Do your shoulders ache after a day of typing? Do your hands or wrists hurt when you spend too much time on your computer? Here are a few tips for staying pain-free while typing.

Move your keyboard. Your keyboard should sit flat on a surface, or even better, at a slightly negative slope away from your body. It should rest about two inches above your legs, about an inch below your elbow height. Center the keyboard to your body, with the space bar directly in front of you. A keyboard tray can make this placement easy and can be adjusted to fit any user.

Use good posture. Remember your mom always telling you to sit up? She was right. Good posture while typing can significantly impact comfort and stamina. Make sure your chair properly supports your back. If not, additional lumbar support is easy to add.

Keep your wrists straight. Your arms and hand should form a straight line from your elbow through your wrist and down to your middle finger. Never bend your wrists to the side, or up and down, in order to reach a higher key, or to use your mouse.

Float your hands. Your hands and wrists should always hover over the keys, with your hands relaxed. Never rest them on your desk or wrist rest while you are typing.

Remove pressure from your wrists. Between keystrokes you can relax the weight of your hands and arms on your palms. Never place weight directly on the wrists; any surface pressure on the wrists can injure the sensitive carpal tunnel area.

Press the keys lightly. There is no need to pound on the keys. With most keyboards, you barely have to press the key down. This one tip can save you significant muscle wear in your hands and wrists throughout the day.

Never reach for a key. If your hands are properly floating over the keys, it should be an easy motion to move your entire hand and arm until you fingers hover over the needed key. To reduce the wear and strain on your muscles and tendons, never stretch your fingers to reach higher keys.

Keep your fingers bent. With your hands hovering over the keyboard, it feels natural to loosely curve your hand, almost like you are holding a golf ball. Be careful to follow this rule specifically with your thumb and smallest finger.

Use two hands for two-key combos. Whenever you use your Shift key (or Ctrl or Alt) with an additional key, always press the Shift key with one hand and the second key with the opposite hand. Trying to perform these actions with one hand will cause unnecessary wear and muscle strain.