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I think the only real alternative is to get rid of the 8+ hour work day. Correct me if there is evidence to the contrary, but I don't think humans were designe

I think the only real alternative is to get rid of the 8+ hour work day. Correct me if there is evidence to the contrary, but I don't think humans were designed to sit or stand in one position for extended periods of time, habitually. Unfortunately I don't see the 8 hour work day going away any time soon, so imo the best option is to alternate sitting/standing and take as many walking around breaks as possible.

have_faith 9y ago
I don't mind the work day so much, it's the work week that bothers me most. I would rather have a standard 4 day work week.
- smegger001 9y ago
  I could get behind that, even if I worked a 40 hour week still. Four 10 hour shift would not be bad.
  - sliverstorm 9y ago
    Have you considered a career in healthcare, e.g. nursing or EMT?
keenerd 9y ago
> Correct me if there is evidence to the contrary, but I don't think humans were designed to sit or stand in one position for extended periods of time, habitually. Hard evidence? I can't give you that. But look at all of the other mammals out there. Almost all of them spend substantial amounts of time sitting. Traditional hunter-gatherer societies do almost of their work and food processing sitting down. Every hobbyist flint-knapper works sitting down. The difference is they don't use chairs. Sitting in a chair is bad - just consider the risk of embolisms on long flights. It removes the need for your body to actively support itself and restricts motion. Anecdote of size one, but for me the biggest help was getting rid of the traditional "throne" chair and replacing it a very broad stool. I can comfortably sit cross legged on it all day. I'm constantly moving and shifting my weight forwards and back, leaning and reaching since I can't just roll a chair around. It has required making some unusual furniture to use a computer comfortably. Like all of my keyboards are tilted the "wrong" way (away from me) with the front higher than the back. Much easier on my hands and wrists.
- mrob 9y ago
  >Like all of my keyboards are tilted the "wrong" way (away from me) with the front higher than the back. Much easier on my hands and wrists. Like the horizontally staggered rows of keys, the traditional tilt is a skeuomorphism of a mechanical typewriter. There's no good reason for it to be preserved in electronic keyboards. Ergonomic keyboards are usually tilted the opposite way, with the front higher than the back. This better matches the natural tilt of your hands when you hold them in front of yourself.
- RankingMember 9y ago
  Got any pictures of this stool?
  - amatecha 9y ago
    Yeah I'd be curious to see as well, if it's got some unique properties to it that would be useful to take example from :)
  - keenerd 9y ago
    No, it is basically a boring hard flat piece of wood. Think of a bit of floor raised up off the ground. No back or arms.
- Florin_Andrei 9y ago
  Traditional hunter-gatherer societies blend into their daily schedule some amount of sitting, some amount of walking, also running, also climbing trees, perhaps swimming, etc. It's the variety that's the key difference. We do the same thing (whether that be sitting in a chair, or felling trees in the forest) all day long, for decades. The monotonous schedule seems to be the problem; we're not evolutionarily adapted to it.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
brlewis 9y ago
> the best option is to alternate sitting/standing and take as many walking around breaks as possible. Agreed. This works great for me.
dionidium 9y ago
The 8 hour day contributes, sure, but it's more than just that. Because I live in a city that allows it, I walk to/from work and to/from lunch every day. And to/from any other errand that needs doing. People who drive to suburban office parks do none of this. It's not just what you're doing for the 8 hours that you're at your desk. A lot of us have arranged our entire lives to require no physical movement.

have_faith 9y ago

I don't mind the work day so much, it's the work week that bothers me most. I would rather have a standard 4 day work week.

smegger001 9y ago
I could get behind that, even if I worked a 40 hour week still. Four 10 hour shift would not be bad.
- sliverstorm 9y ago
  Have you considered a career in healthcare, e.g. nursing or EMT?

keenerd 9y ago

> Correct me if there is evidence to the contrary, but I don't think humans were designed to sit or stand in one position for extended periods of time, habitually. Hard evidence? I can't give you that. But look at all of the other mammals out there. Almost all of them spend substantial amounts of time sitting. Traditional hunter-gatherer societies do almost of their work and food processing sitting down. Every hobbyist flint-knapper works sitting down. The difference is they don't use chairs. Sitting in a chair is bad - just consider the risk of embolisms on long flights. It removes the need for your body to actively support itself and restricts motion. Anecdote of size one, but for me the biggest help was getting rid of the traditional "throne" chair and replacing it a very broad stool. I can comfortably sit cross legged on it all day. I'm constantly moving and shifting my weight forwards and back, leaning and reaching since I can't just roll a chair around. It has required making some unusual furniture to use a computer comfortably. Like all of my keyboards are tilted the "wrong" way (away from me) with the front higher than the back. Much easier on my hands and wrists.

mrob 9y ago
>Like all of my keyboards are tilted the "wrong" way (away from me) with the front higher than the back. Much easier on my hands and wrists. Like the horizontally staggered rows of keys, the traditional tilt is a skeuomorphism of a mechanical typewriter. There's no good reason for it to be preserved in electronic keyboards. Ergonomic keyboards are usually tilted the opposite way, with the front higher than the back. This better matches the natural tilt of your hands when you hold them in front of yourself.
RankingMember 9y ago
Got any pictures of this stool?
- amatecha 9y ago
  Yeah I'd be curious to see as well, if it's got some unique properties to it that would be useful to take example from :)
- keenerd 9y ago
  No, it is basically a boring hard flat piece of wood. Think of a bit of floor raised up off the ground. No back or arms.
Florin_Andrei 9y ago
Traditional hunter-gatherer societies blend into their daily schedule some amount of sitting, some amount of walking, also running, also climbing trees, perhaps swimming, etc. It's the variety that's the key difference. We do the same thing (whether that be sitting in a chair, or felling trees in the forest) all day long, for decades. The monotonous schedule seems to be the problem; we're not evolutionarily adapted to it.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

brlewis 9y ago

> the best option is to alternate sitting/standing and take as many walking around breaks as possible. Agreed. This works great for me.

dionidium 9y ago

The 8 hour day contributes, sure, but it's more than just that. Because I live in a city that allows it, I walk to/from work and to/from lunch every day. And to/from any other errand that needs doing. People who drive to suburban office parks do none of this. It's not just what you're doing for the 8 hours that you're at your desk. A lot of us have arranged our entire lives to require no physical movement.