How we can write (and sit) smarter
So, as authors we spend a lot of our days sat on our (perfectly formed) bums banging out the next bestseller. Nothing wrong with that, I hear you say. Well, that’s not strictly true. Here are some stats. 80% of people in Western society will experience a significant episode of back pain in their life. In the UK alone, back pain costs more than £1.2 billion between the NHS and private sector in terms of healthcare.
And when you consider more working days are lost in the UK to back pain than they are to mental health issues, we really should be talking and thinking about this more.
Compare our 80% with the stats from third world Africa and South East Asia, where they are around 25-30%. How is it that places with no health and safety, no lifting aids, no guys with hard hats, yellow vests and clipboards telling us not to do stuff, have a third of the back pain that we do? Because nobody sits.
They work in the fields or building or doing other manual work and keep themselves strong, then go home to their families and don’t sit in front of the TV, Playstation or mobile phone all night.
So who’s lifestyle is better?
Consider this, while we are at it. Sitting nicely, in a nice posture in a nice chair, places as much strain through your back as bending forward badly does, without using your knees.
So sitting is bad?
Hell yeah, and it will give us back pain. Let alone hip and knee problems, varicose veins, blood pressure issues, promoting obesity and lack of fitness etc etc.
So, as authors, we are knackered, right?
Nope. We can do things to counteract this. The most obvious is to take regular breaks from sitting to stand and stretch. Even the Health and Safety Executive recommends people take 5 minutes per hour break from using a computer screen – it’s called a min-break. I think that is excessive. I recommend my patients take a 20 to 30 second break every 15 to 20 minutes. About a minute an hour.
Here’s a thing. A while back I came across a little tip for speed writing. It said that you should set a countdown timer for five minutes and in that time aim to write 100 words. If you write more – great. After the timer goes off, do it again. And so on. Now I’m saying every 3rd to 4th timer, take a mini-break. Stand and have a stretch – like the one you do sitting on the side of the bed first thing in the morning, nothing more complicated than that, but stretch yourself up and out for a few seconds – do it whilst proof-reading your last 20 minute block or answering the phone maybe.
It counteracts the act of sitting and really works for my patients with back pain. My theory being that if it works for folks with back pain, it could stop people getting it in the first place (but there’s no evidence for that at the mo).
Yes you should consider your sitting posture – if sitting nicely places a lot of strain through your spine, consider the load if you multiply the effect of poor posture on top of that, and consider the effect it has on shoulder pain (some conditions have a significant postural cause), RSI, coccydynia etc. Being more upright does decrease load but it won’t avoid the need for breaks.
If you want to go beyond that and consider your workstation itself, then stop sitting. More forward thinking nations than us like in Scandinavia, Germany and New Zealand are all abandoning sitting and having standing desks. So what can we do?
Consider a desk riser. Something that sits on your desk and houses your monitor / keyboard / laptop / picture of the cat, and you can sit at it for a bit, and then it will rise with you to stand for a while. The most inexpensive I have found if from Yoyo desk, currently available on Amazon for a couple of hundred quid, and no I don’t have any affiliate link with them, but I do have this desk in my Occupational Health clinic (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yo-Yo-DESK-Black-Easy-Handle/dp/B07JQB88NK)!
Oh, and one more thing. Hydrate. Yes, we all know about hydration, but did you know that people can lose up to a centimetre in height during the day due to gravity exerting pressure on the water in the discs in your spine, and this recovers itself overnight. So, if you work hard on your hydration through the day, you can actually stay taller!
In summary.
Consider:
Your sitting posture
Taking regular breaks
Stretching and walking around
Your workstation (and a desk riser)
Staying hydrated
Be kind to yourself and write smarter!