Instead of Standing, Why Not Lie Down While You Work? | Hacker News Reader

Instead of Standing, Why Not Lie Down While You Work?

fastcoexist.com

44 pointscoryfklein42 comments

I once found a dentist chair at a thrift store near work. The colors matched exactly our company logo. I thought it would be an awesome workstation so I brought it into the office. Everybody loved it, took pictures of me working in it, and it was the conversation piece of the office for a couple weeks until facilities made me get rid of it.

It actually was the most comfortable workstation I've ever used, so I was excited to see this chair. I hope someday I can both afford it ($3,900) and be allowed to have it in the office.

Here's the actual site for the guys building it: http://www.altwork.com/

Why did you have to get rid of it?

If everyone loved it so much. They'd likely be complaining and asking for one too. And company didn't want to fork over buying new ones for everyone.

It's some form of socialism of something I think. Instead of helping everyone we penelize the 1?

> Instead of helping everyone...

Yes, that's exactly what socialism is based on.

Ever read Harrison Bergeron?

Making everyone equally happy is impossible, so the regime ultimately resorts to making everyone equally miserable.

I guess I can understand how people might become confused if their concept of socialism comes from a single satirical book about egalitarianism.

Well, one satirical short story and actual historical socialism's mountains of corpses.

The HR head of facilities said he "got complaints" about it. I can only speculate on the real reason, but I think it was likely because the only place I could fit it in the office was in a thoroughfare with decent foot traffic.

It blocked about a quarter of the width of the path on which it was located. The individual from HR said he loved the chair and he would be happy for us to keep it if we have more space and I believe him.

is it easy to fall asleep being so comfortable? I'd guess one of the benefits of standing desk is you get to move around more

I wasn't really tempted to fall asleep when using it, but mostly because I get a good 8 hours of sleep every night and my work keeps me engaged.

Honestly though, if a company had the right culture I love the idea of having a desk where you can take a mid-day cat nap if that's what will help you be productive for the rest of the day.

That chair reminds me of the one featured in 'Grandma's Boy':

http://www.mwelab.com/index.php/en/products/emperor-LX

It looks really comfy but even worse than google glass or the segway as far as social acceptability.

I was looking into options like this 4 months ago. These types of chairs / office solutions have the right intent but are too costly!

What I did was a DIY with 2 Ergotron Arms (the best monitor arms in my opinion) along with a Zero-G deck chair. The deck chairs sell for about $60.

http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/zero-gravity-massage-chair-4.jpg

I had to cut-up the keyboard tray myself to get it to hook into the underside of the Zero-G arm rests while leaving enough room so that it doesn't wobble. The keyboard / mouse stay in position because I simply attached some duct tape to the wire. I also had to hacksaw a small piece off the Ergotron arms to get them to rotate downward at an enhanced degree (safe and took under 5 min .. used this guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPEiM_Qk0SY ).

It's very comfortable. It takes the pressure off lower spine and is how we should be working and gaming. I recommend doing it. It has helped my back so that I can return to mixed martial arts safely.

Not the best picture but:

https://41.media.tumblr.com/d2b79a494bf5cad30bc8e3731c2522cb...

I did almost the exact same thing! The Zero gravity chair is one of the best investments I've ever made. But instead of attaching the monitor to a desk, I attached it to a heavy duty kitchen cart, and it's weighed down by a desktop computer on the bottom shelf. I call it "cartputer", and I can wheel it back to the desk when I feel like sitting in my normal office chair.

I imagine that after 30 minutes of being inclined while using the keyboard/mouse, the reduced blood circulation in your hands and arms from gravitational resistance will cause them to be incredibly tired/ fatigued.

Agreed. If anything, the arms should be allowed to stay horizontal, elbows leaning on the armrests and keyboard/mouse placed almost on my lap. With the eyes looking at the screen, it would be suitable for the touch-typing folks.

IMO, your much better off just buying a lazy boy for ~450$ and using it while reclined. Now, toss in a 100$ monitor mount. You can use the keyboard on your lap and the mouse on the arm rest or add a keyboard / mouse tray.

PS: Biggest advantage other than being 1/7th the price, if you don't like the setup you can easily reuse the pieces for other things.

My favorite chair for working is a classic Starbucks sofa chair (the first ones they had, none of this new hard arm seat crap). I could never figure out how to buy something so simple yet comfortable for my apartment though.

The Onion is sometimes too accurate.

https://youtu.be/NYSxkqL9l_8

... because I can't fall asleep while standing, whereas I'll be out like a light in minutes if I lie down?

maybe you're not getting enough sleep

How does the keyboard and mouse not fall off the table when the unit is reclining? Are they magnatised or something?

Also does the unit support 2/3 monitors? I saw videos on youtube with a laptop. How about using a desktop?

Would have to first use it for an extended period of time first rather than putting down the required $$$.

Yep, magnets. They are discussed briefly in the Ars Technica video, here: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/sit-stand-nifty-new-w...

I use a standing desk because sitting all day is terrible for my back, after years and years I had massive amounts of lower back pain and a fairly awful anterior pelvic tilt (APT). Couple that with my otherwise sedentary lifestyle and poor family genetics pre-disposed to back issues and it's not looking pretty for me.

It's taken nearly a year of strengthening my back through heavy lifting in the gym (squats, deadlifts, rows, and weighted pull-ups mainly) to finally see some kind of resemblance of my APT clearing up.

I'd imagine that laying down all day would only be marginally better at best. It might even be worse...I don't know for sure, but I do know that I used to get pretty bad back pain if I stayed in bed or lied on the couch too long.

Planks really helped my lower back. 1 minute face down, 1 on each side and 1 face up. If you can't make it to the gym, or you're feeling pressed for time, give it a shot.

Everyone's different of course, and i'm not a doctor, but building up that core strength did a lot for me. I pretty much stole the warmup from reddit's bodyweightfitness https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommend... The whole routine is good, but the warmup alone seems like enough to at least maintain my back.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BHbxU3FCMAEBDv2.jpg:large

What a great ide....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...........

This reminds me of an article & photo from 10 or 15 years ago of a Sun Microsystems programmer who had back problems. He had designed a desk where he would lie on the floor and look upwards at his monitor. I can't for the life of me find the picture using Google, maybe someone else can find it.

They're hawking an ergonomic chair that costs as much as a cheap car and using non-ergonomic Apple mouse and keyboard. I'll just assume the chair is primarily intended to be pretty but uncomfortable as well.

Very interesting. Will this work with a book, pen and paper?

I really believe being slightly reclined is optimal for reducing back strain.

Herman Miller has been marketing the Embody as a (slightly) reclined chair. They've even designed a paired desk, but oddly enough Embody has no headrest:

http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/workspaces/desks/envelo...

I wrote my thesis on a laptop lying in a sofa. It was good.

I had such bad pains in my neck and shoulders that I had to lie down alot, and from that position I learnt how to touch type and use vim. I thought the position had some merit, and that a light recline might be good. About five years on and I still struggle sitting and typing on 'standard desks'. It just feels ergonomically wrong.

I gave up a long time ago, and I just put the keyboard in my lap now. I don't have a 100%-keyboard based workflow, but I do only reach for my trackball infrequently, since I switched to a tile-based window manager. I haven't had any wrist pain since I started doing this. I pair it with a bog-standard split keyboard, which is probably not quite optimal in terms of how my arms end up curved in a bit, but is pretty close. My monitors I move up to the edge of the desk, so that there is just enough room to put my keyboard down when I stand up. It works reasonably well. I'd still rather have what's in the article, but not enough to pay for it, so....

Cheers, I have tried that, it might suit a symmetrical keyboard a little better or a tenkeyless, but the keyboard feels a little low still. And slightly wrong. It's the pointer that's also a pain. I recline with a laptop on my lap and that's okayish as the touchpad is accessible, but still not great. Like you, I'm keyboard focused mainly, with the occasional use of the pointer. I don't have one place in the house which is particularly comfortable to use a PC at, and I'd need a new room for that chair! On my laptop I have the nipple in the middle, but it requires a bit too much stress for it to be comfortable. Otherwise that could be a great addition to any keyboard.

It seems that you might want to lie down on your bellie with the computer beneath you via some kind of cut out around your face/chest to prevent uncomfortable pressure; that way your arms can just hang down and do work fairly easily.

These will work great in call centers. You could probably cram three people into the same space as two desk-workers have now. As a bonus, you can put the phrase "work like you're flying first class" in recruitment ads.

I can't believe nobody has drawn a comparison to this yet (image link):

http://goo.gl/QkQymW

This is seriously one of the worst ideas for office furniture I've ever seen.

So I've always had a penchant for lying on my stomach with a laptop in front of me. I think it's because that's how I did homework when I was a kid - lying on the floor in front of the TV.

I'm getting this for everyone in our office.

When we have an office :) It'll be like Aeron chairs in the 1990s boom!

Isn't being recumbent known to decrease performance on mental tasks?

Aeron chair -> standing desk -> running desk -> lying down desk

This year's running desk is the lying down desk. In 2017 it will probably be a hammock desk or something.

Your best posture is your next. The most important thing is just to move around and there are plenty of ways to accomplish this now.

Could you repurpose a gaming chair?

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