Since commenting on old posts is now, like, officially encouraged, I’ll share my experiences here.
First, Aeron chairs ARE NOT FOR EVERYONE. I worked in an office where every chair was an Aeron for more than a year, and it was a source of deep physical misery. Yes, I know that they’re highly adjustable; I’m pretty sure I messed with every single flap, knob, and lever on them. But none of those doo-dahs fix my fundamental problems with the Aeron.
The Aeron’s design forces you into an ‘ergonomic’ sitting position. This is terrible, because I hate sitting and am apt to change my position every couple minutes (I particularly like pulling my knees up on the chair next to me; I know some other people who work with their feet on their desk), but the Aeron won’t let you do this, because its curved seat means that you basically just fall off if you’re doing anything other than sitting directly on your butt.
It is doubly terrible because, even if I conceded the point and tried to sit on my butt, I still wouldn’t be able to sit ergonomically, because my feet could never reach the ground. I am about 5′3″ (~160cm), which is a fairly normal height for an adult female, and the only way I could sit with my back against the Aeron’s backrest and my feet on the ground, was to lower the chair so much that I was comically far below the level of the desk. I would again partially blame this on the design of the seat—I think it’s relatively deep, and I think the curve at the edge encourages my legs to point forward rather than down.
tl;dr if you’re fidgety, are shorter than the average male adult (maybe shorter than 5′6″? but I’d guess the comfort on the chair depends more on the length of your legs than on your overall height), have chronic pain, and/or can’t stand sitting on your butt all day, don’t spend your hard-earned money on this torture chair of misery. God I hate these things so freaking much.
As for other ergonomics stuff, I use Dvorak on an Ergodox EZ with a tilt/tent kit (I also like the Kinesis Freestyle, with the VIP3 accessory kit; I’m pretty indifferent between the two). I switched to Dvorak a bit over two years ago, and I actually haven’t noticed any difference in my RSI. But then, I’ve always had elbow problems rather than wrist problems, so maybe it just wasn’t the right fix. I still use Dvorak because it doesn’t seem worth switching back to QWERTY (which I have long since forgotten).
My mouse is a wired Anker vertical mouse (screw Bluetooth), which I like fine. It’s way better than a trackpad and while I’m not actively in love with it, I also am never unhappy with it.
I previously tried a Kinesis Savant Elite2 foot pedal so that I wouldn’t have to use my hands so much (I mapped it to scrolling up and down as that was what was giving me the most trouble at the time). However, it’s hard to use a foot pedal if you (like me) don’t like sitting in a standard chair position, so I haven’t really made use of it.
I use an UPDEZK desk topper to convert any desk into a standing desk. I like it because it has a low profile (meaning that if you already have a desk that’s the right height for you when seated, adding this desk topper won’t ruin that), works well (easy to use, handles heavy monitors well, and has withstood two years of near-constant use without seeming to deteriorate), and is relatively lightweight—not so much so that I’d recommend carrying it between rooms with you, but enough that it’s really easy to move around, store, etc.
I currently basically only work standing at my desk, or lounging in various positions on the couch or floor (I find it nice to have pillows to support my hips and chest when lying prone). I don’t have a dedicated standing desk mat, but I already pad the heck out of my floor anyway, so I’m standing on 2 inches of padding (1.5″ of foam mats plus a very soft rug), as well as wearing knee-high compression socks.
Since commenting on old posts is now, like, officially encouraged, I’ll share my experiences here.
First, Aeron chairs ARE NOT FOR EVERYONE. I worked in an office where every chair was an Aeron for more than a year, and it was a source of deep physical misery. Yes, I know that they’re highly adjustable; I’m pretty sure I messed with every single flap, knob, and lever on them. But none of those doo-dahs fix my fundamental problems with the Aeron.
The Aeron’s design forces you into an ‘ergonomic’ sitting position. This is terrible, because I hate sitting and am apt to change my position every couple minutes (I particularly like pulling my knees up on the chair next to me; I know some other people who work with their feet on their desk), but the Aeron won’t let you do this, because its curved seat means that you basically just fall off if you’re doing anything other than sitting directly on your butt.
It is doubly terrible because, even if I conceded the point and tried to sit on my butt, I still wouldn’t be able to sit ergonomically, because my feet could never reach the ground. I am about 5′3″ (~160cm), which is a fairly normal height for an adult female, and the only way I could sit with my back against the Aeron’s backrest and my feet on the ground, was to lower the chair so much that I was comically far below the level of the desk. I would again partially blame this on the design of the seat—I think it’s relatively deep, and I think the curve at the edge encourages my legs to point forward rather than down.
tl;dr if you’re fidgety, are shorter than the average male adult (maybe shorter than 5′6″? but I’d guess the comfort on the chair depends more on the length of your legs than on your overall height), have chronic pain, and/or can’t stand sitting on your butt all day, don’t spend your hard-earned money on this torture chair of misery. God I hate these things so freaking much.
As for other ergonomics stuff, I use Dvorak on an Ergodox EZ with a tilt/tent kit (I also like the Kinesis Freestyle, with the VIP3 accessory kit; I’m pretty indifferent between the two). I switched to Dvorak a bit over two years ago, and I actually haven’t noticed any difference in my RSI. But then, I’ve always had elbow problems rather than wrist problems, so maybe it just wasn’t the right fix. I still use Dvorak because it doesn’t seem worth switching back to QWERTY (which I have long since forgotten).
My mouse is a wired Anker vertical mouse (screw Bluetooth), which I like fine. It’s way better than a trackpad and while I’m not actively in love with it, I also am never unhappy with it.
I previously tried a Kinesis Savant Elite2 foot pedal so that I wouldn’t have to use my hands so much (I mapped it to scrolling up and down as that was what was giving me the most trouble at the time). However, it’s hard to use a foot pedal if you (like me) don’t like sitting in a standard chair position, so I haven’t really made use of it.
I use an UPDEZK desk topper to convert any desk into a standing desk. I like it because it has a low profile (meaning that if you already have a desk that’s the right height for you when seated, adding this desk topper won’t ruin that), works well (easy to use, handles heavy monitors well, and has withstood two years of near-constant use without seeming to deteriorate), and is relatively lightweight—not so much so that I’d recommend carrying it between rooms with you, but enough that it’s really easy to move around, store, etc.
I currently basically only work standing at my desk, or lounging in various positions on the couch or floor (I find it nice to have pillows to support my hips and chest when lying prone). I don’t have a dedicated standing desk mat, but I already pad the heck out of my floor anyway, so I’m standing on 2 inches of padding (1.5″ of foam mats plus a very soft rug), as well as wearing knee-high compression socks.
When I feel arm pain I switch between wrist braces, elbow braces, and forearm compression sleeves.