Standing Desk Switch
I work for myself, from home. There are a lot of positives about this
fact... I have no commute, I have a lot of flexibility in my schedule,
and the coffee is a lot better. But, it does have negatives as well. For
instance, it could literally be days between the times that I leave the
house. Since my job is software engineering, it also means I spend 8-10
hours a day at my desk, sitting in the chair, slowly shortening my
lifespan.
I've actually heard about the standing desk movement for a long time
now, but never really gave it a lot of serious consideration. That's
partially due to be younger, I guess. Indestructible. But I've kind of
made this my year to start considering some changes in my lifestyle --
and sitting all day isn't something I really need to be doing. I like
my job, but I don't really like that aspect of it.
The thing that really threw me over the edge was the article that Gina
Tripani posted earlier this year on her transition. She's in the same
situation that I'm in -- 8-10 hours a day in the same spot. I had made
up my mind and decided to make this my project to do this summer.
Before committing to anything, I figured that I better test out the
concept first and make sure that it was something I really wanted to do.
For a day or two, I propped up my keyboard and mouse using a board and
some milk crates. Because my monitors weren't raised, it wasn't
something I could do for a long period of time since it would eventually
strain my neck, but I at least wanted to know if I had enough stamina to
handle that much.
Ignoring the neck cramps, it went very well and I knew I was ready to
commit a little more seriously.
My office sits in a room that was converted from a carport years ago by
the last owner. They did a pretty lousy job, and because of that, the
concrete floor still remains -- they just carpeted over it. However,
because of this, it gives me a little bit of leeway as far as what I can
do in the room and not worry about messing it up.
I knew the long term goal was to get my dad to make nice risers for my
desk at his metal shop, but I didn't want him to go through the trouble
only for me to decide that it didn't work for me. It's time and
materials for him to make something, so I didn't want to waste it.
However, cinder blocks are really cheap. Since it's a concrete floor,
bringing cinder blocks into the room really doesn't mess anything up --
they just sort of fit right in. My desk has three "T" legs on it, so I
bought six 8" blocks and six 4" half-blocks and proceeded to life my
desk up. This meant that if I decided I didn't like it, I could just
lose the cinder blocks and only be $15 in the hole.
I did this roughly six weeks ago. I did break down and buy a bar stool to
sit on in case I get tired -- but so far I maybe only use it 30-60 min a
day. Usually that's when I'm either in a conversation on Skype or really
trying to think through a tough problem. The rest of the time, standing
has just become the norm. Sitting here is less comfortable than
standing, which was the correct outcome if you ask me.
How did you adjust?
I generally like to jump right into things. I didn't have the bar stool
for the first week, and I forced myself the whole time. The first two
days were pretty rough. I actually have to imagine that I lost a good
deal of productivity because I just wasn't concentrating as hard on my
work as I would usually. The uncomfortable feeling would bring me out of
any deep thought or "groove" that I might have gotten into normally.
By day three, this wasn't an issue. My feet still hurt at the end of the
day, but I found myself able to concentrate for the majority of the day.
By the beginning of the next week, there was no problems at all.
What kind of desk is that?
It's the IKEA Galant series. I purchased it about three years ago when I
went into business for myself. It's roughly the layout I linked to, but
the piece on the right is longer on mine.
I've also added the two shelves using the 47" version of the Ekby Järpen shelf
and attaching on 6" Capita legs directly to the bottom.
The bar stool is the 30" Henriksdal. It's fairly comfortable, but
not enough that you want to sit on it for hours at a time, which is
perfect.
Most interestingly, my headphones holder that hangs under the desk is a
toilet paper roll holder. I love IKEA.
Any other suggestions?
Wear good shoes. In my case, it's especially important because of the
concrete floor. Since it was summer, I made the mistake of trying to
do a whole day without shoes on. But the 3rd hour, my feet were killing
me. Having no support is a terrible idea, and now I always wear sneakers
and socks, or at a minimum, sandals with some decently padded soles.
I've also done the same thing as Gina and put a foot stool under my desk
that I can prop one foot or the other on from time to time. It seems to
really help to take the pressure off of one foot and then the other
periodically without having to resort to sitting for a long stretch of
time.
Conclusion
I'm definitely happy with my decision. Once things calm down at my dad's
shop, I'll probably get the nicer looking risers put together and ditch
my cinder blocks. It was a nice prototype, but it really is a bit of an
eyesore... concrete floor or not.