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Tips for a successful switch to a standing desk

Jerod Santo on August 15, 2018

Note: I originally wrote this in 2013, so add 5 years to all counters. I'm still standing (yeah yeah yeah😏), and the advice holds true. My desk is...

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Jerod Santo • Aug 15 '18

My current desk pictured in the cover image (for those curious) is an Ikea BEKANT.

It is a sit/stand, but I don't have a chair in my office so the up/down functionality is only used by my kids to mess with me. 😆

The cost is pretty reasonable. Only problem with it is a lack of drawers, but that's the price you pay to be a minimalist, I guess! 🤷‍♂️

Mac Siri • Aug 15 '18

How long have you been using it and would you recommend it?

Jerod Santo • Aug 15 '18

I've been using it for ~3 years and yes I'd recommend it with caveat that I stated above: there are no drawers. This isn't an issue for me since I have a standalone drawer/cabinet in my office, but it might be a drawback for some people.

Matt Simonis • Aug 15 '18 • Edited

It's a little more expensive, but I highly recommend this style of anti fatigue mat - Topo by Ergodriven. The bumps and ridges give my feet various positions they can be in, and allow me to stretch the muscles in my legs when needed.

Jerod Santo • Aug 15 '18

Oh wow that one looks really nice!

Currently unavailable.

😭

Alexey Zimarev • Aug 15 '18

Work at a standing position is not new, blue-collar workers do it for a few last centuries. It has never been proved healthy and I am not sure why those lessons of hundreds of years of experience is so easily forgotten by office workers.

At least, we can find something about work safety and regulations in the Internet, right?

ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/sta...

Can working in a standing position cause health problems?
Standing is a natural human posture and by itself poses no particular health hazard. However, working in a standing position on a regular basis can cause sore feet, swelling of the legs, varicose veins, general muscular fatigue, low back pain, stiffness in the neck and shoulders, and other health problems. These are common complaints among sales people, machine operators, assembly-line workers and others whose jobs require prolonged standing.

ergo.human.cornell.edu/cuesitstand...

The Perils of Standing
But, standing to work has long known to be problematic, it is more tiring, for men with ischemic heart disease it increases the progression of carotid atherosclerosis because of the additional load on the circulatory system. Prolonged standing at work also increases the risks of varicose veins and accounts for more than one fifth of all cases of working age. So standing all day is unhealthy. The performance of many fine motor skills also is less good when people stand rather than sit. Ergonomists have long recognized that standing to work is more tiring than sitting to work. Standing requires ~20% more energy than sitting. Standing puts greater strain on the circulatory system and on the legs and feet. Consequently, in industry we provide employees with ergonomic anti-fatigue to stand on, with anti-fatigue footwear, and with chairs to allow them to sit down during rest breaks.
The bottom line:
Sit to do computer work. Sit using a height-adjustable, downward titling keyboard tray for the best work posture, then every 20 minutes stand for 8 minutes AND MOVE for 2 minutes. The absolute time isn’t critical but about every 20-30 minutes take a posture break and stand and move for a couple of minutes. Simply standing is insufficient. Movement is important to get blood circulation through the muscles. And movement is FREE! Research shows that you don’t need to do vigorous exercise (e.g. jumping jacks) to get the benefits, just walking around is sufficient. So build in a pattern of creating greater movement variety in the workplace (e.g. walk to a printer, water fountain, stand for a meeting, take the stairs, walk around the floor, park a bit further away from the building each day).

Danny de Vries • Aug 15 '18 • Edited

Usually I see people sitting down in the morning and standing the rest of the day after lunch. A massagist told me that is a really bad habit. As you mentioned in your post you should spread it out over the day! Stand a couple of hours, then sit, then stand.

Ben Halpern • Aug 15 '18

This is just what I needed if I end up going this route.

Igor Santos • Sep 26 '18

Ok, wait. I think got lost here. If you suggest to get a simple standing desk, how are you supposed to split your time between sitting and standing? You move your computer, screen, keyboard and mouse to a sitting table and back to the standing one a few times every day?
I guess, at the very least, a moving desk is useful for those who can't bother with all that work, or afford the extra space for such an uncommon setup of two desks.

Jerod Santo • Sep 26 '18

I use a laptop and just unplug it from an external display a few times a day. If you can't swing that, then yeah a moving desk would be better. The point of the advice is to avoid the price of most sit/stand desks, nothing else.

Robin Kretzschmar • Aug 15 '18

We have those sit/stand combinations in our office and I can confirm that they are not worth their money. Also a good point of yours is that they will support old habits to keep sitting while the pure standing model will change that more efficiently.

Thanks for writing it down, I will try the DIY model this year.

Adam Garstang • Aug 15 '18 • Edited

I disagree that the convertible solutions are not ok.

In some offices a totally different desk to the others is not an option, in this case getting something to go on top is the only solution.

I recently got the Varidesk Pro 36 at work and it's very sturdy. I must admit I very rarely adjust it to it's down position as once your used to standing you stand all the time.

uk.varidesk.com/en-gb/products/sta...

Jerod Santo • Aug 15 '18

Yeah, my point with that is mostly to avoid the extra cost of buying a sit/stand since you probably won’t use it both ways very much.

There are definitely circumstances where it makes sense to go adjustable. That Veridesk looks 👍

rrackiewicz • Aug 17 '18 • Edited

I have an Uplift mechanical sit/stand desk with a memory setting keypad so I can easily switch between sitting and standing. Instead of the Uplift tops, I opted for a 1-1/2" x 6' x 8' butcher block top from Lumber Liquidators and did all the edging and finishing myself. The nice think about the large desk is that I can pair program with ease (with a lot of space left over). The desk is a tank! As far as drawers, I don't find a lack of them being prohibitive. I have a rolling filling cabinet (the top drawing is storage) that sits under the desk and since my tabletop is so large, I use various bins and containers (thank you Container Store) that fill up the unused part of my tabletop to hold all my stuff. I have the Topo by Ergodriven mat. I find it comfortable for my feet even when I'm sitting. It's fun for my feet!

On the other end of the equation, sometimes I prefer to sit. I have three chairs depending on my mood and task. If I'm doing more thinking and I need to kick back a lot or I want to sit with my legs up, I have the Ikea Markus swivel chair. For nose down work I have an Aeron chair (worth every dime if you can afford the adjustments you need...e.g. fully-adjustable arms are a must). If I need to relax and contemplate a problem or stare at my markerboard wall, I have a comfortable accent chair in the corner of my office that supports my head. Quite the contrast in price, but each highly effective in their own way. I find that my sit/stand ratio is about 50:50 depending on the type of work I do.