#19) Build a Stand-Up Desk: Because Sitting is the New Smoking

It’s been said that “sitting is the new smoking”—yes, even for runners.  Sitting at a desk for eight hours a day has been linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and just plain bad posture.  The basic argument is that our bodies are made to move and that sitting in one position slows down body functions.  Makes sense. 

I’ve been sitting on a stability ball for about four years.  I honestly can’t remember why I started sitting on a ball.  Prior to my own conversion, my impression of stability-ball sitters was that they were weirdos.   But once I started I never went back.  At first I would do a crunch or two after lunch, but that fell by the wayside pretty quickly.  I do notice that the stability ball forces me to sit up straight, but mainly I’ve stuck with it because it is just more comfortable for me than sitting in a desk chair.   

But I’m pretty sure that sitting on a ball still counts as sitting. 

There is a guy in our office who built a stand-up desk out of an Ikea Lack side table and a Viktor Shelf.  I borrowed it for a few days while he was on vacation, but it didn’t really do the trick.  The first problem was that my co-worker is about a foot taller than me, which made me have to hunch my shoulders up to reach the keyboard.  The second problem was that the Ikea standing desk didn’t accommodate both of my monitors.  I put up with it for a couple days but gladly handed it back over when he returned. 

My plan for #29 was to build a similar standing desk with two Lacks and a lower shelf.  This would require a trip to Ikea and a power drill, but I put it on the list figuring I had twelve months to make it happen. 

And then, while searching for a new three-ring binder in the supply room at work, I found something even better. 

You might wonder whether I mean that what I found was better than an Ikea side table or better than a three-ring binder.  Either.  Both!   And I don’t even know what this thing is. 

It sort of looks like an old piece of a desk.  It has slots for floppy discs.  It’s kind of a gray color.  I figured nobody was using it because, well, it has slots for floppy discs. 

I forgot about the three-ring binder and rushed back to my desk to try it out.  I propped my monitors on top, popped my keyboard on a shorter riser in front, and put my mouse pad on an overturned bamboo box.   

Somehow the ergonomics were perfect. 

The best part is that I can quickly move the keyboard riser out of the way if I get tired and need to sit on the ball for an hour or so.   Not to pat myself on the back too hard, but people pay over $800 for this kind of flexibility and I upcycled mine out of a floppy disc tower.  I think that makes me some kind of engineer. 

Or a weirdo. 

 

-K.