Ergonomic tips from over-full-time programmer

The author describes a personal setup for spending long hours programming with less strain. He recommends changing posture during the day, using a good keyboard and shortcuts or Vim, keeping the monitor large and text readable, and adjusting brightness and evening red light.

He also says special ergonomic chairs did not help him, while a simple chair, good shoes for standing, and hand exercises made a difference. He treats ergonomics as individual and says people should experiment to find what fits their own body.

Reading notes

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• Use a standing desk with adjustable height and switch between sitting, standing, and kneeling when needed.
• Try different heights and postures instead of staying in one position for too long.
• A good keyboard helps when typing a lot, mainly through better tactile feedback and a deeper layout.
• Shortcuts matter more than keyboard quality, especially for structural editing and frequent arrow-key use.
• Vim can keep many actions in the middle of the keyboard, but the author chose hardware shortcuts instead.
• Hardware-based mappings can be easier because they work on any computer without per-device setup.
• If shortcut mapping is lost, hand pain can return quickly; OS-level remapping can fix that.
• Reduce hand movement when possible and avoid moving back immediately after a short action.
• Special ergonomic chairs did not help the author; a simple wooden chair with a cushion worked better.
• Change positions often and use kneeling or standing instead of only sitting.
• Use a big monitor or multiple monitors, and keep the default gaze forward rather than sideways.
• Increase font size and website zoom to reduce neck, back, eye, and brain strain.
• Keep screen brightness as low as comfortable and use redder evening screen settings.
• Good shoes help when using a standing desk, especially on hard floors.
• Preventive hand exercises can help when done regularly or when discomfort starts.
• Ergonomics is individual, so the best setup depends on the person and should be discovered by experiment.