One of the key elements of any working from home, ergonomic or workstation assessment that I complete with my clients is education. Education, with a key focus on the importance of behavioural change in eliminating unnecessary pain.
Understanding that our behaviours or habits are actually significant contributing factors to our pain is vital. All too often we are our own worst enemies; we don’t listen to our bodies – not even when they are screaming at us. We just put our heads down, suck it up, get that report written and pay the price at the end of the day. This has to change.
Having a great ergonomic workstation set-up with all of the latest fan dangled equipment is not the bee all and end all of things, if habits do not change. You can have the best chair in the world, but if you sit on it for hours on end, you are still going to get pain. What I am saying is, even with equipment in place, without a commitment to changing your habits your pain is unlikely to change either.
Learning to become more active at work, understanding posture, being posturally aware, taking rest breaks, recognising triggers, alternating postures and implementing a regular stretching routine to your day are all essential in changing the behaviours that have contributed to the development of your pain in the first place.
There is no doubt that behavioural change is hard. One of the reasons it is so hard, is because if you can’t see it being in your own best interest to change – why would you? You need to be able to see the benefits of change – basically recognising that a new behaviour outweighs the old. Do you believe making changes to the way you work is worth it if it means eliminating pain?
Don’t expect to break those old habits quickly – the fact of the matter is change takes time and commitment. But if you can see the small changes and benefits in the initial stages, it is far easier to stay the course.
So, my advice. If you are sick to death of how pain has embedded itself into your work day, and is creeping into other aspects of your life too, why not make the commitment to making a change for the better. Being pain free at work is possible.
Want to learn more about how you can eliminate unnecessary pain from your work?
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