How to Be Healthy (Even if You Live at a Desk)

In Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth, Jimmy Stewart’s Buttons the Clown character says, “Every man kills the thing he loves.” I have this rather morbid theory that it works the other way around too: the thing we love often ends up killing us.

Mostly, I think this is simply because “love” is usually code for “do unto excess.” The thing I love, of course, is writing, and I’m blessed to get to do it full-time. No complaints there. But one of the biggest challenges of my life has been figuring out how to be healthy while basically living at my desk.

What Happens to Your Body When You Live at Desk

This problem is faced by thousands of people these days. Even if you don’t write full-time, chances are good you still spend a significant amount of time on your computer, and your body has all kinds of painful ways of compensating.

I’ve run the gamut of desk-jockey problems: everything from repetitive-stress injuries in my wrists to chronic stiff necks to TMJ to back pain. In a lot of ways, I’ve been lucky: no carpal tunnel syndrome yet!

But if I’m having all these issues at thirty, after less than twenty years of active computer use, what am I going to feel like in another (God willing!) fifty to sixty years of pursuing my creative dreams?

I’ve made it my mission these last few years to “hack” my lifestyle and create the kind of daily habits that are as healthy as possible under the circumstances. If you live life at a desk, I encourage you to do the same! If we’re going to be in this for the long game, then we’ve got to have a long-term plan.

10 Hacks for How to Be Healthy at a Desk

Here are the steps I’m taking to stay healthy in my desk-bound lifestyle.

1. Exercise Daily

I admit I’m better at this during the summer than the winter. In the summer, I’ll walk a mile every morning while drinking my breakfast smoothie. In both winter and summer, I do a quick round of weights and standing sit-ups every morning before my shower.

2. Eat Healthy

This one should go without saying, even though it’s arguably the hardest to do. There’s so much junk out there to eat these days. We all just have to do the best we can. But I try eat organic, non-GMO foods. I avoid wheat and especially corn syrup when possible. I try for at least a little protein for breakfast and only a few small snacks or sweets throughout the day.

3. Get the Best Desk Chair Possible

This is huge–and it only took me most of my life to figure it out. After buying and discarding cheap chair after cheap chair, I finally threw up my hands and decided to spare no expense. I bought what is probably the most expensive desk chair out there — Herman Miller’s “Embody” model — and there hasn’t been a single moment when I’ve regretted it. It has made a massive amount of difference in my overall health and comfort. Seriously. If you’re going to spend the majority of your life in one chair, isn’t it worth the investment to get a good one?

Plus, it looks kinda like Captain Kirk’s chair on the Enterprise. Win-win.

4. Create an Ergonomic Working Environment

The key to keeping your body as happy as possible at your desk is making sure everything — keyboard, desk, monitor — is at the optimum height for your body. The center of your monitor should be right at eye level, so you’re not hunching over and leaning forward to see properly. Your chair should adjust to keep your feet on the floor with just a little space between your thighs and the chair seat. It also needs to support your lower back, while allowing your upper back to lean back. Your keyboard needs to be at a level that keeps your arms parallel with the floor from elbow to wrist.

5. Cut Down on EMF Exposure

It’s pretty much impossible to completely avoid electro-magnetic frequencies these days, since they’re everywhere: cell phones, computers, TVs, Wi-Fi, you name it. But since some studies have shown they’re cancer-causing, it’s a good idea to downsize their impact on your life wherever possible. I work in a room that’s on the opposite side of my house from my wireless router. I keep my cell phone and tablets in airplane mode and powered down when I’m not using them. And I use wired keyboards and mice instead of wireless.

6. Take a 5-Minute Break Every Hour

This is my own take on the Pomodoro Technique. Every hour, I get up from my desk and move around for at least five minutes.

7. Drink a Glass of Water Every Hour

Staying hydrated is important to good health. I use my hourly five-minute breaks to drink a full glass of water. Doing so on the hour means I need to use the bathroom more frequently–which makes me get up, even when I might otherwise be too distracted and busy to remember.

8. Stretch Every Hour

I also use my hourly break to do some stretching.

• Stand up straight and hang your head, stretching the muscles in your neck and upper back. I do this twice for thirty seconds each, at different angles.
• With your head still hanging, pull both hands out in front of you and hold for thirty seconds.
• Touch your toes for thirty seconds.
• Stand in front of your desk or a cabinet and hold onto the edge with one hand. Turn your head in the opposite direction and lean into the pull in your neck. Do it for thirty seconds, then reverse sides.

Remember to breath deeply and regularly and relax into the stretches.

9. Massage Sore Muscles Every Day

My personal problem areas are my neck and upper back. Every evening, I’ll spend eight minutes with a handheld massager, going over all my ouchy spots. I notice a huge difference in my daily discomfort level if I skip even a day of this.

10. Get a Massage Monthly

Last January, I started scheduling a monthly massage. A year later, I’m happy to say my structural health is better than it’s been in a long time. I’m a big fan of the chiropractor too, but one year of monthly massages has served me better than the previous year of bi-monthly chiropractor visits. I feel this is very much worth the time and financial investment as a measure to protect my health in the future.

11. Don’t Work Overtime Unless You Have To

I always say schedules are my secret weapon. This goes for downtime as well as worktime. I admit I’m not always spot-on in enforcing this one. But I do my best to quit when it’s quitting time. From 7:30-ish to 11PM is downtime, and I do my best to honor that. My brain needs the break as much as my body. Plus — there’s life out there beyond the desk! Who knew?

12. Get 8 Hours of Sleep

Sometimes I tease that my favorite hobby is sleep. In all honesty, I think I do like sleeping even better than writing. I feel so much better when I get at least eight hours of sleep each night. I do my best to make sure I’m in bed by eleven every night, which lets me wake up naturally (alarm clocks=evil) around 7:30.

Not all of these hacks will work in everyone’s lifestyle, but if you can incorporate even a few of them, you can make a serious stand against the health threats of a deskbound lifestyle. Here’s to doing what we love and feeling awesome while we’re doing it!

Let’s chat! What’s your best tip for how to be healthy doing what you love? Tell me in the comments!