Proper typing posture entails:
- Keeping your feet flat on the ground and your neck and back straight
- Adjusting your elbows to an angle between 90 and 110 degrees
- Keeping your wrists in a neutral stance
- Moving your monitor so that the top of your screen is at eye-level
- Adding appropriate ergonomic typing accessories
With a majority of careers now requiring significant time behind the computer, ensuring that you have proper typing posture is more important than ever. However, typing posture is so much more than just the placement of your fingers; appropriate typing posture involves your entire body from the placement of your feet to the height of your computer monitor. Below we will touch on every element of proper typing posture – including equipment and tools you should be using to improve your typing workflow.
Recommended Typing Posture
As we mentioned above, the recommended typing posture requires help from your entire body. Your feet should be placed flatly on the ground and your neck and back should be straight. Your elbows should be open – creating an angle between 90 and 110 degrees – and leading to neutral and straight wrists. Moving up to your head, your eyes should be level with the top line of your screen. Although slouching can be temporarily comfortable, the longterm benefits of using proper typing posture far outweigh that temporary comfort.
Equipment to Use for Proper Typing Posture
Now that we’ve touched on how your body should be positioned, let’s discuss the equipment you should be using.
Keyboards
When working with a flat keyboard, keep it either flat on your desk or negatively tilted away from you. If your keyboard is tented and splayed there is no need to negatively tilt it as it is already lifted off your desk. While many keyboards are equipped with little legs to prop the keyboard up to create a positively tilted keyboard, this approach will actually keep your wrists extended the entire time which can be extremely straining.
For those interested in upgrading their basic keyboard to a more ergonomically-friendly alternative, consider one of our adjustable keyboard variations. These keyboards are strategically designed to reduce repetitive strain injuries and provide a more comfortable working experience all around.
Chairs
While you may certainly benefit from an ergonomic-specific desk chair, you can also make a few adjustments to your current desk chair to make it more ergonomically sound. When typing in your desk chair, keep your back against the chair for maximum support. If you haven’t yet invested in an office chair that provides both comfort and support, you can add a lumbar pillow to help close that gap.
If you’re experiencing back pain, consider adjusting your chair back to a slope between 110 and 130 to reduce the pressure that is causing your neck and back pain.
Wrist Rests
Keep in mind that not all wrist rests are designed from an ergonomic perspective, so your wrist rest may actually be doing more harm than good. However, if you select a wrist rest that was strategically created – like the ones we offer here at Goldtouch – you will enjoy the assistance they provide in keeping your wrists in a neutral position. By keeping your wrists in the appropriate neutral position, you’re alleviating pressure from your shoulders and preventing your wrists from bending backward.
The other benefit of using a Goldtouch wrist rest is ours are gel-filled, so they can be great for resting your wrists in-between typing.
Proper Typing Posture With Laptops
With more and more employees moving towards laptop computers instead of a traditional desktop computer, there are a few more elements to consider when striving towards perfect typing posture.
Add an External Keyboard & Mouse
As convenient as the keyboard and trackpad can be on a laptop, in a traditional office setting, you should always try to use an external keyboard and mouse (even more specifically, ergonomic versions). While it may not always be possible to use those extra accessories, your body will truly thank you when you do as an external keyboard and mouse will help you maintain that important neutral wrist position.
Add a Laptop Tray
Keeping in mind that proper typing posture dictates that your eyes should be level with the top of your screen, you should add a laptop tray to your workflow. A laptop tray will prevent you from looking down on your laptop which causes strain to your neck and shoulders. The laptop tray will keep your laptop eye level and with the addition of an external keyboard, you will have an ideal computer setup – very similar to your traditional desktop setup without all the cords.
Now that you’re familiar with proper tying posture, it’s time to introduce new ergonomic workflow accessories, like our keyboards, mice, and wrist rests. For the best options in the industry, choose Goldtouch!
