Quickly now, look at your posture. Are you slumped forward? Are you leaning on one arm? Sitting on one leg? Are your wrists or forearms resting on your desk? That, my friend, is what’s called bad ergonomics.

I know this because I just had a specialist come to our home office and perform an ergonomic assessment on both of us. I will admit to a certain amount of skepticism about this. Because we already had the products: the footrests, the lumbar pillows, the stylus pens, the Aeron chair that cost more than I care to admit... but Tony was still visiting a chiropractor pretty regularly and had recently experienced some wrist pain that could only be the first hints of carpel tunnel. And I have been having recurring neck pain. So I added a couple future co-pays together and hired an ergonomic specialist.

Randy Oakes arrived at our office a very hot morning and took in the scene. He chatted amiably about his experience helping major corporations for the last 16 years, citing study after study about productivity and proper positioning, all the while eyeing our work stations as we sat. Then he removed my lumbar pillow, slid my footstool aside and lowered my chair.

That’s when my entire work station changed. My two laptops were adjusted. The stylus pen I thought was helping me was removed, and a plain ol’ mouse was put in place -- to great improvement of my posture.

For Tony, he gave a master class in adjusting an Aeron chair, which had more customization than either of us ever knew about. He pointed out that the warranties were amazing on these chairs, and if we ever had an issue, then the store we bought it from should come right out and replace parts. And he showed us the secret spot on an Aeron chair where you can figure out what size chair it is. (ask me, I’ll tell you!) Then he adjusted Tony’s stylus and mouse and described a product he really wanted us to try out -- but he doesn’t sell it.

And that’s when Randy became a real value. Because he doesn’t sell anything. He’s not out to move mouse pads or keyboards or anything. We pay him for his expertise only. And we got our money’s worth. But he will help us find the right products for our needs.

After Randy left, we visited the Apple store, and came home with a new addition to Tony’s workspace: the Magic TrackPad. It took him all of three minutes to become acclimated to it. I might have to steal it, though. And now we’re both watching out for each other’s posture.

And here’s the most amazing adjustment Randy made: he told us to take breaks.

I know everyone says it, but no one does it: take a break every 45 minutes. Stand up. Go get a drink of water. We work from home, so that break is hardly wasted: take the garbage out. Check the mail. Make tea. But it’s hard. When you run your own business, every minute counts and it’s hard not to feel guilty about mental and physical breaks.

Randy offered several tips for conditioning us to take more breaks, and we’re trying a few. In the meantime, I am swapping out a keyboard and I have a new wrist pad. Tony is getting to love the Magic TrackPad and looking forward to trying out this new mouse thing.

If you’re interested in having Randy help you, let me know and I’ll connect you. Because big corporations aren’t the only ones who need good workstations.