After approximately four months of my “Standing Desk Experiment,” it doesn’t look like I’m going back to sitting anytime soon. For the past few years, the standing desk for office-workers has been a hot topic, backed by some pretty convincing research that the amount of sitting we are doing is actually doing us physical harm in the long run. “Sitting is the new smoking” is a phrase used by those who truly believe. If that is the case, then that’s a scary proposition for many Americans, the average office worker in this country spends 5 hours 41 minutes sitting every day! I consider myself to have an somewhat active job within the “office worker” category, but I still sit at work a lot. An article by Joseph Stromberg from The Smithsonian sells the benefits of standing at your workstation with these points:
Improved Circulation and Higher Metabolism
Reduced Risk of Obesity
Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Other Metabolic Problems
Reduced Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Reduced Risk of Cancer (especially colon and prostate)
Lower Long-Term Mortality Risk
He goes on to dispel the myth that an active lifestyle outside of work counter-balances the negative effects:
“Men who spend more than five hours per day sitting at work and get limited exercise were at twice the risk of heart failure as those who exercise often and sit fewer than two hours daily at the office. But even when the researchers controlled for the amount of exercise, excessive sitters were still 34 percent more likely to develop heart failure than those who were standing or moving.”
The scary research doesn’t end there:
“Those who sit a lot are 54% more likely to have a heart attack. Men who sit more than 6 hours a day have a 20% higher mortality rate. Women have a 40% higher mortality rate. If you sit for more than 23 hours a week you are 64% more likely to die from heart disease.”
– Chris Adams, The Benefits of a Standing Desk: Standing While Working and How it Can Change Your Life
So, all that was enough to convince me to try it myself. I am not one to latch-on to every trend that comes my way, but regardless of studies or articles or blogs, I could feel negative physical affects of sitting on my own body. So before spending the money on a device to raise my workstation, I “built” a prototype:
Then I placed my keyboard and mouse on top, and went to work. After some initial funny looks and questions from co-workers, here’s how it went:
I feel more physical energy
It seems counter-intuitive, but standing actually makes me feel less tired throughout the day than sitting does. Also, research shows that standing will burn a third more calories over the course of a day. You know those “slumps” that happen mid-morning and early afternoon? That’s your body’s metabolism dropping while it deals with that last meal. Energy highs and lows still happen to me, but it seems the lows are a bit higher.
I feel more engaged with others
This was the most surprising aspect of the experiment: I had more energy for conversation on the phone and face-to-face. when someone calls or visits now, I feel present and fully ready to help them problem-solve. Part of that comes from the confidence that good posture brings. And speaking of good posture…
I have better posture
When I sit at my chair, I have a tendency to slump. Working at a standing desk keeps my core and back muscles engaged throughout the day, which helps avoid the compression that comes from getting lower and lower in my chair.
I feel more focused, alert, and productive
I liken it to an athlete getting ready for a performance, bouncing on his toes and shaking his arms. I have a job to do which requires enthusiasm and focus to do it well. And my physical productivity hasn’t been affected at all, which surprises some people because many times my job requires precision, using a mouse or tablet or trackpad.
It makes me change locations
I don’t want to give the impression the standing all day won’t make you tired at times, it definitely will. But what this does for me is force me to get out of the office more. Within walking distance, I have different spaces around the office, park benches by the river, several museums, coffee shops and parks. Changing your perspective is vital to generating new ideas, and that’s what our clients count on us for. Sometimes this doesn’t occur to me while I’m sitting.
If you think you can physically handle standing for all or most of your work day, I highly recommend it. Like I said earlier, the 24-hour news cycle is always promoting bandwagon fads or proclaiming that something you’ve always done will actually kill you, but the only way you’ll know if this is right for you is to conduct your own experiment. So grab yourself a cardboard box and get on your feet!
