Important Note: We are not qualified doctors. These techniques have been developed through personal experience, and you should always go and see a physician or doctor before carrying any of them out, or if you’re in doubt about your health and want further advice.
As online business owners ourselves we know all too well that negative effects can be brought upon ourselves through what we do. Sitting at computer screens, sometimes for long periods of time, sitting in the same position for long periods of time, making tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of key strokes per day can take its toll. Running your own business from day to day can take its toll when you’re not prepared or not clued up on how to separate yourself from your workspace at the end of the day, all of which can quite easily lead to anything from bone problems, through to loss of sleep.
In this section, as strange as it may be for an online marketing report, we’re going to look at a few of those causes, and what we do regularly to remove or negate the damage being done, and we’re going to give you some of the techniques that we personally use so that you can put them to use for yourself.
This subject seems a little like taboo for some strange reason.As an additional note before we get started, I have to point out that we are not qualified doctors, psychologists or physicians. What you’re getting here is our personal experience. Before you try any of these consult a relevant and fully qualified authority on the matter.
Alright, lets get to it. What we’re going to do is split this section up into small segments where we’ll detail a problem, the long term effects, and what we do to make sure our bodies and minds don’t go haywire and limit the damage done by each factor. I must stress, go and see someone qualified before using any of these as these methods may have different effects on different people.
Number One – The first thing I’d like to talk about is your hands, lower arms and wrists. We’re sitting here typing all day for many days of the week. Constant pounding of the keys on the keyboard can get a little much for our health at times. If you’re getting pains or twinges in your arms and wrists, either during or within twenty four hours of typing, it’s a sign that we need to sort things out now, before they have a chance to get worse or to turn into an un-solvable problem.
(Wrist Support)
There are a couple of methods that I use personally to prevent this. The first of which is a set of light sports wrist supports. They’re not splints, but have a very light and spongy texture. I don’t wear them while I’m typing as they can restrict movement slightly and make the problem even worse, but I do wear them for a few hours afterwards. Due to their warming effect and promotion of circulation within just a week of wearing them for an hour or so a day, stopped any little pains or twinges I was getting from writing the thousands of words every day for several months. Very handy and worth checking out. Make sure that your supports are not splinted and cover the whole wrist. In addition always buy a size bigger than you think you’ll need. The way these things hug your arm, it’s important they’re not too tight, otherwise they may end up doing the opposite of what they’re supposed to do. Similarly, don’t do them up too tight either.
(Typing Position & Rests)
Next up is typing position and those rests that have become all the rage recently for both mouse and keyboard. Unfortunately most people use them incorrectly, possibly doing damage to their wrists and arms. If you actually check out the instructions and any reputable typing guide, or even the instructions that come with your rests, they should only be used when you’re not typing. Using them while you’re typing actually makes you stretch your wrists further, putting them under excess strain for sometimes long periods of time.
I want you to try an experiment right now. Go open yourself a new text document, and in your normal position, type out four or five lines, and pay attention to how that feels. Don’t change anything at this point, just give it a shot and watch.
When you’re done with that, open yourself a second document and write another few lines, but this time, lift your wrists and your hands off the keyboard and see how relaxed that feels compared to the other method. You’ll also probably find that your arms get tired unless you raise your shoulders and sit up a little straighter instead of slouching, improving your posture at the same time. Give that a go now, see how it feels. It might be worth repeating this for a week or so in all your work until it becomes habit. As you can immediately feel, the strain on your wrists is dramatically reduced.
(Regular Breaks)
Next up, is something that everyone tells you to do, even your family and friends most likely if they see you at the computer for long periods of time, and that’s to take regular breaks. When I say regular, I don’t mean every four or five hours, which is so easy to do when you get wrapped up in a piece of work as I’m sure you’ve already noticed, but for a minute or so out of every twenty minutes. It’s only three minutes an hour, but it’s positive effects are definitely worth it. Increase this time if you want to, there’s nothing stopping you doing this then taking an extra five minutes at the end of each hour. One thing I will say in addition to this, don’t pull and prod, and stretch and curl your wrists when you take this break. It’s supposed to take the pressure off and not be an extra workout. They get enough of that when they’re put to work at your keyboard.
(Go see the doc)
Finally, if you have any doubts, need further information, or are having pains where there shouldn’t be any, go and see a physician. It may seem like a lot of trouble over nothing, but what’s the use in having a successful business if you’re not in top health to enjoy it?
Number Two – Alright, second up we have any eyesight problems. There are several forms this can take, from short term blurry vision after long periods of staring at the screen, to excessive watering, or a burning sensation when you wake up in the morning and any form of dizziness. All signs which are at the very least annoyances, and at the very worst; problems that need to be sorted out early so you don’t go on to do any long term damage.
(Regular Short Breaks)
The first thing that you need to do to prevent this happening, is of course, take regular breaks again! A minute every twenty, five minutes every hour, it’s up to you. This is your business now. You don’t have a boss telling you to stare at a screen twelve hours a day with only one or two breaks in between, even though you know that doing so isn’t healthy. Find the right balance for yourself, and stick to it. While you’re doing so, focus on something far away for a little while. I always find that if I’ve got real wrapped up in a bunch of work and stopped after many hours, there’s kind of a partial short term short sightedness after all that staring. Not healthy. Focusing on something far away for a while helps get rid of it, but taking those regular breaks and preventing it altogether is a far better option.
(Go See Doc or optician)
Finally, if you have any long term problems, or a problem that exceed a particular point of severity, it’s time to go and see an optician or someone qualified to fix you up.
Number Three, we have back pains or stiffness, especially in the lower back or shoulders. It’s possible that this could quite easily be your posture and your general comfort when you’re sitting at your workplace. A great example of this is when I moved into this place. When I walked in all there was to sit on was a wooden chair. Eager to get on with this business, before anything else was unpacked, or any new furniture was bought, I spent a day, maybe a day and half sat on this chair. I’ll tell you, my back hurt for days afterwards, and I was glad to get back to normal. So if you’re sitting on an uncomfortable chair that makes you feel like you slept in a strange position, it might be time to make an investment in a large, reclining office chair, with cushioned seats and a high back. They don’t cost a lot nowadays and are well worth the investment.
Add to this a good lot of walking around during your break, a good posture, helped by the position we talked about previously when we discussed typing technique, and you have a great combination for many comfortable working days.
Number Four, now here’s a little something that I had to deal with myself, coming literally straight out of a standard nine to five job, turning my efforts to working at home, spending many hours at the computer trying to figure out all of these marketing techniques you see before you. Making that switch isn’t as easy at seems. My friends used to say to me, hey you’re lucky. You earn more money than I probably ever will in the jobs that I go for, you get to work whenever you like for however long you like, and do whatever you want whenever you want to do it. Of course until they’ve experienced this for themselves, they don’t realize it’s not quite that easy. Even business owners who use an office can come home at the end of the day and forget about their work but us as online marketers are different.
The computer and your work is always right there, right in front of you. It’s all to easy to walk past the computer and find out an hour later that you’ve just been going through business ideas in your head instead of enjoying that time out that you planned. It can effect concentration and sleep, especially if your computer and business tools are in a prominent place in your house. So here’s the thing. To help you disconnect at the end of the day, get that computer right out of your bedroom and your sleeping area if it’s there. If you have a spare bedroom, why not make it into an office if you haven’t done so already? It might allow you to get your computer and work stuff out of your main living quarters, so that when you go to relax, you really are relaxing and leaving it behind at the end of the day.
The method of tying up lose ends and disconnecting is one that really helped before I was able to remove my work from my main living quarters, hence the reasons we’ve been doing that since the start of the course in a really habit forming way through repetition.
Number Five, here’s a little something shocking I found out just over eight months ago. Did you know that the average office space contains thirty times more bacteria than the average toilet seat? That’s pretty manky, but I can see how it happens. Grabbing some food, or a drink after working, going out for a quick smoke, a couple of drinks around the place, a few computer upgrades here and there. You know how it is. I know personally my computer desk sees pretty much every part of my life, and because of that, it gets a good solid anti-bac every night after I’m done with it. For general health reasons, it might be good to just chuck an anti bac spray can or a pack of wipes so you can quickly mop up ready for the next morning, including your mouse and keyboard especially. Cans of compressed air for your keyboard are also a must. You can get these from many reputable office supply stores.
Number Six, moving to leg pains. Something that can come about for a number of reasons. The ones I’m getting at right now are due to poor circulation. A numb foot, calf pains and spasms could well be related to your seating arrangements. Another good reason for you to head out and buy a really good chair for yourself with good soft cushioning behind the knees. It really is a top priority if we’re going to keep you comfortable and everything in good working order.
In addition to this, get up and go for a walk every time you take one of your breaks. Meanwhile you can be grabbing a drink, focusing on something further away to re-align your eyes if needs be. It really is beneficial. I gotta say as well, that this is pretty hard to do. I’m used to talking about online marketing and business, not what you on a daily basis and how you live your life, so if I sound like I’m doing anything here but relaying information to you from my research as an online marketer, than I apologize. That’s all this is, a little bit of handy info to keep you in top condition, leaving your mind free to make your business a success.
That’s it. That’s all there is to it. There’s not going to be a summary section for healthy online marketing, because we’re all as bullet pointed up as we can go with this.
Number seven, and finally, any other health worries or problems you may have. Go see a doc, physician, psychologist, whoever can help you. Solving problems is a big part of business, so is preventing damage by putting precautionary measures in place. Are yours in place, or are you doing yourself damage as we speak? A healthy business owner equals a healthy business.