When working in a client’s office why is it the freelancers and contractors who always get the bum deal? Are you fed up with always being allocated the worst chair in the office? Our ergonomic expert Jo Blood gives us a practical guide to promoting good posture and making the most of your office chair.
A freelancer’s guide to making the most of the worst chair in the office
Picture the scene, you turn up on the first day of a new contract, get shown your desk and you sit down, then you stand up and look at the sad sorry excuse of an office chair that you’ve been allocated.
In my previous life as an Account Director for a marketing agency, we frequently had freelancers in a variety of roles, but the one aspect that never changed was whenever a freelancer was due in, they were invariably allocated the worst chair in the entire office.So how do you deal with always being relegated to the bottom of the office chair pile?
No matter how bad the chair is, it is always worth having a bit of a play around to see if there are any adjustments that you can alter to improve your sitting position to promote good posture.
How to makes the most of your office chair
- To be at the right height for sitting at the desk, your arms need to be at a comfortable right angle – so see if you can alter the office chair to get to the right height.
- When your arms are at the right height, your feet also need to be on the floor or a footrest
- When you are sitting on the office chair always sit at the very back of the chair, supported by the backrest (unless it’s broken – then it’s worth having a bit of a moan).
A few if’s and but’s:
- If you find that the office chair doesn’t come up high enough it’s worth looking at a cushion to sit on or invest in a sitting wedge (an angled cushion that will help promote a better sitting posture).
- If when you are sitting at the right height your feet aren’t firmly on the floor, then you need a footrest, if they don’t have one in the office grab a couple of telephone directories and ‘Blue Peter’ one yourself.
- You always need to be able to get three flat fingers between the back of your knees and the start of the seat. If the chair comes right up to your knees, you need to put a cushion on the back of the chair or get a separate back support cushion back support cushion that you can put on the chair.
More advice can be found in the Posture People’s guide:
How to improve your workstation.
As a freelancer, if you can’t work because you’ve backache then it will cost you money, and more importantly always sitting on the worst chair in the office could be damaging your health in the long run.
So it might be worth investing in a portable kit that you can take around with you. An angled sitting wedge, a lumbar support cushion are a good start. Or if you get really fed up with the worst chair scenario – buy your own ergonomic office chair and that way you can take it with you when you leave.
And finally…
A word of warning…
When Chairs Go Bad!
Jo Blood: expert in workstation ergonomics and co-founder of Posture People
Image by Sam Dodge
Is your chair a pain in the bum? Does your work station feel like a torture garden? Ask for Jo’s advice in the comments below…
