Nine ergonomic office products that work for you and your body

The 2020s will historically be marked as the point where a significant shift in workplace culture began. As flexible working locations and practices start to emerge, along with the increased use of AI and the growing acceptance of the four-day week, we’re spending less and less time at actual desks, wherever they are.

That being said, however, with retirement ages rising all over the world, the importance of keeping workplaces physically healthy is just as high as the growing focus on mental health. These ten products for in and around the individual workspace help keep us feeling young and sprightly, even when our bodies are not.

Chairs that wrap around their user’s form with mouldable yet strong surfaces provide optimal back and neck support. VANK’s upholstered V6 swivel chair, for example, features a backrest with adjustable pressure and height, a height- and depth-adjustable seat and an award-winning anatomical seat cushion, ensuring both sections curve perfectly to the user’s spine, while also being strong enough to support their weight.

While many ergonomic chairs’ adjustable sections offer personalised lumbar support, many are simply too confusing for the majority to operate efficiently. This is why the next generation of ergonomic chairs do the job for you. Interstuhl’s Pure series, for example, is a reactive chair that responds to its user, without asking them to make complex adjustments. ‘Complicated and heavy mechanisms are no longer required’ state Interstuhl.

‘Don’t get too comfortable’ is a generic warning based on the dangers of staying in one place for too long. Rarely is this more apt than when sitting. ‘Staying in one position reduces the natural pumping action of the muscles’, explains one of the leaders of ergonomic chair design Herman Miller. The manufacturer’s Aeron chair is an example of how an automatically tilting backrest continues to offer back support in any position, encouraging its user’s natural, healthy movement.

Orthopaedic science, while complex, is not rocket science. We all know we should sit up straight, with our heads straight and shoulders back, but knowing is not the same as doing. Backless kneeling ‘chairs’ work by forcing us to keep an upright posture, but while some can look like a Medieval torture device hidden under a cushion, Matilda, from manufacturer Nurus, has a softer, Scandinavian style.

Standing desks are a great way to encourage good posture in the workplace, and those that adjust their height are perfect for offices with shared workspaces. With a landscape of varying-height desktops, however, the accompanying cables and desk clutter can be a distraction in the eye-line of others. Quadrifoglio Group’s Up & Up double adjustable-height desk, however, adds a larger-than-average screen in between, covering up the unsightly mess made by the neighbours.

Despite the catchy name, users of standing desks aren’t forced to stand for hours at a time. In order to meet the higher needs of the changing desk topology, we need higher places to sit or to lean. Pivoting work stools like Aeris’ Muvman range can be height-adjustable to give both tall or short users support at a standing desk, and in positioning the pivotal joint close to the floor, Muvman manages to keep its user’s back straight when they tilt forward or back.

The hybrid workplace must adapt to become a more flexible, changeable space to suit everyone’s favoured working practices and positions. As a part supportive ergonomic chair, part supportive ergonomic standing seat from König+Neurath, the K+N BALANCE.CHAIR is designed precisely for this purpose, saving both space and time by ensuring adjustable-height desks are joined by the right furniture at the right time.

It’s not just backs that suffer when chained to a desk. Many desktop accessories can improve the body’s other work-related aches and strains, too. Monitor risers and adjustable computer arms, for example, stop neck tension by keeping screens at the right height, while ergonomic accessories like split keyboards and supportive mice keep hands and wrists in natural positions. Curving to the user’s hand, Humanscale’s Pro Click Mouse glides across the desk by eliminating contact between the wrist and work surface.

Many companies are seeing the benefits of well-rested employees in workplace productivity, with sleep pods now a more common sight in contemporary office interiors. A quick post-lunch siesta aids afternoon focus, concentration and creativity, after all. The Neuron Activation Pod from Loook Industries goes one step further. The enclosed chaise longue can stimulate sensory tissue using low-frequency sinusoidal vibrations, easing stress and improving metabolic rates to enhance post-use productivity.

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