4 PM Fog Got You Down?

When 4 pm rolls around, far too many of us, after being in a seated position at a desk for hours on end, start to feel our eyes glaze over.  Concentration falls to an all time low and the simplest of tasks become too much to handle.

What gives?

Well, aside from the fact that most have not eaten properly throughout the day, which is the subject of an entirely separate post, let’s talk about the fact that sitting for hours on end, hunched over staring at a glaring computer screen is far from a natural way to spend the day.

Granted, not all offices are flexible in terms of allowing employees to either work at a standing desk or if they must sit, to do so on a ball, so the practicality of it is that sitting is simply part of many people’s day at work.

However, even in the most conservative of offices, we can employ some tactics to at least slightly offset the negative impact of sitting.

• Strengthen your core 
• Make sure your posture is picture perfect 
• Have your chair and desk position professionally fit to you by an ergonomic specialist
• Get up often to stretch your chest, your upper and lower back, hips and legs and open up any muscles that begin to tighten up due to being in a shortened position while sitting.  Subtle variations of stretches are possible even in formal attire without needing to lie on the floor!
• Keep hydrated
• Avoid staring at your screen for hours on end and look into a filter to reduce glare

Ultimately, it would be great if we could all ditch the chairs and be active all day long, but sometimes, we’ve got to make the best choice out of a few not so great options.