With the COVID-19 crisis continuing to rise, many IT companies have further extended the work from home need for all the employees. As it gets uncertain as when the world would come out of the situation, professionals have to support work from home till then. The first thing that should be taken care now is that your work station at home is set up correctly so that you are comfortable working for long hours. This calls for checking your table and chair, if the heights are appropriate and if they are ergonomically good. This is very important; if they are not proper, in the long run you get get into health issues like back pain, neck pain and others. Considering you have already a good table, lets look at few points as how to choose a good office chair.
Decide on your Budget
Good office chairs are quite expensive and hence first decide upon your budget as how much you can spend. Some chairs might be very expensive for its finish and looks. You can avoid top end if you are tight on budget and compromise on finish and extra features that some provide. But a moderate one, neither the low cost one or the top ones. Another alternate if you are running into budget glitch is, you can go for second hand chair. This could be a tempting way to go with the high-end office chairs which can be very costly, simply because you can get them at far more reasonable prices. With second-hand, your budget will be bit relaxed, generally speaking those premium chairs are built to last a long time, so having some miles on the clock may not matter much. The downside of this would be of-course the chair would not be in optimal condition, but getting it from a trusted dealer after a thorough review is good enough.
Type of Chairs
Next, you have to decide upon the type of chair you need. With so many designs available, you have to pick up the one that suites your need. For example, do you have very little space or even a standing desk? If so there are many compact task chairs , or even stool type seats which would be best bet for you. Another aspect is the kind of finish you are comfortable with. Do you need a fabric chair or a leather model. The latter looks plusher, copes better with spills and the like, being easy to clean, and may feel nicer in some respects – but a good quality fabric will be cheaper and will perform better in hot weather.
Ergonomics Considerations
First of all, what is ergonomic office chair? This means a chair which is designed to provide adjustments for almost every part of the chair with ergonomic performance in mind. Many office chairs have basic ergonomics like changing height of the seat and tilting the backrest. However, chair ergonomics go further that allows positioning of seat pan, backrest, adjusting tension of recline action of backrest, adjusting height and position of armrests and headrest. The point is that with these chairs, you can really tailor the seating position to your own personal needs and body shape. By adjusting the heights as per your need, you can really have a very comfortable chair. Look for the most important ergonomics that you need as per your budget, and choose your desired chair model.
Lumbar Support
A budget chair might not have this feature. But if you looking for mid range or above office chair, then you should look for this feature. Some chairs have this as an optional extra and its worth the additional outlay. That’s because the positioning of your back is crucial when it comes to a comfortable seat, so the ability to change the backrest to better accommodate your lower-back is a feature most definitely worth having if at all possible. Some more expensive chairs, may even have a self-adjusting mechanism for the backrest.
Try Out Chairs
You may go through all the specifications, reviews etc and want to order online. But naturally, its true that office chairs are a subjective matter – one person might find a particular seat firm and comfortable in terms of the padding, while another might think it’s too hard and unforgiving. The same can be true about the design of the backrest or other elements. This being the case, its always better you step out, try and buy the chair. Sitting in a chair for five minutes is no cast-iron guarantee of suitability – you’ll only really know the truth of how well it suits you after using it for an entire day. Still, you can at least get some idea of how the land lies, and indeed eliminate a prospective purchase that you know doesn’t feel right from the off.
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