I am beginning to think I want one of these

[jducoeur]

Interesting article in the WSJ about the rise of standing desks as a commonplace in Silicon Valley. I actually think that's kind of neat, and I'm intrigued. I don't think I could deal with it absolutely all the time -- having a high stool to rest on sometimes seems necessary -- but I bet that I would love to be able to stand for 50+% of my day, and likely more.

(And yes, the treadmill idea is curiously appealing as well. Not certain whether I could actually type on a low-speed treadmill, but I'd be very interested to try it out...)

Comments

[sichling.livejournal.com]

I have a treadmill desk at home - feel free to come by and try it out.

[jducoeur]

Thanks! I may well take you up on that...

[lanome.livejournal.com]

I love the walk-stations. They're not great for serious deep-in-thought coding (I'm likely to fall off when I forget I'm supposed to be moving my feet), but they're great for a little email management time, and I've heard they're also great for writing performance reviews and the like. I also like them for that, "go through the code review, make changes, rebuild, test, make more changes" sort of work, which isn't quite as enveloping but still requires human brain.

Standing is less good for me, because my feet are very flat, and it hurts my back after a while. I enjoy my big bouncy ball chair, though. It took a while to find that balance where I'm relaxed, but still sitting up straight, but now that I have, I'm a big fan.

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

I propped up my desk to make it a standing desk when I was recovering after radiation. I took it down again after awhile, because I didn't want to stand _all_ the time. I've recently been thinking that was a mistake, and am thinking about getting a high chair for the occasional need to sit.

I found working while standing to be generally quite invigorating, and tended to keep me focussed on what I was doing.

[jducoeur]

Yeah, intuitively that seems like I'd have a similar reaction. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure these lovely work desks here don't crank up high enough...

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

I used cinder blocks, and was able to get my desk stable enough, and was lucky enough that the height happened to work out perfectly.

[jducoeur]

Interesting idea. Might well work for me, but I suspect somebody would declare that it looks unprofessional...

[cellio]

A "skirt" for the desk that reaches to the floor would address that.

[laurion]

I've long had ideas mulling around in my head for an adjustable height desk. The ones out on the market now are very expensive, sadly. I may simply mount my monitor on the wall with an adjustable arm, and then get a desktop lectern or other box to raise up the bluetooth keyboard and mouse to get a similar effect on the cheap. (This would be my home office. Doing something similar at work may require talking my boss into getting me different hardware than I currently have.)

[matildalucet.livejournal.com]

I've thought about getting an AnthroCart for years now, but the combination of price and look (fine in a lab, iffy in a living room) has held me back. The look is becoming less important as I have been working on something at least this ugly for ten or more years now. The price still gives me pause.

[mindways]

I have a stand-sit desk, and love it. Partly because it has helped me to heal from certain injuries faster (those exacerbated by sitting), and partly because if I'm looking to just duck online quickly, it's a *lot* easier when the desk is in 'stand' mode - there's not the inertia of sitting down in a chair. (Which sounds trivial in theory, but practice differs.)

If you invest in one, I'd suggest also investing in some sort of floor mat; it makes standing for long stretches much more comfortable.

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

We have an option for stand/sit desks at work. It requires a VP approval, because they're expensive, but I've never heard of anyone being turned down. My boss has actually asked me to get one for her.

[eclecticmagpie.livejournal.com]

Now that a computer desk doesn't have to support a lot of weight, some modest priced drawing tables that are height adjustable become a reasonable possible solution.

[kcoram.livejournal.com]

One of my co-workers has done a roll-your-own version of this. He spends much of his day standing at his desk.

While my back and shoulders would probably love it if I did as well, I'm not sure my poor flat feet would. Maybe I should give it a try anyway, though, once I get some new shoes with better orthopedic inserts.