24 ways your office job is destroying your health

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The stress, long hours, and sedentary nature of your modern office job are sucking the life out of you — literally.

And it's not just the tight deadlines, stress-eaten doughnuts, and sneezing coworkers that are doing you in. Even your keyboard can be out to get you. 

From the printer to your supervisor, the dangers presented in a typical office can have real effects on your physical well-being and mental health. Need a reason to overhaul your habits? Look no further.

Rachel Sugar, Vivian Giang, and Kim Bhasin contributed to earlier versions of this article. 

Sitting all day could shave years off your life

Sitting for lengthy periods is terrible for your body. Aches and pains are the least of your problems — sitting too much can lead to an early death. You face a higher risk of muscular-skeletal disorders, obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and more, even if you work out regularly.

Around 86% of American workers sit all day at work. If you're one of them, Alan Hedge, a design and ergonomics professor at Cornell, recommends you change to positions every eight minutes, and take a two-minute "moving break" at least twice an hour. 

Regularly slouching in your chair can lead to long-term illnesses

If your job requires you to sit most of the day, it's best if you get a sitting device that allows you to straighten your poor posture. If not, you're "contributing to a pool of chronic, long-term ailments — including arthritis and bursitis."

Using a treadmill desk increases your chances of physically hurting yourself

Although a treadmill desk may help with the risk of obesity and heart disease, workers at these desks are also prone to increased typos and the desks might cause you to fall more often than merely sitting in a chair.