Standing for your health

Over the last year I’ve seen a number of articles discussing research that apparently shows that sitting around for excessive amounts of time (e.g. a normal desk job) is incredibly bad for us, leading to all sorts of declines in our health and potentially shaving 10+ years off your life expectancy. If you are looking for a nice summary of the findings, here is a handy-dandy infographic detailing all the terrible things that befall you when sitting on your butt all day.

So as these shocking revelations were making the rounds through the public consciousness, our Legal department picked up a new lawyer who brought with her a love of stand-up desks. This in turn has started a movement within my department to transition to such a work style. Three of the seven negotiators have already switched over to this healthier alternative, and it looks like the rest of the department will follow shortly. We've even had people stop by from other departments asking about them! And not being one to pass up an opportunity to save myself a few more years to waste playing Civilization V, I decided to get into the game myself. So today is the first day of what will hopefully be at least one week of working while standing.

Now whereas the neogitators were able to expense $600 mechanical arms for their computers, allowing them to switch at will between standing and sitting, I suspected such budgetary expenditures were beyond the reach of the assistants, so I set out to build my own (much cheaper) version from scratch. Cue IKEA.

For slightly under $25 and a bit of elbow grease, I was able to put together the lovely contraption you see to the right. It consists of a side table, a shelf, and two shelf brackets. I had to add a couple of reams of paper to get the monitor to the correct height, but other than that it's good to go. I also got a floor mat, but it was cheap enough that I let the office pay for it. :D

So the current plan is to try this format for at least week, hopefully three, before deciding whether or not to stick with it for good. Seven hours into the first day and my heels are already killing me, but hopefully that will subside as my body gets used to standing. I have to stay the alternative seems pretty scary. I haven't seen the actual scientific reports in question but if half of what the news articles say are true, I have no desire to going back to sitting around for 15 hours a day (work + computer time at home). Wish me luck!