Can you work on a sofa?

Office for National Statistics found that 30% of adults in the UK reported to be working from home in November 2021.

The working from home rules:

BBC listed the UK rules for working from home in 2022.

England– The government isn’t asking for people to work from home.

Scotland– The government wants firms to allow workers to return to the office gradually.

Northern Ireland– The current guidance is to work from where possible, social distancing measures no longer need to be taken in the office.

Wales– The government says it’s important to work from home whenever possible.

Restrictions have seemed to loosen but working from home is still happening for a lot of workers. Not everyone working from home will have an office, and a lot of people will find themselves working on a laptop from a sofa. We wouldn’t recommend this but of course, if you must, we have listed a few tips that might help you out when working from home.

4 tips to help if you need to work on a sofa

1. Put a cushion under your bottom. Most sofas are lower than a standard chair, so when you sit your hips are lower than your knees.  To help counteract this, sit on a cushion to try and raise your hips a bit. Or use a sitting wedge to help correct the squidge factor. If you are suffering from sciatica, then a coccyx wedge would work better for you.
2. Put another cushion behind your lower back to provide some lumbar support. Or use the Dorsaback to provide support for your back.
3. Stop reaching over to use your laptop on the coffee table.  In terms of ergonomic crimes, this is one of the big ones.  The strain it will put on your lower back will have you reaching for the pain killers quicker than anything.  Bring the laptop to you, balance it on a cushion if you must (careful your laptop doesn’t overheat). A much better option would be to use a laptop tray table.
4. Make sure you take breaks.  If you are going to sit on the sofa you need to build in very regular breaks (we’d suggest every 20-30 minutes).  The basic rule is if it hurts when you get up, you’ve left it too long.  So, shorten the time between working and the next break.  The breaks don’t need to be that long, a quick stand and a few paces around the room will do.

If you’re still struggling now might be the time to bite the bullet and invest in a proper workstation at home. If you are planning to work from home frequently a good ergonomic workstation is recommended. This doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune on equipment, you might have things at home that you can use.

Is there a table you can use in your house? A kitchen table and chair will do. Your sofa might seem more comfortable than a kitchen chair but there are things you can do to make it much more comfortable:

Use a back support cushion and a sitting wedge- If you have an uncomfortable chair with a hardback that doesn’t offer much support, consider getting a back support cushion. A back support cushion helps to correct poor posture and prevent back pain.

A sitting wedge offers a boost of height and cushions the thighs when sitting on a hard seated chair.

Use a laptop stand- If you are using a laptop on a table, use a laptop stand to bring the screen to the correct height. Laptop screens aren’t high enough, this results in the user hanging their head forward and possibly causing injury to the neck, back and shoulders.

If you’re using a laptop stand then you’ll need to use a separate keyboard and mouse as well. Your laptop keyboard and mouse aren’t doing your wrists any favours. The problem with a laptops keyboard and mouse is that the mouse is below the keyboard, meaning you must move your hand between the mouse and keyboard quite a lot. Repetitive motions like this can cause injury to the wrist such as carpal tunnel syndrome. Having a separate keyboard and mouse that can be placed next to each other is much better.

If you’d like to find out more about setting up a workstation at home, feel free to read this blog post. We also have a blog post on protecting your back when working from home.

Check out our home working section in our shop to find more products that will make working from home much easier! If you’d like any advice picking products or want to know more about setting up your workstation, speak to a member of our team. Call us on 0330 332 0880 or email us at enquiries@posturepeople.co.uk.