standing desk
 

It’s been about two months now since I’ve switched over to my standing desk here at school…and although the view of the white wall in front of me along with the discarded non-fiction books that are heading to better places isn’t the best view….the standing has been fantastic.There is a lot of reading out there about standing desks. I particularly like this one with the links in it as well. After reading this article I contacted B&G here at my school and had them move in this fantastic table. Each of our classrooms have a table like this that can be raised and lowered to any hight you want. It’s really the perfect size and I might just take it with me when I leave.

 

 

My setup (all school issued):

A Henge Dock for my MacBook Pro (A bit fussy but the best thing out there I think)

A LED 21-inch LG monitor 1920x1080px. Fantastic and not that expensive.

Computer Speakers, keyboard, bluetooth mouse.

The box my computer is sitting on was just here in the office so I’m using it just to get my monitor up to eye level.

 

The Benefits I’m seeing:

More active: For me there is something to already standing to do the little things such as drink more water. The water cooler is maybe 15 feet away from my desk…now that I’m standing I’m drinking more water. I can click a link, wait for a page to load walk over fill my water bottle and come back. The walk feels good on the legs and I’m already standing…there is something mental to it….for me anyway.

Less Shoulder Stress: I get massages at least once a week (don’t judge me I live in Asia). Before standing I use to have big knots all along my upper back and shoulders. Since standing they have all gone away and my back overall feels better.

Knees and Feet: The first week my knees and feet ached along with parts of my legs I didn’t know existed. But after about a week they don’t bother me anymore. The body has adjusted and I’m feeling good standing for most of my day. Everything I read said be prepared for this. I was and was able to battle through it. 

Appreciate Sitting: Meetings aren’t that bad anymore…I welcome the 30 minute meeting as it gives me a chance to sit and relax. 

Walking is key: When my legs or feet start to ache I know I’ve spent to much time at the computer and not enough time out and about. Because of my job of helping teachers in their classrooms I’m walking a lot anyway, but if I’m at my computer for too long my feet let me know about it.

As I think about my office setup in my new life I’m definitely going to be sticking with the standing desk.

How about for kids?  As I’ve been standing I’ve been thinking why we don’t allow kids to stand if they want. Kids in Middle School or High School probably sit for 4 to 6 hours a day and many times for 60-90 minutes at a time. It wouldn’t take much to put a tall desk or two in a room in the back in case a student wanted to stand through a class. Would it really be that bad? Anyone doing this already?