All Stand for Progress

How many times have heard people remark that a thunderbolt flash of inspiration happened whilst they sat in their office chair, at work? or a great idea was hatched whilst they sat, with rounded shoulders, in a slumped position-staring at their computer monitor. I’m guessing its fairly few times such utterances have been heard.

Now compare your office chair moments to all the great ideas, solutions to problems, or life-changing moments that have occurred to you; perhaps whilst you stood in the shower, ran through a park or ambled along- lost in daydream and reflection.

There are common elements to both scenarios, one is that you are away from desk, the second element is the focus of this post. Sitting at your desk all day makes you tired, lethargic and is not great for your health. Enter stage left, the stand-up desk.

Standing up at desk to work is hardly a new concept, many people already do this. However, usually they are those engaged in manual tasks which require a degree of freedom to move and a seated position inhibits movement. Artists and sculptors often worked standing, maybe to help their creativity flow free or maybe because that’s what they have ‘grown-up’ with. So, why as writers, academics or office workers do we sit? We also need a degree of movement, a flow of creativity but instead we try to progress our work whilst stationary.

Stand up for progress. Standing at your desk is great. You can move around, rock back-and-forth, stand on one-leg, go for a little excursion around the room. The opportunities to move are endless and very accessible. Can you say the same for your office chair? (note: swiveling around, whilst fun, is not really a functional movement)

So where to start: Their are lots of really neat stand-up desks, some are free standing whilst others simply elevate your work station from your desk. However one thing is certain. These desks are not cheap,and for some, including me, are prohbitively expensive. The answer is simple, to hack up a stand-up desk. Lets not complicate matters here. We simply need to raise the level of our laptop or keyboard so we can type comfortably and raise the monitor screen to around eye level. Ergonimics are super important, but thats not my point here. Stand-up desks can be simple, cheap and effective.

My set-up is shown below. It comprises of a foot-stool perched solidly on a normal desk. Atop is a piece of wood to firm up the laptop postion, and the wood extends nicely to form a mouse pad. The monitors is fixed to a steel vertical pole which is G-clamped to the desk. The pole enables the monitor to be aligned vertically. My set-up will never win any design awards. However, my increased energy for writing may just get me one step closer to finishing my Doctoral thesis. Sitting, slumped in a office chair was is not/was not an inspired or energtic pose. I need to think on my feet and stand for progress.

That said, my perch may just win some kind of award. Standing all day can be tiring and a little sore on the knee’s (Note: a vibration mat helps to reduce knee pain or muscle soreness) My potential awarding winning perch is, in my humble opinion, an inspired design. The design is inspired by a recent accident which meant a stay in hospital (see this story). The upright of the perch is made from a modified under-arm crutch. My accident was cycling related, so the Brooks saddle seemed apt, and a perfect fit for me. The base of the perch is a cut-up Ikea table leg-possibly the best use for IKEA stuff. The design had only one iteration. If I lent back to far, I fell off my perch-nearly damaging my neck.

The irony of this,again also relates to this. After a shower, a run through the park and a slow mindful amble I returned to my stand-up desk. Bang, the idea hit me like a thunderbolt, once again I nearly toppled, but I caught myself and my idea with both hands. To stop my perch, being ‘unperched’, I fitted a door stop to the back of the wooden section of the upright to reduce backward motion. If it can stop a door, it can stop me. The humble door stop, see top-left photo.

Stand up for progress. Working whilst you stand has many health benefits, such as imporved posture, greater movement and you can throw some shapes whilst you work. Standing at your desk zapps lethargy, zings rounded shoulders and zeros the mind. Try standing whilst you work today, it will change your world.