Listen up, young freelancers! Gather round my camp fire and harken to a cautionary tale…

…I spent 15yrs being a graphic designer, and the last 12 being a letterer. And I spent the bulk of those years sitting in the cheapest, shittiest office chairs giving not the slightest thought to posture or ergonomics…

…As a result, I have a stoop that’s one step from getting me a bell ringer’s job at Norte Dame and can now turn my head about 8° left and right from straight ahead…

…I spent two years paying a physio £50/week to unfuck my shoulders…

…I spent £300 on a decent work chair. I now have articulated elbow supports attached to either side of my desk. Every morning, I strap myself into a posture-correcting harness…

…and every morning and every evening, I strap myself to an inversion table and spend 5-10 minutes hanging upside down by my ankles trying to straighten out my spine…

DO NOT DO WHAT I DID. GET A DECENT CHAIR. TAKE REGULAR BREAKS. DO STRETCHING EXERCISES. DO BACK EXERCISES. DO NOT SACRIFICE A FEW EXTRA MINUTES OF WORK A DAY FOR YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH.

If you don’t believe me, believe @blambot, who’s already told you a very similar tale. ADJUST YOUR WORK SPACE. GET A DECENT CHAIR. Doing this at the start of your career is a HELL of a lot easier than trying to fix it 20+ years down the line. /end