My creative drive is writing checks my body can’t cash. It has come to my attention that, as an Elder Millenial, I can’t combine new office equipment with increased hours working and expect to walk away unscathed. Multiplying the directional change in my gaze by the number of hours at my desk has resulted in a pinched nerve in my neck.
Repetitive stress injuries are very real!
This is entirely my fault and something I should have been more aware of. If you spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen, don’t be like me and assume your body is just going to handle a drastic shift in ergonomics. You’ll want to ease into it and let your body adjust. In my case, we’re only talking about shifting my head a few degrees upwards to look into taller displays. So don’t ignore seemingly minor tweaks to your body position; they can still mess you up.
My mistake means I’m writing this post from my bed because I need to avoid the precarious position at my desk. I understand if you’re like me and are champing at the bit to get your work done, then you might not think you have the time to ease into a new setup. But you can choose to pay upfront, thereby avoiding injury, or spend time on the backend as you rehab from your mistake.
Next Time
The next time I make a similar change to my working environment, I will:
- take breaks every hour.
- start with just a couple of hours and build up.
- streeeeeetch.
- be aware of secondary activities that could affect the same area (lifting weights).
Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.
John Quincy Adams
I lacked patience and now face an obstacle: To stop my fingers from tingling every time I tilt my head forward.
