Below, I provide a list of criteria that I would associate with a worker who will have an elevated risk of contracting an RSI condition. If you associate with a few of these activities, then you too may be at high risk of developing a RSI condition –
- Computer operator professional or otherwise
- Deep in concentration about your work, intolerant of interruptions
- You slouch at your desk, peering at the computer screen, unaware of your posture
- Working on a key project with tight deadline
- Stressing about achieving that deadline
- Working in a competitive environment in uncertain times
- Spending your work time at a computer for 5-10 hours a day
- Taking minimal breaks, and most of these are spent checking email /surfing the web
- Lunch is frequently a sandwich eaten at your desk whilst working
- You are a heavy coffee drinker
- You spend a cumulative 30 min/day sending text messages on your mobile phone
- You go home after a 10 hour day and relax by ripping some CDs to mp3, updating your iPod, catching up on personal email and unwinding by playing a ‘shoot ’em up’ on your computer/games system for 2-3 hours
- You spends 6-8 hours sleeping before starting the cycle again
Lets break down each point and try to inject some solutions –