9 New Ways to Sit in a Chair, Thanks to Mobile Technology

February 26, 2013

Your tablet and smartphone might have revolutionized the way you work (and waste time) but they’re also ruining your posture. In fact, according to a recent study by office furniture manufacturer Steelcase, our mobile devices have inspired whole new ways of sitting in a chair — and they’re not necessarily the greatest positions for our bodies to be in for long periods of time.

Here’s the latest on How We Sit Now:

1. The Draw

Do You Know What You're Worth?

This is when you recline in your chair, generally to noodle on your iPad. If you find yourself in this posture a great deal of the time, you need to make sure that your chair has good head and neck support.

2. The Multi-Device

Multitaskers who like to use their phone and their tablet and their laptop all at once need good armrests to support their octopus arms.

3. The Text

Arm rests are also helpful for the person who sits like this. The Text involves sitting at a desk while tap-tap-taping away at a smartphone.

4. The Cocoon

Steelcase says that more women than men favor the cocoon, which is generally a reading posture. People who sit like this draw their whole bodies up, practically into the fetal position, while reading their tablet.

5. The Swipe

Reading a tablet that’s resting on a flat surface inspires this posture, which involves leaning over the desk while swiping at the screen.

6. The Smart Lean

Halfway between “The Draw” and old-fashioned sitting, The Smart Lean lets people guard their screens while sitting in a meeting.

7. The Trance

You might have started out with beautiful posture, but then you got absorbed in whatever’s on your monitor, and now you’re slouched over, staring unblinking at your screen.

8. The “Take-It-In”

This one looks like you’ve melted into your chair. You’re more likely to sit like this if you have a large monitor with a high resolution.

9. The Strunch

Is it possible to be stretched out and hunched over at the same time? This posture says so. Favored by tired office workers, this happens when you push yourself away from your computer and prop yourself up with your arms.

Steelcase, of course, has invented a new chair to combat the fatigue and achiness inspired by these new postures. But even if you can’t invest in new seating right now, you can at least be on the lookout for bad habits. Your spine will thank you.

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