My "Working While Standing" Hack

Yeah I'm sorry but you can't argue with science.

"Sitting for more than 1 hour has been shown to induce biochemical changes ... leads to the deposit of fats in adipose tissue rather than these being metabolized by muscle, ... heart disease risks". Read the original article for details.

Apparently we have a tradeoff between staying in "flow" and staying healthy. Since that seems to be the choice at the moment then I'll move every half an hour and worry about my productivity using other hacks.

I have to disagree on taking a break every 20 to 30 minutes being in conflict with getting into flow. If I apply the Pomodoro method and set a fixed time for the break to start, I found that for me it's actually quite easy to get back onto the problem after the short break.

What I think makes the difference is that forcing the break, although annoying at first, makes you take the break when things are going well, resulting in eagerness to continue solving the problem after the break. While, if you take a break when you feel you need one, things are probably already stuck and it's harder to start up again.

I do agree with getting away from the computer for a proper break every few hours, but isn't that quite natural already? I can't go without eating/drinking for much longer than that anyway.

Dancing definitely makes it easier on the legs and feet, as you're not stuck in the same static position all day. Alternatively contracting and relaxing the calf is necessary to achieve return blood flow up the leg. If you stand without moving, you are at risk of varicose veins and such things, but this effect is much reduced if you are dancing at the same time. Plus, it's loads of fun!

I like his last comment: "dance". I'm glad I work from home, because if I'm standing at work and a great dance tune comes through my mix (currently Basie doing Shiny Stockings) I can't stand still.

Some have suggested that using any kind of timer to remind them to get up and walk around will interrupt the flow, and if they don't have a reminder they will not get up often enough.

For those who like to listen to music while coding, you can use your music to help with this. Simply queue up ~30 minutes worth of songs, and then get to work. When the music ends that probably won't be enough of a distraction to pull you out of the flow, but realizing will slowly bubble its way to the surface that the music has stopped.

When that happens, you can put on another ~30 minutes of music after taking your walk-around break. Repeat.

I find that this doesn't disrupt flow, because the "time to change music" event is not an interrupt. I think being in the flow is a lot like sleep in that it goes through cycles much like the sleep stages, and you become aware of the music having stopped at a stage in the flow where it is easy to stop and restart.

BTW, music also makes a great way to keep track of time for billing. Back in our consulting days at work, I'd keep track of how much time was spent for each client by what CDs I listened to while working on that client's project.

I do a similar thing. I also have a variety of objects under my desk at different heights so I can rest my feet in different positions and do whatever feels comfortable.

My desk isn't adjustable (atm) and one of the biggest (but unexpected) benefits of standing at my desk is that it tires me. After two hours or so I am forced to go have a sit down _away_ from my computer. This helps my productivity more than trying to take regular breaks when sitting as I find it harder to waste the time browsing the internet or simply skip a break.

Nice list, though I'm not sure if longer breaks and longer periods of sitting are as good as more frequent breaks. The last suggestion, dancing, is a very good one (And one I should do more). There is one thing that's even better then sitting and standing, and that's moving (hence the treadmill-inder-desk phenomenon) so if you don't have a treadmill, dancing is a good second ;)

Geekdesk FTW. I stand almost all day now, it's great.