Improve Your Office Day: set your monitor height in 5 minutes

Sunday, Oct. 4, is Improve Your Office Day on the calendar of unofficial observances. Whether your office is a cubicle or a kitchen table, one quick fix is where your screen sits, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has clear guidance on it.

Distance comes first. OSHA recommends placing your monitor 20 to 40 inches from your eyes. Too close makes your eyes work harder to focus, and too far makes you lean forward and lose the support of your chair.

Next is height. OSHA says the top of the screen should be at or slightly below eye level, so the center of the screen sits about 15 to 20 degrees below a straight-ahead gaze. People who wear bifocals may need the screen a bit lower so they are not tipping their head back. A stack of books under a laptop stand or monitor is a fine fix.

Then glare. Tilt the screen back about 10 to 20 degrees so it faces your line of sight, and set the monitor at a right angle to windows rather than facing or backing onto them. Put the screen directly in front of you instead of off to one side, so you are not twisting your neck all day.

If you use a laptop for long stretches, an inexpensive separate keyboard and mouse let you raise the screen without raising your hands.

Monday morning's five-minute task: sit back in your chair, look straight ahead, and adjust the screen until the top edge lines up with your eyes.