Long days in the office? - These tips & tricks will make your everyday life easier

In 2021, 4.5 million employees in Germany worked more hours than originally agreed in their employment contracts. These overtime hours also take a toll on health, which sooner or later becomes noticeable. Even in office jobs, long days are now part of everyday life, and even with little movement, there are physical effects. We'll show you how to stay physically and mentally fit even on long days in the office!

Long workdays in the office – These are the health consequences

On average, an office worker in Germany spends an average of 80,000 hours sitting at work, often in not truly ergonomic office spaces. Every adult spends about 11.5 hours sitting daily, counting both work and private life. Even elementary school students already sit around nine hours a day, which is also not exactly healthy.

Specifically, sitting for too long in the office has the following effects:

• Muscle slackening due to lack of stimulation
• Back and neck pain, as well as poor posture
• Tension throughout the body
• Joint and limb pain due to prolonged inactivity
• Spine loses mobility and stability
• Increased risk of high blood pressure and diabetes
• Frequent headaches and fatigue
• Reduced productivity

These are just some of the consequences that long days in the office can have – provided you don't take precautions and don't pay attention to an ergonomic workspace. Through various pieces of furniture and habits, you can stay fit even on long days. In the following article, we'll show you how!

By the way: In the Deskspace blogs, you'll find many more articles on the topic of health & ergonomics at the workplace. Feel free to take a look!

Concentration: How to stay focused even on long days in the office

You probably know it too: some days feel like an eternity. While other days fly by, sometimes during your lunch break you already feel like you've put in eight hours. A difficult task or annoying colleagues are often the reason for these tiring phases, but in the office, other, more general aspects also play a role.

Poor lighting is one of the factors that can affect your health and thus also impair your concentration. In a dark room, your eyes are very strained when they have to look at a screen. The result, in addition to eye pain, is a deterioration in concentration, which becomes a problem on long days.

Loud background noise can also be a problem. You always hear your colleagues' conversations in the background, and your brain is no longer fully engaged. Additional disruptive factors include street noise through an open window or a radio that's too loud. After just a few hours in the office, your concentration is at an all-time low, and complex tasks are virtually impossible.

These are the things you should specifically consider if you want to stay focused even on long days in the office:

• Turn off noise sources: Turn down the radio or get headphones that filter out ambient noise. This way, you'll be more relaxed and have better focus after just a few minutes.
• Lighting: If there's too little light in the office, the body automatically thinks it can already relax. With sufficient lighting, you show your body, even on long days, that it still needs to function.
• Drinking: Even if you don't move much, such as in an office job, you need to remember to drink enough. We therefore recommend consuming at least 2.5 liters of water on long days in the office.
• Posture: A comfortable posture also encourages the head to relax. Therefore, make sure that your head and your back are always straight and do not develop poor posture.
• Movement & Standing: Your body is in rest mode while you are sitting. Therefore, make sure that you stand at regular intervals or even move briefly, even on long days.

How you incorporate things like posture and movement into office furniture, we will look at more closely in the next sections. However, if you follow the points above, you will notice an improvement in your concentration after a short time!

Why ergonomic furniture helps on long days in the office

When you think of a classic office, you might have one of the following things in mind: gray carpeting, boring, old black chairs, and harsh fluorescent lighting – what was normal for many years is unfortunately not a really healthy workplace. Especially in the 90s and before, however, not much importance was placed on health, not even at the workplace. Here, it was primarily important that office equipment was durable and inexpensive.

Today, things are quite different, as employees are now also paying close attention to the equipment of the workplace. The following pieces of furniture make long days in the office healthier & more pleasant:

• Height-adjustable desk
• Ergonomic sit-stand stool (standing aid)
• Ergonomic mouse and keyboard
• Modern & high-resolution monitors

Especially height-adjustable desks, such as those from Deskspace, are a real essential in your daily work life. They ensure that you can take regular "standing breaks" without having to give up your work. When standing, your body burns more calories, and the risk of obesity and diabetes decreases. In addition, your entire body is better supplied with blood, which also benefits concentration & performance.

If you set your desk to the precisely appropriate height, your back can hardly adopt poor posture, even on long days. In addition, the screen height is perfectly set, and you can sit down again within seconds at any time. You can get the Deskspace Pro for just 549.00 Euros, and it has all the important functions.

An ergonomic sit-stand stool relieves your body of 60 percent of its body weight when standing. This way, you combine the advantages of sitting and standing without having to pay attention to anything. The Deskspace Wobble is such a standing aid, which is available for as little as 149.00 Euros.

Would you like to learn more about ergonomic office furniture or educate yourself on topics related to everyday work life? Then simply visit the Deskspace website, where you will find not only extensive product pages but also numerous blog articles on various topics.

Even long days in the office are sometimes necessary, especially during peak times like the end of the year. With small adjustments and changes in your own habits, however, you can also get through these healthily & happily!