Ten-minute desk check: screen, chair, light

By Tophik · Updated 14 October 2026 · 5 min read

Most of us set up a desk once and never think about it again, until a sore neck or tired eyes make us. The good news is that the most useful checks take about ten minutes and cost nothing.

This guide follows the guidance of the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the body that sets the rules for screen work in Great Britain, with a few additions from eye-care organisations. Work through it in order, with your normal chair and desk.

In short

Screen: top level with your eyes, about an arm’s length away, directly in front of you.
Chair: thighs supported, lower back supported, a 2 to 3 cm gap behind the knees.
Keyboard just below elbow height; mouse in line with your elbow.
Laptops: for long sessions, raise the screen and use a separate keyboard and mouse.
Short, frequent breaks beat long, rare ones; and every 20 minutes, look into the distance.

In this guide

Step 1: the screen
Step 2: the chair
Step 3: keyboard and mouse
If you work on a laptop
Step 4: light and glare
Step 5: your eyes
Step 6: breaks and movement
If you are an employee
Questions people ask

This guide is general information, not medical advice. If you have pain that lasts or gets worse, speak to your GP, a physiotherapist or an optician.

Step 1: the screen

HSE’s guidance on good posture says to place the top of the screen level with your eyes, about an arm’s length away, and directly in front of you so you don’t twist.

Height check: sit back, look straight ahead. Your eyes should land on or just below the top edge of the screen. If you look at the middle of the screen, it is too high; if your chin drops, it is too low.
Distance check: stretch your arm out. Your fingertips should roughly touch the screen.
Direction check: the screen and keyboard should be centred on your body, not off to one side.

If you wear varifocal or bifocal glasses, you may be more comfortable with the screen a little lower, so you don’t tilt your head back to read through the lower part of the lens.

Try this: put a sticky note at your eye level on the wall behind the screen. If the top of the screen is well below it, raise the screen with a stand or a few books.

Step 2: the chair

HSE suggests setting the seat height so it supports the front and back of your thighs equally, with these checks:

Lower back supported by the chair back. A small cushion works if the chair doesn’t do it.
A gap of 2 to 3 cm between the front edge of the seat and the back of your knee.
Shoulders relaxed. You should sit high enough not to shrug. On a dining chair, a firm cushion can raise you.
Feet resting comfortably. If raising the seat leaves them dangling, a footrest or a sturdy box under the desk helps.

Step 3: keyboard and mouse

Keyboard just below elbow height, so your forearms are roughly level and your wrists straight.
Mouse in line with your elbow, close to the keyboard, so you don’t reach out sideways.
Leave some space in front of the keyboard to rest your hands when you’re not typing.

If you work on a laptop

Laptops are the hardest case, because the screen and keyboard are joined: if the keyboard is at the right height, the screen is too low, and you end up looking down. HSE’s advice for prolonged use is to keep the keyboard and mouse separate from the laptop so that the screen can sit higher on a riser, or to use a separate screen.

How you work	Practical set-up
Short sessions, on the move	Laptop as it is; take more frequent breaks
A few hours a day at home	Laptop on a stand at eye height, plus a separate keyboard and mouse
Full days at a desk	A separate monitor at eye height, or a stand plus keyboard and mouse

A laptop resting on a folding aluminium stand — A stand lifts the screen; a separate keyboard keeps your hands low.

Step 4: light and glare

The HSE workstation checklist asks whether the screen is free from glare and reflections. Eye-care organisations such as the American Optometric Association make the same point: place the screen to avoid glare from windows and overhead lights.

Put the screen at a right angle to the window, not in front of it or with the window behind you.
Use a blind or curtain on bright days.
In the evening, add a lamp so the screen isn’t the brightest thing in the room.
Clean the screen. Dust and fingerprints add glare.

Step 5: your eyes

Looking at a screen won’t damage your eyes, but long stretches of close focus can make them tired and dry. The American Optometric Association recommends the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something about 20 feet (6 metres) away for 20 seconds. It also suggests resting your eyes for 15 minutes after two hours of continuous screen work, and remembering to blink, since people tend to blink less while concentrating on a screen.

Step 6: breaks and movement

HSE says there is no fixed legal rule on how long or how often breaks should be, but that short, frequent breaks are better than longer, infrequent ones. Its example: 5 to 10 minutes every hour is better than 20 minutes every two hours. Breaks should let you stand up and move around, or at least change posture.

The easiest way to make this happen is to tie it to something you already do: stand up for every phone call, refill your water each hour, or use a timer for focused blocks with a break at the end.

If you are an employee

If you use a screen daily, for continuous periods of an hour or more, the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 apply, including when you work from home. In practice, your employer should assess your workstation (HSE’s checklist is the usual starting point) and plan your work so you get breaks or changes of activity. You can also ask for an eye test: HSE says employers must arrange and pay for one if a screen user requests it, and pay for glasses if you need special ones for screen work.

Questions people ask

How high should my screen be?

HSE says the top of the screen should be level with your eyes. If you wear varifocals, slightly lower can be more comfortable.

Is a standing desk better?

Changing position through the day matters more than any single position. Standing all day has its own problems; alternating is what most guidance points to.

My neck still hurts after fixing my desk. What now?

Speak to your GP or a physiotherapist. A good set-up helps, but it isn’t a treatment.

Run this check again whenever you change room, chair or screen. If you need to lift a laptop, our Lift laptop stand folds flat when you’re done, though a stack of sturdy books does the same job on day one.

A ten-minute desk check: screen, chair and light