I've succumbed into that populist crap (standing desks) for almost a year.
Then I talked to older people from standing-up-a-lot-and-working-with-your-hands professions. They usually end with flat feet and compressed spine and multitude of other issues.
The point being - yes, use standing desk, for a change. Do not make it exclusive. The real issue with programmers is that they are static in same position throughout the whole day. Change that and you're fine.
I was surprised that there are no citations. Other than being on Cornell's website, it was indistinguishable from something one might find on Ask.com or a similar site.
They ignore long-term studies [1][2] that look at people's mortality broken down by how much time they spend standing. While there are some ways in which standing is less healthy, on average people who stand less die sooner (by a small amount).
Neither of those studies contradicts what the Cornell researchers say, since neither study appears to look at people who get up from sitting every 30 minutes or so for a couple minutes of activity. They are concerned with people who are sitting for long periods--e.g., sitting for several hours watching TV or playing games.
Thanks for this. "every 20-30 minutes take a posture break and move for a couple of minutes" mentioned in the bottom-line goes well with pomodoro. So, you get double the benefit - relaxed body and mind.
Standing desk do look appealing, probably they are the other extreme. But I feel I always put my laptop on book rack when I'm feeling a certain anxiety. It shouldn't be that harmful if you don't keep standing for longer duration. Sometimes, when too much engrossed in work, one my fail to listen to subtle voices of the body.
It took me about three months to really adapt to a standing workspace. What I found interesting during the adaptation period was that when I needed a break, I would walk away from the desk and sit down, and that it was easier to continue to be productive during these breaks than it had been when my workspace was seated.
I tried it for three days by simply taking a rigid plastic utility table with the legs still folded up and putting it on a couple of milk crates that I put on my desk. I then used bungee cords to tie the folding table through the crates to my desk. It was nice and stable and allowed me to put all 3 of my 24" monitors on it.
I'm glad I spent no money on it because after 3 days my feet and back were killing me. I tried barefoot, with running shoes and even with an anti-fatigue mat that was in the basement workshop when I bought my house.
Note that you can buy drafting chairs which can be the right height for standing desks. Then you can alternate between standing and sitting. http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=1069142
I don't understand why you (or anyone) would give up so quickly. Would you try to run a marathon on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then conclude it's too painful and give up?
I started looking into standing desks a few weeks ago, but not having one have recently started using my ironing board. It's not an ideal height for me, but it's pretty good. My goals are to use the ironing board 3 days a week, sitting the other two and alternate between over the working week.
When I'm standing I make sure I have two sit down breaks of 5-15 minutes (at least 5-10 minutes in the morning around 11am and 15 minutes around 3pm). This means that the longest I stand continuously is about 2 hours.
When I'm sitting I take a 5 minute break every hour and a 15 minute break in the afternoon.
I also try to do some Yoga 3 times a week which is working with mixed results at the moment.
The main thing I've noticed is that while normally I get fairly sleepy between 2 and 4pm and my productivity tends to drop, when I'm standing my productivity is fine and I don't get tired in the afternoon. I've also noticed my posture has improved as I'm no longer hunched over a keyboard all the time, and I no longer slouch.
The other thing I've noticed when standing is that I'm much likely to go and refill my water during the day just to get away from the screen for a minute or two when I need to. Sitting down I'll forget I have water (or at least run out) and it'll be another hour or two before I get some. I'm not quite sure why this is the case.
Any idea which Ikea parts the section "The Wide, Height-Adjustable Standing Desk" is referring to? "Vika" seems to be right.
I did find a leg ("VIKA BYSKE") which is a suitable height for me (just below my belly button at 107cm - most others are 70cm high which is way too low). But it would be $120 for four legs, they don't sell them in my local store or online, and in any event the desk has to be wall mounted.
The Frederik is almost a decent height for the desk, but then has two shelfs above positioned in the middle of the desk slap bang where my monitors would be. It is also just barely wide enough for my dual monitors.
I believe in full-time standing just as little as I believe in full-time sitting. I want a desk that I can move up and down, with everything on it, in less than a minute. Doesn't that exist? I haven't been able to find one yet.
There are sitting/standing desks that are quickly adjustable via electric motor, but they're quite overpriced so it's best to let your employer buy one for you. My officemate has one very similar to the one here:
I bought myself one off ebay for a couple of hundred pounds, has a little up/down controller which takes no more than a few seconds. I sit more than I stand, but it's a nice break. Not sure how I'd feel about this in a office though!
I don't claim to be brilliant with carpentry so it was a mixed success, but you can adjust between a sit down and stand up desk, it cost about £50 all in. I'm not sure it would work on a larger scale, I had a very small room and just needed something to put my laptop on.
Apologies for the photo quality, first generation iPhone.
There's one thing I don't think I've seen mentioned when this subject is brought up. If you walked into an office comprising 100% standing desks, would the environment seem a tad more unfriendly than others? Would it be intimidating enough to discourage people from dropping in for a friendly chat? It would be interesting to measure productivity pre- and post- the introduction.
