Ergonomic keyboards are the best at maintaining a healthy posture while typing, which subsequently supports your ability to work. Here’s exactly what this technology offers your health and productivity.
What’s the Difference Between an Ergonomic and Standard Keyboard?
A typical keyboard on a laptop or PC is straight and keeps your hands in a forward position with your wrists bent. The problem with this is that it’s not a natural position for your muscles, nerves, and bones. After a while, you will feel the strain.
There is scientific evidence on the subject. For example, a study published in 2018 in the Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association proved that a 0-degree slope to your keyboard reduces the strain on your wrists as opposed to a 20-degree slope. However, the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome exists in both positions.
Ergonomic keyboards are designed to combat such health problems, as they let your hands sit at a more natural angle. When searching for the best ergonomic keyboards to improve computer comfort, you’ll find that their shape can be V-shaped, curved, or completely split.
The point of their design is to give each hand its own set of keys, and at such an angle that your wrists stay straight. What’s more, the benefits of this simple change in posture go beyond your hands. Let’s look at them more closely.
1. Ergonomic Keyboards Result in Healthier Hands
Something to keep in mind is that musculoskeletal disorders don’t just happen because you use the wrong equipment. It can also be a matter of your overall posture while on the computer that puts pressure on your wrists.
You might even have pre-existing conditions like arthritis, something which a standard keyboard can make worse. Other injuries to watch for are carpal and cubital tunnel syndrome.
To stave off such chronic pain, combine an ergonomic keyboard with healthy positioning of your back, shoulders, and arms. You want your hands to be relaxed and in a neutral position. Regular breaks and exercise are other common methods used, for example, to avoid real-life video game injuries.
2. Healthier Hands Can Help Your Overall Posture
Keeping the structure of your wrists nicely aligned and relaxed is good practice, but also a healthy principle to follow for the rest of your body. So, getting an ergonomic keyboard puts you on the right path to a better working lifestyle as a whole.
In other words, apart from the perfect keyboard, think about other ways to boost productivity and reduce stress at your workstation. This includes your chair, desk, and screen height, each of which can affect your posture. The aim is to prevent tension from building anywhere in your body.
3. You Get Less Mental and Physical Stress
Since the slightest pain can distract you from your work, it’s even worse when your aches are regular or build up over time. In addition to the physical strain, you have the mental impact of contending with, not to mention the professional one.
To prevent these from happening, you need a combination of helpful methods and tools, including an ergonomic keyboard. Whether you’re a gamer or you work from a home or office desk, your lifestyle, desk layout, and other factors contribute to how healthy and productive you are.
To give you an idea of how certain choices can add up to create a positive work environment, here’s another 2018 study available in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. It found that open bench seating, as opposed to cubicles and private offices, makes workers more active, while high physical activity results in lower physiological stress in the office.
4. You Can Work for Longer and More Happily
A direct result of improving your mental and physical health in the workplace is a boost to your performance. For one, you won’t have constant wrist pains breaking your concentration and flow. You’ll be able to work longer hours between breaks if necessary.
This greater sense of comfort can even lead to better relationships with friends and co-workers. The social factor plays a major part in how happy you are with your job and how much you’re willing to contribute to its success.
A final study to point out was published in the International Journal of Distance Education and E-Learning in 2020. It tested the effects of remote working on social interaction, as well as workplace motivation and efficiency.
Because of their prolonged use of computers, subjects became less social and productive, preferring to spend time on websites or chatting with online friends. They also asked for more relaxed work environments, not to mention proper social gatherings with colleagues like trips and workshops.
5. Ergonomic Keyboards Lead to Greater Productivity
The clear correlation between wellbeing and performance isn’t something to underestimate. When it comes to health problems at work, especially, one of the biggest concerns is that your productivity can drop.
So, if your employer can’t accommodate your needs, do what you can to create a healthy work environment for yourself. Start with an ergonomic keyboard to keep your hands in top shape and deliver on your goals.
Take Care of Your Eyes While on the Computer
Simply buying a good ergonomic keyboard can change your life and work. It doesn’t just boost your health and productivity. It can transform your understanding of your own body and the many ways you and technology can support it.
But don’t stop at your extremities. If you work or play on the computer a lot, you’ll want to protect your eyes and ears as well, for example. See what gadgets and exercises you can use for their benefit.
