My Report On Using A "Standing Desk" In The Office. An Important Read For Those Office Bound Workers
Save your health!
Good morning my Steemit friends. Yesterday I adapted my desk at work into a standing desk and I wanted to share my thoughts and help other chair-bound workers to the same decision.
I achieved this at no cost simply by bringing in and old TV unit that I had lying around at home as you can see in the below picture. This is a temporary measure while the company purchases us all proper height adjustable standing desks.
I'm no stranger to the concept having worked from home for over a year in the past and using one successfully then. Actually in that case I had adapted a set of shelves that I especially bought at the correct height and placed my laptop on it. It's allowed me to also avoid a cluttered desk at home, rather enjoying an attractive piece of furniture when not in use for work.
My old "standing desk" from my time working at home. Enough for a laptop, mouse & small notepad
Anyway there's been quite a push at work from a number of the employees to migrate to standing desks in order to avoid problems with back pain and the like. I don't suffer from pain but it was motivation enough for me to go back to standing ways.
I find it something to recommend. Some of my observations include
- getting hungry more quickly. It's a good indication that you're actually burning more calories just by standing and shifting your weight
- better concentration. I actually think that by standing you are more engaged with your environment and perhaps mentally think more along the lines of giving a presentation. When sitting the mind can become bored.
- less fatigue. It's difficult to fall asleep on your feet but when sitting, the mind can wander and the body can disengage.
- better posture. I find myself standing up much more straight and stretching my arms above my head as I read the screen, sometimes even tilting from side to side and generally fidgeting and moving my body which is all great stuff. The body is not meant to be sedentary
Before I'd ever tried a standing desk I was concerned that I would experience quite the opposite, namely that I would not be able to concentrate. Initially this might have been the case to some extent but I adapted to it very quickly and I found that I actually forgot I was standing.
In one instance I went to get a coffee, something that I would normally get up to do, and realised I was already up!
So I'd recommend standing to work wherever possible and sharing your findings here.
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So, my solution to that problem, and for me it was a big problem, was to get 2 more monitors and just mount them to the wall, and mount a couple of shelves underneath. Then I have a second mouse and keyboard on one of the shelves. I can seemlessly go from sitting to standing and back again, which works for me.
It wasn't free, but it was a lot less than one of those motorized desks. Sheesh, they are really proud of those, and they charge you accordingly.
If I knew what I was doing, I would put a picture of it in my post. But, alas, I am still figuring that stuff out. :)
Brilliant @sminchow. You'd need to be on good terms with the owner of the wall but would definitely save desk surface space. Looking forward to a picture when you figure ot out and if you're still willing.
OK. So that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be - I just needed to give it a shot. Of course, it looks like it will work from the preview, but once I hit POST, who knows? Here's to hoping...
So, you probably think I'm spoiled, and I probably am. I have 3 monitors on my desk, and the two mounted on the wall mirror the 2 left ones on the desk. I have moved to being as paperless as possible over the years, but the downside to that is that I need a boatload of monitor viewspace so I can see all of the different documents that I need to.
Well, anyway, sorry it took me so long. But at least you got to be my test case for uploading a picture. :)
What a brilliant setup @sminchow. I can see how moving from one setup to the other would be stimulating. Well done on the picture upload.
Interesting. I've always assumed I'd get tired if I had to stand up all day. Are you already in good shape/weight? I'm about 40lbs overweight and think my feet would be killing me by the end of the day. I'm interested in trying this, and find some inspiration in your temporary setup.
Hi @infinite-monkey. Yes that's a very good point actually. I am in good shape and hence am pretty adaptable, but for those like yourself I would recommend definitely a migration. As you can see in my picture possibly there's still desk room to each side so you could try standing up for a little bit and then sitting down. It's even easier with the laptop I had at home because I could just grab that and sit down on the bed or wherever I wanted. Even with my temporary setup this is somewhat doable but with the correct furniture you are able to easily adjust the height without moving the monitors.
It's a little bit of playing around but definitely worthwhile in terms of leveraging the time you spend in front of a computer. If you can double up on your work by also exercising your body at the same time, that's a win. I'd be really interested to hear how you go in your particular circumstances wish you the best of luck.
Your setup looks pretty good.
I personally did spend a period stacking cardboard boxes to elevate my desk surface.
It can work out pretty alright... though it can get tiring after a couple of hours.
Besides, needing to reconfigure the desk back into sitting mode, I also found that the edge of the desk would kind of enter my personal space to make things less comfortable.
That being said - its a great way to stave of sleepiness. ^_^
That's a pretty ingenious solution too @pathforger. It can be a bit of a physical shock going from 8 hours sitting to 8 hours standing for sure but I think that improves overtime in the same way that going from a desk job to a labouring occupation would be an initial shock. Thanks kindly for the comment and contribution.
Hey... office budgets... office politics... and 'that look' and the humorous comments you get when people open that door. ;cP
Fortunately I never was all too much of a worshiper of 'professionalism'. And the callers never noticed any differnt. ;c)
As for ingenious... your set up looks better and both of our setups could use quantum-leap improvements. ^_^
touché!
Hint: Wearable computers are the next generation that I've been waiting for for at least a decade.
I'm tossing up between a standing desk and one of those $500 AUD gaming chairs ... this might be a good way to do both: makeshift standing desk and legit pimp throne.
Also @nolnocluap I noticed you elected to do 100% Steem Power for this post ... FYI this is a really bad idea atm as Steem Dollars are trading at a premium. You can get 25-30% more Steem Power with the 50/50 option by converting your Steem Dollars to Steem on exchange/internal market and then powering up :)
Actually gaming is an interesting point @bulleth. I've only used standing desks for work and I'm curious as to whether gamers would benefit in the same ways.
Thanks for the SBD tip too 👍
No worries. Yeah I think anyone spending more than at a couple hours at a computer each day needs a good chair/stand up desk/both (typed as I lie on the lounge with neck hunched forward looking at laptop :)