thank you saurav for such nice comments...