How To Work From Bed
It's the weekend, time to sleep in, and laptop in bed. We all do it, whether its checking the first or last round of emails, online shopping, or reading the news, working on a laptop from bed has become pretty standard operating procedure for modern day work life. According to the Wall Street Journal, 80% of young professionals admit to working from bed. You may even be reading this from your bed right now. But is working from bed healthy?
Here are a couple tips to keep in mind when your remote office happens to also be your mattress.
- Cut off your screen time at least 1 hour before sleep.
This is a hard one, as checking email is the first and last thing I do each day. Studies have shown that screen focused bedtime work encourages insomnia. In a recent Inc. magazine article Russell Rosenberg, of the National Sleep Foundation, says light from our screens suppresses the sleep hormone melatonin. TV, phones, ipad and laptop all fall under this umbrella.
- Use a Bed Tray.
Laptops are new enough that more research is needed to truly explore the impact on health, but common sense says its got to be damaging something.
According to a recent article in Thrillist Health, using a laptop on your lap could decrease the concentration of motile sperm in men due to the increased heat to the scrotum.
Swiss researchers, Drs. Andreas Arnold and Peter Itin from University Hospital Basel did astudythat found some evidence that a hot laptop could lead to skin damage that might develop into skin cancer. Although they said that this is very rare, the risk is still real.
Some bed trays:
Tembo Laptop Cushion $35 These cushions in soothing colors can be paired with one of Tembo’s hard laptop boards or used alone. They provide a slight incline to angle the laptop up a bit on your lap.
Lamidea Bravo Tray Table $224 This Italian design seems perfect: it raises the laptop off the legs and provides two tiers of workspace: one for a laptop, and another for a mouse and glass of wine.
IKEA Klipsk Bed Tray $12.99 Offered in an assortment of colors and very inexpensive.
CB2 Acrylic Bed Tray $79.95 Stylish tray with handles for quick on and off the bed use.
Its Saturday, no matter how convenient or comfortable working from bed may be, it's important to get out of it and get away from your screen daily. Staying in bed all day combined with staring at a screen all day does not make for a good weekend. Go Outside.