One of the most common causes of back and neck pain is deskwork or sitting at the computer. So chiropractors often get asked about posture at the desk. The common advice is to set up your desk and chair ergonomically so that you are sitting tall, with the spine straight, and the elbows, hips and knees at 90 degrees, as shown above.
But in reality there really isn’t one single ‘perfect posture’. If we were to sit locked in that position, even with the back perfectly straight, we would absolutely still get stiff and sore. Movement is what’s best for our muscles and joints. So the best posture is one that is always changing. Switching positions as much as possible will be what really helps to prevent pain.
My advice would be to use the posture described above as the baseline, but make little changes to your position regularly throughout the day. So after 15 minutes of sitting with your knees bent, straighten out one leg under the desk. Then maybe cross one leg over the other, then go the other way. Put one leg up on a shelf under your desk, then the other for a few minutes. Lean your chair back for a bit. It doesn’t even matter if you slouch… just don’t stay there too long. After that, straighten up again and sit tall. Even better would be to stand up for periods of time, if you have the option with a standing desk. Otherwise move your laptop to a surface at a different height. Or get up and go for a short walk to fill your cup of water regularly throughout the day. If you have the opportunity, lay down on the floor a couple times a day to stretch out and unload your back and neck. Even do a little yoga routine.
There are lots of ways to change up your position. The main point is that it would be better to focus on changing positions as much as you can, instead of focusing on keeping a perfect posture.