Standing desk experiment and experiences | Hacker News Reader

Standing desk experiment and experiences

kylecordes.com

41 pointszephyrfalcon38 comments

Former IBM CEO Buck Rodgers worked standing up. He had a long thin table partly covered in butcher block paper. When he wanted to issue an order, he wrote it on the butcher paper, ripped it out and sent it out. I always thought this was a great way to signal that substance counts more than presentation for internal docs.

He's called 'Buck Rogers', Buck Rodgers is a fictional character.

Exactly backwards: Buck Rogers is the fictional character, Buck Rodgers the senior IBM guy. But he was never CEO, only VP of Marketing. See, e.g., http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/dpd50/dpd50_5406R... .

It's the other way around. Buck Rogers is the fictional character, and Buck Rodgers is the IBM manager.

Hah, fancy that! Apologies, I could have sworn it was the reverse. Thanks for the correction.

Please vote that down, I can't delete it anymore, and I don't like deleting stuff anyway, it's the cowards way out.

I tried the standing desk thing for close to a year, and while it did have many of the benefits that the OP and others have mentioned, it can get a little old once the initial excitement wears off. I now have a sitting desk again with a good ergonomic chair, but I wish that I could adjust the desk to be a standing workstation again from time to time. A hybrid is the best solution in my opinion but those desks are friggin' expensive.

Search for "GeekDesk" - it's moderately priced.

I started using a stand up desk full time roughly a month ago. It takes some adjusting after many years of sitting for eight hours a day, but I'm starting to reap the benefits. I've suffered from lower back and neck pain for years, and those issues are gone. There's a perceivable increase in my overall energy level, and oddly enough, I just feel happier on a day to day basis. Looking through my git logs, it also seems I've been more productive, but it's hard to quantatively prove that without a real analysis. One thing I can measure for sure though is the fact that I've lost a little weight. Apparently standing for eight hours a day burns roughly 10,000 calories per month, so that's another perk.

Here's my recent setup. My friend sold me an industry style workbench with motor lift that he scored at an auction (for 60 bucks). I had a nice solid wood top from another desk that worked perfect.

Setup includes 30" monitor in the middle with two 20" monitors on edge.

I'm not standing all day, just a few hours a day at the moment.

http://i.imgur.com/yZYlq.jpg

Has anyone tried treadmill desks? I would like to give that a try but would love to hear people's opinions on it.

We have a fitness room here at work. I've tried putting a board across one of the treadmills so I can use my laptop on it.

impressions: - my top speed I can really walk without sweating is about 1.9 miles per hour. - 1.5 miles per hour is best for me as far as actually being able to think and walk at the same time. - Above 2 miles per hour, all I'll really doing is exercising and watching to make sure nothing important pops up on my computer screen. I can't really concentrate on hard problems or type well at that speed.

Here's an article that was written about a treadmill desk a friend of mine made: http://www.scribd.com/doc/17376069/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-...

I have a functional, attractive, cheap options. I bought an IKEA bookcase, used the very highest shelf and the bottom half for tech and design books, and two shelves for the monitors and the keyboard/mouse.

- I can adjust for my eye and arm level to within half an inch

- The whole setup looks professional in a modern chic sort of way

- Only fifty bucks.

I'd like to see the pics too, or a link to the bookcase. I've been wanting to try this out.

pics?

I find standing up helps me think about problems, and while I have never worked long-term at a stand-up desk, I frequently stand up if I feel like I need to clear my head or focus.

I think this used to be a lot more common, there is for example a famous Photo of Einstein working while standing up.

lots of philosophers and thinkers in general "worked" while walking around. It has to do with circulation and blood flow to the brain I guess. Due to the nature of our work it would not be practical though.

Descartes actually liked to work in bed until noon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes

Some people 'work' while walking today - using bluetooth headpieces for example

I think that Hemmingway worked like this, typed out in the first half at a desk typing and stood the last half with a legal pad writing notes down.

I've just returned to a stand-up desk after going back to a sit-down desk for two years.

I've taken a simple extra chest of drawers which was lying around the house, and put a 2" thick piece of wood on top. My monitors are likely a little on the low side, but my keyboard is about right.

In the past, I've stood on a balance board to further engage my core (though when your hands are on the keyboard, you'd be amazed at how easy standing on a balance board is).

One thing I've looked at doing is taking buying two adjustable base stools, removing the seat part and attaching a desk of some sort to those. That way I would have a height adjustable work station for about $200

I saw a doctor yesterday about my back pain and he actually recommended against a standing desk. He said they are mostly recommended for people with herniated disks, which is a more serious condition than a regular back pain.

All the orthopedics clinics at my hospital have standing setups for the doctors' workrooms (the workroom itself a somewhat new idea, I think: basically converted closets where we all go to computers to look at imaging, check labs, and write electronic notes). Theirs are all non-adjustible but of appropriate height, made entirely of plywood and formica, with the lights down. They are some of the happiest doctors and most productive doctors in the hospital. I'll be moving to a new job in a couple of months, I plan to set up a standing desk. This looks like a good option.

I love the idea of a standing desk. I only wish there were more shopping options out there. Steelcase and Anthro are pricey, most of us aren't living on Master P wages.

I picked the IKEA Fredrik standing desk last week and it works great. Not as pretty as their older Jerker desks, but it beats the phone books I was using to lift my normal desk.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60111123

Thanks for that link; I had not seen that. Do you put your monitor on the top shelf, lowering it? Or the middle shelf?

You can choose how exactly you put the shelves, I have my monitor right on the top shelf, but I'm quite tall. I have the main 'desk' part in the middle with the final shelf underneath.

How's the sturdiness? I heard it can get just a little wobbly.

Yeah, I've been using one of these too, and agree it's great.

I'm not sure I understand how incorrect relative placement of the keyboard and monitor is any more or less an issue with a standing vs. sitting desk. Your upper body remains in the same position either way, so wouldn't you want both keyboard and monitor to move up and down in lock-step?

That said, almost all sitting desks, IME, place the keyboard too high relative to the monitor.

"Upper body" is where you went wrong. Anatomically, we don't talk about an "upper body". There is the shoulder girdle (collar bones, scapula, manubrium), thorax (chest with ribs), the abdomen (soft, supported by the lumbar spine and flank muscles (aka fajitas, or skirt steak)), and then the pelvis. Your lumbar spine is in an entirely opposite position (flexion vs extension) when sitting vs standing because it has to accommodate the connection between your torso and your pelvis. Your torso's position may be the same, but your pelvis is clearly rotated anteriorly while sitting compared to standing. This puts different loads on the lumbar disks and the strap muscles of the spine, some of the biggest muscles in your body (in pigs these giant muscles are bread-loafed to make pork chops - that bone in the pork chop is half a lumbar vertebrate)

How does that affect where I want my keyboard relative to my monitor (i.e. positions of my eyes vs. hands)?

Yes, exactly - most desks have the keyboard height and system/monitor height much too close together (most commonly, the same surface). I adjusted both separately until they were comfortable (90 degree elbows, looking straight at the monitor) and the result was much more height difference than usual.

Martin Gardner used to work at a standing desk - mentioned here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituarie...

http://alexbellos.com/?p=1255

Does standing in one place for a long period of time have a negative impact on blood circulation in your feet and legs, not to mention stress your heart? I've heard surgeons have circulation problems when they get older from standing all the time.

I just converted to a standing desk at work last week. My experience so far is that I don't stand in one place. I'm constantly moving--taking a step back to think, bouncing on my toes, moving aside for my pair partner, etc.

I seriously doubt most geeks are suffering from a stressed heart due to too much exercise. I don't think /standing/ will tip that scale.

I occasionally use a standing desk of sorts -- I put my laptop on the kitchen counter. It's great for standing and working for short periods.

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