If you work at a desk, your body is paying a price for it. That stiff neck at the end of the day, the aching lower back, the tight shoulders, the wrist pain that’s getting worse. None of this is inevitable. Most of it is caused by poor setup and habits that are surprisingly easy to fix.

I’m not an ergonomics expert, but I’ve spent years dealing with desk-related pain and fixing it through trial and error. Here’s what actually works.

Your Chair Is the Foundation

A good chair is the single most important piece of desk equipment. It supports your spine, distributes your weight, and determines your posture for eight hours a day. Skimping on your chair while spending $3,000 on a computer is backwards.

What to look for:

• Adjustable seat height so your feet sit flat on the floor with knees at roughly 90 degrees
• Lumbar support that follows the natural curve of your lower back (adjustable is better than fixed)
• Seat depth adjustment so the seat pan supports your thighs without pressing into the back of your knees
• Armrests that let your forearms rest at desk height with relaxed shoulders

You don’t need a $2,000 Herman Miller chair, though they’re excellent if the budget allows. The Ergotune Supreme ($700 AUD), Buro Metro ($500 AUD), and even the IKEA Markus (~$300 AUD) are solid options that get the basics right.

Whatever chair you have, adjust it properly. Most people sit in their chair at whatever height it arrived at and never touch the adjustment levers. Spend ten minutes setting it up correctly. Your back will notice within a week.

Monitor Position Matters More Than You Think

A badly positioned monitor causes neck strain, eye strain, and headaches. Here’s the correct setup:

Height. The top of the screen should be at or slightly below eye level. If you’re looking down at your monitor, it’s too low. Most monitors sitting on a desk without a riser are too low. A monitor arm, a riser, or even a stack of books can fix this.

Distance. About an arm’s length away. If you’re leaning forward to read text, either the monitor is too far away or the text is too small. Increase font size rather than moving closer.

Angle. Tilted slightly back (about 10-20 degrees) so you’re looking at the screen perpendicularly rather than at an angle.

Dual monitors. If you use two screens, the primary one should be directly in front of you, not off to one side. If you use both equally, position them so the join between the screens is centred in front of you.

Laptop users have it worst. The screen is attached to the keyboard, so either the screen is too low or the keyboard is too high. Get an external keyboard and mouse, and put the laptop on a riser. Your neck will thank you.

Keyboard and Mouse Setup

Your keyboard should be at a height where your forearms are roughly parallel to the floor and your shoulders are relaxed.

A few specific tips:

• Don’t float your wrists. Rest the heels of your palms on the desk or use a wrist rest. Holding your wrists in the air for hours creates forearm tension.
• Keep the mouse close. Reaching to the side strains your shoulder. Keep it near the keyboard.
• Consider a split keyboard if you have wrist issues. Split keyboards like the Logitech Ergo K860 allow a more natural hand position.

The Movement Principle

Here’s the uncomfortable truth about desk ergonomics: no static position is healthy for eight hours. The best posture is the next posture. Your body is designed to move, and forcing it to stay still in any position for hours creates problems.

Stand up every 30-45 minutes. Set a timer if you need to. Walk to the kitchen. Stretch. Look out a window. Even a two-minute break makes a measurable difference.

Change positions throughout the day. If you have a sit-stand desk, alternate between sitting and standing. If you don’t, at least shift your posture, lean back occasionally, and move in your chair.

Take proper breaks. Lunch at your desk isn’t a break. Walk outside. Move your body. Your afternoon productivity will be better, and your body will be less stiff.

Eye Care

Screen time is hard on your eyes. The 20-20-20 rule works: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. It sounds trivial, but it reduces eye strain noticeably.

Consider your lighting too. Overhead lights reflecting off your screen create glare. Position your monitor perpendicular to windows rather than facing them. If your office lighting is harsh, a desk lamp can provide softer, more controllable light.

Night mode or blue light filters in the evening are worth using, not so much for eye strain (the evidence is mixed) but because they help with sleep quality if you’re working late.

Start With One Thing

Don’t try to fix everything at once. Pick the thing that bothers you most. If it’s neck pain, fix your monitor height. If it’s lower back pain, adjust your chair. If it’s wrist pain, look at your keyboard and mouse setup.

Small changes, consistently applied, add up. You don’t need a complete ergonomic overhaul. You need a setup that doesn’t hurt, and a habit of moving regularly throughout the day. That’s it. It’s not complicated, but it does require paying attention to something most of us ignore until it becomes a problem.