A desk job may sound appealing, but it often becomes sedentary. You may even notice your quality of work decline as a result. Many side effects are associated with sedentary jobs, especially in call center positions, from posture to increased headaches while working in front of a computer screen.
Luckily, there are a few things you can do to counteract the adverse effects of excessive screen time while increasing your productivity.
1. Predictive Dialer
There have been changes made to make work easier for call center workers. For example, outbound calls have been modified to increase efficiency by introducing the predictive dialer.
This dialer screens out calls that get a busy tone and waits for a live person to answer. If there’s someone else on the line, the system transfers the call to an agent.
The dialer was created to increase the number of outbound calls that were answered and resulted in a conversation so that call center agents could hit their daily quotas without spending all day calling numbers from a list that didn’t answer.
Due to this dialer, call center agents can increase productivity and utilize their time more efficiently. All this without needing to stare at their computer screens to dial out an endless phone number list.
2. Modify Your Lighting Settings
Most computers offer users the option to turn the screen brightness up and down. But most people are familiar with this.
Now, many devices allow you to filter out blue lights from devices. Blue lights are thought to cause migraines because of the light’s strength. Due to frequent headaches, many agents report needing increased breaks. Clearly, this interferes with productivity.
But if the light setting on computers can be manipulated in a way that makes viewing comfortable for the viewer for long periods of time, there is a better chance of agents meeting their quotas. Look for ways your team can filter out the blue lights from their computers.
3. Take Frequent Breaks
With any job, it is important to take breaks. Breaks just to stretch your legs, or grab some water, maybe even just to get your creativity flowing.
It’s important to step away and give your brain a break with the 20- 20-20 rule. This rule states that after 20 minutes of working, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
Frequent breaks can help with blurred vision, burning or itching eyes, as well as difficulty concentrating.
4. Be Mindful of Your Posture
Your posture plays a huge part in your productivity as well. It is so easy to slouch because it’s comfortable, but there are lasting effects of bad posture that will make working difficult for you in the long run.
Try sitting with your back in a neutral position by moving your monitor within inches of your eye line with your keyboard and mouse following suit. A rule of thumb, make sure to adjust your monitor so that it is between three and five inches below your line of vision. Position the mouse and keyboard to a height so that your shoulders can rest in a natural position.
Improving Your Desk Job
If your day at your desk job doesn’t look like you want it to, it’s time to make some changes, and we suggest you start with these four.
These are small changes to make for an increasingly more successful workday, but you could very well see a bigger impact than you expect. Use these habits so that you not only get more done in a day, but you can also enjoy your desk job more.
