How to convince your boss to prioritize your ergonomic care… when your boss is you.
Marina Terteryan
My boss is THE WORST*.
She is highly-driven, has a thousand grand ideas that she wants executed yesterday, and makes me work for long stretches at a time, without taking any breaks.
She will spend thousands of dollars on staff, books, classes, tech, and social media productivity apps, but won't let me buy that awesome $150 ergonomic footrest.
She gets annoyed when my timer dings to take a one-minute break or when I have to take an hour out of the office to visit the chiropractor.
To top things off, she didn't even believe in the long-term negative effects of workplace injuries until they got so bad that it was too painful to turn a doorknob.
So it wasn’t until she heard the prognosis from MULTIPLE DOCTORS that she finally started taking steps to ensure my long-term health.
Oh yeah. My boss is me. Also, this first-to-third person switching just made my head spin a little.
*BTW, this is a hyperbolized story for the sake of this article and does not reflect my leadership abilities. I am all about work-health balance™ for myself and my team.
Now, let's talk to your boss (AKA you) – in the terms that bosses understand best: income, expenses, and long-term profitability.
Here are the real business costs of proactive ergonomics and the long-term consequences of ignoring it.
(These are best guess estimates but greatly for individual situations. I encourage you to plug in your own numbers.)
CURRENT BASE INCOME
$X,000 per month
Insert your income here, plus add up all the goals you have set for your business to help you increase your active and passive income thousand-fold. That is the monthly income you can and will be making at your optimal health conditions this year.
TODAY'S EXPENSES (in preventative care)
Here is an average cost of an ergonomic desk setup
$100-200 // For a McGuyvered standing desk and a cheap external keyboard (the bare minimum)
$400 // For a better desk, wireless keyboard and mouse, laptop stand, floor mat (the works)
$100 or so per month // For preventative chiropractic adjustments (optional but recommended)
FUTURE EXPENSES if ergonomics are not addressed
$3,000 and up // For emergency chiropractic care and physical therapy
$400 or more // For ergonomic equipment because you'll no longer be able to get away with the basics and will need the entire ergonomic setup anyway to prevent further damage
FUTURE LOST INCOME AND PRODUCTIVITY
Finally, consider the potential lost wages from being unable to work at your full capacity, depending on how much you make and how little you are able to work. Unless you’ve automated the hell out of your business, you’ll need to be available and working to make your full income. Depending on your income classification, you may not qualify for the workplace insurance that can replace your income when you are injured.
When you've got Marie Forleo popping up in your newsfeed telling you to "Go on girl, kill it today," not being able to work for weeks or months sounds pretty flippin' terrifying.
(Heh. Flippin'. Duck. See what I did there?)
If potential workplace injuries are not prevented, or are left untreated, they could cost you exponentially more in repairing the damage.
So go ahead. Have a long heart-to-heart with your boss and tell him or her that spending the time, energy, and money to create a healthy workspace and good habits now? Could save you thousands of dollars in the near and long-term future.