The work-from-home holy grail: the perfect office chair.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good office chair. But there are a lot of myths and misinformation surrounding what makes a great office chair and what this means for your comfort level while you are working from home. Is bigger better? How much is this going to cost? Why does this have 100 different knobs? The world of office chairs is a confusing (and potentially expensive) one, but here a few things to keep in mind the next time you are looking to get a new office chair:
More expensive doesn’t mean better
Like most things in life, it is temping to think that because something is more expensive, it must mean that it is better. And while that can sometimes hold true, office chairs is not one of those times. Companies base the prices of their office chairs on a variety of things including the material they are made out of, the “trendiness” of the company, and most importantly, what they think people will be will to pay for them. While in general the more you pay for an office chair the more features the chair is likely going to possess, just simply buying the most expensive chair is not going to make a notable difference over a chair that is well-designed and reasonably priced. When you are buying a new chair, make a list of all of the features that are the most important to you in a chair, and search for a chair based on that list. If the perfect chair for you is only $200, then you found a great deal. There are lots of chairs that are very expensive and not very functional, so choose functionality over look or price. For those who are curious, the most expensive office chair on the market right now is $13,200 USD and it doesn’t even recline.
Key features are more important than look
The most important factor that you should look for in an office chair, above price or look, is that it contains a few key features that are going to make your enjoyment of the chair that much greater.
First and most important, you want to find a chair that is adjustable. There is a myth based on some now outdated research that the key to not having pain at work is to maintain the perfect posture. That is now know to be flat out wrong. Are there some postures that are better than others? Sure. But more than any one posture alone it is more important to have the ability to change postures throughout the day. The more you change postures, the less likely you are to overwork any one muscle or joint. You want to try and change postures at least once an hour, and this can include the use of standing desks, changing the position of the computer screen you are working on, and how your chair is adjusted. Therefore, you want to look for a chair that has multiple options in terms of height of the chair, level of recline, angle of the seat pan and height of the arm rests. This allows you to both customize the chair to your specific body and to change the position of the chair throughout the day.
Lastly, you want to find a chair with a few key features: a breathable back rest, a waterfall seat pan, and a lumbar support. These are not absolutely necessary but they are nice to haves. The breathable back rest makes it more comfortable to sit in the chair all day without getting sweaty and gross. The waterfall seat pan (edge of the seated is rounded like the edge of a waterfall) makes the edge of the seat more comfortable for the bottom of your legs, ensuring that you don’t have any discomfort throughout the day. The lumbar support is a great addition, and can help some people with low back pain. It is not a must (you can use a pillow or towel instead), but is a nice feature to have.
Make sure that your chair is adjusted to fit you
Now that you have the office chair of your dreams, you need to set it up so that it works the best for you. Here are some guidelines in setting up an office chair:
Your office chair should be high enough that your arms rest comfortably hang from your sides while you are typing and the top of your computer screen is at eye level. You don’t want to have to hold up your arms all day. They should be comfortably supported by the arm rest of your chair or the desk your computer is sitting on.
Your feet should be flat on the floor. If you have to raise your seat up so high in order to have good shoulder posture that your feet come off the floor, you should get something to rest your feet on rather than having them hanging in the air. Anything from an old file box to a proper desk foot rest will work.
Your chair should have a wide base and be able to comfortably roll around your workstation so that you can reach everything on your desk without having to overextend. While movement throughout the day is good, we don’t need anyone straining a muscle trying to reach that file on the end of the desk that you swear you can reach.
There is no perfect position. Find the position that works best for you. The amount of recline, angle of the seat pan and the amount of lumbar support are all largely personal decisions and you should use whatever feels the most comfortable. Just remember, even if it feels comfortable at the beginning of the day, even the “best” position is going to become aggravating after 8 hours.