Improve your puzzling posture
Hey Puzzle Fam,
Let's talk about ergonomics for a moment. If you are unfamiliar with ergonomics, I am referencing the efficiency of a human in a setting. Ergonomics focuses on positioning the body to decrease the chance of causing an injury or chronic pain caused by poor positioning.
What bad posture do puzzlers have?
Well, that's a no-brainer as so many of us bend over our tables, straining our back and neck, hunching our shoulders, and maybe sitting or standing lopsided.
What things can you do to improve your ergonomics while puzzling? This month I am going to focus on equipment that can help adjust and shift your posture.
The first thing is using taller tables to ensure we aren't bent or hunched over a table as much. Whether you puzzle at your kitchen table, a dedicated puzzle table, or a coffee table, one of the easiest things to use to make your table taller is bed risers. Team Puzzle Free or Die brought this to my attention when I first met them through Instagram. You can get bed risers online and at most bigger stores, especially around the fall when dorm room sale sections pop up in stores. You can also use blocks of wood, or Sarah and I have used books. The main point is to raise the puzzle higher, so you don't have to bend as far over the table.
Otherwise, you can buy or build your own puzzle table that is specifically higher. I designed my table specifically for puzzling, and it stands at just over 40" off the ground, which means I can stand or sit at the table with minimal bending over.
Finally, using puzzle boards gives you more freedom about where you puzzle. You can puzzle anywhere, from on the couch, bed, in the bath, or outside. As mentioned above, adding felt to a board gives you even more freedom to position your board at different angles.
These are some of the more common ways to change your positioning while puzzling to try to decrease any aches and pains, specifically in your back and neck, you may be having from puzzling. Stay tuned for other ways to help your body when puzzling!