So, following on from my thoughts last week, I spent a little time today rearranging my main work area to accommodate working standing up. I’m just aiming for a temporary solution for the moment, so I can experiment with it and evaluate whether it’s going to help. Luckily, I have a ton of sturdy boxes left over from various technical purchases, so after trying out various combinations I came up with this:
Thanks go to my MacBook Pro, XBox 360, Pod and Netgear router (among others) for generously donating their boxes to the cause 
Actually since that picture was taken I’ve put a couple of books under the keyboard / mouse shelf since my forearms were a little too much below the horizontal. Getting pictures taken of myself at the keyboard was very useful in determining the appropriate setup actually, the first attempt felt right when I was setting it up, but once Marie took a photo, I realised that the monitor was at least 10cm too low (your head is supposed to be pitched slightly downwards, only up to about 30 degrees, when looking at the middle of the screen).
Right now it’s pretty weird, and my feet start hurting far too quickly, but I’m going to stick with it and see how it goes. My back hurts a bit right now, but that may be down to moving stuff about and/or unfamiliarity with sustaining this position. I’ve ordered a Capisco which will allow me to take the weight off my feet while still being out of the demon sitting position, but I’ve been told it’ll take about 4 weeks for delivery, so I’m going to have to manage without it for now, perhaps sitting with the Macbook somewhere if I really need a rest.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
January 17th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I have seen few photos from you. But this is one is the funniest one.
January 17th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
wanted to write the same thing as spanishguy
January 17th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I once read this about standing for long periods of time. You should have a block of wood (or something similar) maybe 4-6 inches thick that you can put one foot up on. Being able to switch between standing flat footed, to standing with your left foot on a step, to standing with your right foot on a step is supposed to be more comfortable, and less strain.
January 17th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
@ASpanishGuy / niko – ok, now I’m paranoid. What’s so funny?
@Jabberwocky – yeah, I heard this too – the stand-up desks seem to all have a rail in order to allow you to do this. I have a box under the desk that should suffice.
January 18th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Some remarks :
I would center screen on table, allowing more free move, while not typing. You seem to be “blocked” by the wall on you left.
I would avoid a Wall just behind the computer if you can, allowing eyes to accommodate on more distant objects, may also help preventing being too much ‘rigid’.
(being too rigid is very bad for legs circulatory system, kneeing when walking/moving is part of ‘pression system’ regulation.)
Some interesting bits on stand up desk :
http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/05/obesity_answer_standup_treadmi.php
A complementary idea, is to use a podometer, to check if you get sufficient daily walk. I used one until I get the number estimation right without using it.
Thanks for sharing the idea/setup. I really want to try stand up desk now.
January 18th, 2009 at 11:07 am
I have to work within the constraints of the room that I have, I’m over to the left to ensure that my keyboard is centralised to the monitor, while still giving me room for the mouse. I might try to find somewhere else for the printer sometime so I can spread out more, if this experiment works.
I think the fact that my feet can’t take standing up all the time will help me move about more. While I do longer builds, instead of tinkering with something else on the machine (reading news etc), I plan to go sit somewhere else and read, etc. Should keep enough variety in the day I think.
I still intend to go for my daily walks, I haven’t got a pedometer but I generally walk 1-2 miles a day, so that should be covered.
Thanks for the treadmill link, I’d heard about this but hadn’t seen a picture.
January 20th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Another chair suggestion: “Swopper”. I have one at work, one at home and I absolutely totally love it. Less issues with the back and it even supports my “can’t sit still for five minutes” attitude.
http://www.swopper.de/index.php?lang=en
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Hey steve,
So after a couple of days how is the standing up desk working out for you? I’m looking at rearranging my own home office with a similar setup.
Cheers,
Andy
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I was going to do a proper post after a full week or two, but so far it definitely does seem to be helping my existing back problems. It comes at the expense of my feet, which are pretty painful by the evening, and some tiredness in the muscles that I don’t usually use so much. Those I’m hoping should get better with time (plus my chair will help when it arrives).
January 24th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
[...] been a whole week since I discarded my office chair and switched to a stand-up desk so, I’m guessing some of you are wondering how it’s [...]