Only two days after I had to sit on a chair all day at home working and preparing for classes in 5-hour stretches at a time and I'd had enough. I've done it before of course, and usually at the end of such a day, I would do a lot of stretching moves I learned from a yoga book, attempt a few pull ups, do some push ups, core exercises, squats, etc.
This time I decided to finally take the plunge and install a standing workstation. Almost by instinct, we like to sit down. I usually head for the nearest chair and try to find a seat. So this is a little like unlearning something you try by default.
Options are many. I don't want to spend money on this but you can get setups for less than $50. I basically placed Houda's lap tray birthday gift and a shoe box on top. I ended up removing the book on top because it was more height than I needed. I also weighed down the shoe box by putting one of Hala's old heavy textbooks inside.
Admittedly, it's only been 20 minutes or so since I started using this but I think I like it. My back is straight and I'm not hunching over although I do fidget a bit from foot to foot. I think it will take some getting used to.
It's a teeny bit more tiring than sitting down which of course is the point: Not to be sitting an doing absolutely no effort for 10 plus hours a day.
I'll still sit in a chair at work because I'm usually spending 3 hours at a time standing and walking in a lab, so the 1 or maximum 2 hours I spend sitting on a chair are welcome.
Edit:
So after a whole day of this standing desk my review is mixed but to the good side. My end conclusion is it might be best to switch between standing and sitting. So 1-2 hours (ease into it) standing up to give your back a break followed by 1-2 hours sitting down to give your feet a break. A laptop is obviously best for this, or just having a simple raised box to lift your screen and laptop. It seems that many of the standing desks have two levels, one for standing and one for sitting.
The good thing about standing is that I found myself more likely to be active, leave the computer every 30min and walk around. It reduced a lot of stress from my back. I also found myself appreciating sitting down after standing for a bit rather than hating and dreading the chair.
All in all, I found it a positive change. Disrupts your work in a good way (lifting the laptop up or down every two hours), but I found this disruption, because it's active and physical in nature, relaxes your brain for a couple of minutes and actually sharpens your focus when you return to work. So I'm keeping my makeshift standing workstation for now.
This time I decided to finally take the plunge and install a standing workstation. Almost by instinct, we like to sit down. I usually head for the nearest chair and try to find a seat. So this is a little like unlearning something you try by default.
Options are many. I don't want to spend money on this but you can get setups for less than $50. I basically placed Houda's lap tray birthday gift and a shoe box on top. I ended up removing the book on top because it was more height than I needed. I also weighed down the shoe box by putting one of Hala's old heavy textbooks inside.Admittedly, it's only been 20 minutes or so since I started using this but I think I like it. My back is straight and I'm not hunching over although I do fidget a bit from foot to foot. I think it will take some getting used to.
It's a teeny bit more tiring than sitting down which of course is the point: Not to be sitting an doing absolutely no effort for 10 plus hours a day.
I'll still sit in a chair at work because I'm usually spending 3 hours at a time standing and walking in a lab, so the 1 or maximum 2 hours I spend sitting on a chair are welcome.
Edit:
So after a whole day of this standing desk my review is mixed but to the good side. My end conclusion is it might be best to switch between standing and sitting. So 1-2 hours (ease into it) standing up to give your back a break followed by 1-2 hours sitting down to give your feet a break. A laptop is obviously best for this, or just having a simple raised box to lift your screen and laptop. It seems that many of the standing desks have two levels, one for standing and one for sitting.
The good thing about standing is that I found myself more likely to be active, leave the computer every 30min and walk around. It reduced a lot of stress from my back. I also found myself appreciating sitting down after standing for a bit rather than hating and dreading the chair.
All in all, I found it a positive change. Disrupts your work in a good way (lifting the laptop up or down every two hours), but I found this disruption, because it's active and physical in nature, relaxes your brain for a couple of minutes and actually sharpens your focus when you return to work. So I'm keeping my makeshift standing workstation for now.
Okay, day two of the standing workstation. I have to say it's certainly growing on me. Today, whenever I start to feel restless or tired of standing, instead of heading for a chair, I found myself doing exercises simply because I felt active instead of lazy!!
ReplyDeleteOne legged stands and raising my leg to the back as high as I can for a minute or so. A few Bulgarian split squats curtsy of the convenient bed behind me, facing my desk (could use a chair if you don't have a bed). Going slowly up and down while I exercised didn't even bother me while I read my daily Guardian and checked email. I also took two minutes because I started feeling energetic and did box jumps, then I started jogging in place. My back feels super straight.
I love this!! I did so many leg exercises I feel great! Wasting time on the internet WHILE exercising, Ha! Time saving multitasking indeed.