I wanted to be able to quickly switch from a sitting to a sanding desk when using a computer. First, I bought cheap benches I could use to convert my sitting desk to a standing one, but I found that the conversion hassle prevented me from wanting to go from the sitting to the standing position. Next, I intended to buy a desk that you could quickly and easily raise or lower, but I found this cost more than an additional computer. So, I bought an extra computer for my office and have one on a normal desk and the other in a permanent standing desk position. Dropbox makes it easy for me to quickly switch when working on a file.
Why not get a tall chair that can be used at a standing desk? (I’ve never used such a setup, I don’t know if it would work or if I’m missing something that people who have tried this would know, so this is a serious question not a rhetorical one.)
This agrees with your experience with “hassle”: from an article linked to by bcoburn in the munchkin thread:
In our field studies of sit-stand workstations we have found little evidence of widespread benefits and users only stand for very short-periods (15 minutes or less total per day). Other studies have found that the use of sit-stand stations rapidly declines so that after 1 month a majority of people are sitting all the time, so compliance can be problematic.
Do you have strong reasons to not just stand all the time while using your computer?
I use a standing desk all the time at home (which, until recently, was also my primary office). I think that shifting away from the computer when too tired to stand may be worth considering as a deliberate strategy.
I wanted to be able to quickly switch from a sitting to a sanding desk when using a computer. First, I bought cheap benches I could use to convert my sitting desk to a standing one, but I found that the conversion hassle prevented me from wanting to go from the sitting to the standing position. Next, I intended to buy a desk that you could quickly and easily raise or lower, but I found this cost more than an additional computer. So, I bought an extra computer for my office and have one on a normal desk and the other in a permanent standing desk position. Dropbox makes it easy for me to quickly switch when working on a file.
Why not get a tall chair that can be used at a standing desk? (I’ve never used such a setup, I don’t know if it would work or if I’m missing something that people who have tried this would know, so this is a serious question not a rhetorical one.)
Interesting. But I would want my feet to rest on a solid surface.
How about a draughtsman’s chair?
Use a tall chair and an (improvised?) footrest of appropriate height? Some standing desks have multiple shelves that can conceivably be used for this.
This agrees with your experience with “hassle”: from an article linked to by bcoburn in the munchkin thread:
Do you have strong reasons to not just stand all the time while using your computer?
It often feels better to sit down, especially when I’m tired.
I have been for about 20 days standing unless I’m doing the most important thing I could be doing. Standing is an antiprocrastination device.
I just gave a talk to about 60 people at Smith College’s Executive Education for Women program on rationality and I mentioned this idea. Thanks.
I use a standing desk all the time at home (which, until recently, was also my primary office). I think that shifting away from the computer when too tired to stand may be worth considering as a deliberate strategy.