Why You Need a Stand Up Desk

Photo: www.officesupply.com

Way back in 1999, I had the fantastic luck to be rear ended on my way to work., resulting in whiplash.  Bad enough at the time but I now have back and neck problems that still plague me.  The only upside to that whole thing was my Honda was in the shop for two weeks and I did get to drive around town in an Infiniti. 

But I digress.  My job requires me to be on the computer the majority of the time.  Sitting in front of the computer for close to eight hours a day is not the best thing when you have a testy back and neck.  It's also apparently not the best thing if you have a spine in excellent condition.  Add to that roughly two hours a day sitting in the car, any time spent sitting each day for meals and then time spent sitting while reading or watching tv and . . . it's a lot of time on your backside.  I actually figured out how many hours I was spending each weekday on my butt and it was depressing.

Enter my chiropractor, who gave me a list of exercises for my desk as well as tips to get up at least once an hour.  Good in theory but after one session of desk exercises, that involved me stretching my neck and mouth by holding my mouth open as if I was silently screaming (a lovely display that was witnessed by a client meeting happening at the time), and the fact that when I was working on a deadline I couldn't necessarily stop and take a break every hour, something had to give.  He told me that I really needed to be working at a stand up desk.  I had heard of them and heard good things about them so I requested a note to pass along to my office to make it happen.  Fast forward a few weeks and I'm ready to report on how a stand up desk is working for me.

The first few days were a little rough on my feet.  If you're not used to standing a good portion of your day, your feet may let you know about it by quitting time.  Mine were achy and sore.  The addition of a good mat around my standing desk helped.  I also kept a back up pair of shoes in my tote bag, just in case I needed to switch them out.  I also purchased some Dr. Scholls inserts for my shoes.

Similar to my Happy Hour Bar Stool

Once my feet got used to standing, it was a breeze.  I found that I stood the majority of my day while working.  I do have a drafting type desk chair suitable for standing desks - - it's fondly known as my Happy Hour Bar Stool - - that I use for ten or fifteen minutes increments once or twice a day but most of my day is spent standing (as we were designed to do.) 

I feel that I am more productive at work.  I have more energy.  Since I am already standing, it's easier for me to go retrieve something or take someone papers.  I don't suffer with the dreaded 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. crash, yawning and desperately looking at the clock.  I'm not irritable during the day.  Okay, not as irritable at times.  I don't return home from the office with all the energy of a dying car battery and crash on my sofa before 8 p.m.   I don't eat as much at lunch and I'm not starving and ready to chew on my own hand by the time I park my car at home.

Maybe best of all, my back and neck pain has diminished significantly.  The ever present tension I had around my shoulders and neck?  Gone.

I can't imagine going back to a traditional sit down desk.  No way, no how. 

What about you?  Do you work at a stand up desk?  What are your thoughts?