3 ms·

I think there's some good information in this article, but the elephant in the room is "why didn't he just use an adjustable standing/sitting desk?" You can't

by bstar77 12y ago

I think there's some good information in this article, but the elephant in the room is "why didn't he just use an adjustable standing/sitting desk?" You can't make a transition to standing all day cold turkey, I'm shocked anyone thinks they could. When I stand at my desk, I'll do it until I feel uncomfortable/fatigued. When I sit at my desk, I stand when my back and legs get tight. It's that simple.

dopamean 12y ago
I haven't looked into it recently but last I checked those adjustable desks were frightfully expensive.
- blawson 12y ago
  Depends on where you look! < $500 feels very affordable. No experience with this desk in particular though. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S19022530/ http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S19022530/
- patchorang 12y ago
  If you don't mind making one yourself you can do it pretty cheap. I copied mine off http://www.codeovereasy.com/2013/09/diy-adjustable-desk-for-under-25/ http://www.codeovereasy.com/2013/09/diy-adjustable-desk-for-..., and it took just a few hours and $40.
- tgb 12y ago
  How about a tall chair/stool? Seems cheap, though not as comfortable as a good chair. (But then again, maybe you don't want it to be too comfortable if you want to avoid sitting.) Edit: see athenot's top-level comment.
- m-i-l 12y ago
  The adjustable Ikea Bekant sit/stand desk is "only" about three times the price of the non-adjustable Bekant desk. (I don't have one but have been tempted.)
  - slantyyz 12y ago
    Three times the price of fixed legs, but compared to most other sit/stand desks, it's relatively inexpensive. I tried it at the store, and I was surprised at how smooth and fast the motor was, especially given the price.
- bstar77 12y ago
  I use the varidesk, I think it was $250 when I bought it. The quality definitely justifies the price, but I didn't find it too expensive to begin with especially since it was a write-off.
psychometry 12y ago
Because you can't build one of those with $22 in Ikea parts. Geekdesks cost around $1000.
- dnissley 12y ago
  What about getting an ikea lack coffee table that you can set on top of your regular height desk? That's the strategy most people take in our office.
  - wongarsu 12y ago
    That's pretty much what the author did [1]. He just screwed on a shelf on the coffee table to support the keyboard and mouse. http://iamnotaprogrammer.com/Ikea-Standing-desk-for-22-dollars.html http://iamnotaprogrammer.com/Ikea-Standing-desk-for-22-dolla...
- wongarsu 12y ago
  I'm pretty sure that this chair for standing desks [1] can't cost much more than $22 either [1] http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/376/3321/original.jpg?w=800&h http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/376/3321/or...
slantyyz 12y ago
Like the author of the article, I was totally stoked about jumping on the "standing desk" bandwagon. I had thought about getting a counter height table to save on costs over a sit-stand. Before I made a big purchase decision, however, I figured I'd set one up using some spare furniture as stands just to make sure the idea worked for me. For the first 30 minutes of standing, I wondered "wtf was I thinking?" After standing for an hour, I did get used to it. After a couple of weeks, I realized a stand-only table was actuallly not a good idea for me. It wasn't so much related to fatigue (I do squats periodically to break the monotony and get the blood flowing), but I realized that for me, some work was just better done sitting. My hand-eye coordination was never good to start with, and it was a little less precise (or maybe I'm a little less patient) when standing. I find that mouse-intensive work like manipulating an SVG in Inkscape or placing objects in a PowerPoint requires me to sit down. I'm actually thankful I set up my temporary standing setup, because I realized that for a long term solution, I need either a sit-stand desk, or a something like a Varidesk (http://ca.varidesk.com/ http://ca.varidesk.com/) or a Winston (http://www.lcdarms.com/winston-sit-stand-workstation.php http://www.lcdarms.com/winston-sit-stand-workstation.php).
- bstar77 12y ago
  I use the varidesk, it works well for me. I've had it for about 2 years and it's handling the ups and downs well with the load of my 27" iMac. Not the prettiest thing, but it gets the job done.
  - slantyyz 12y ago
    Does your iMac wobble after doing an up or down motion? That's currently my main concern with the Varidesk. I guess you could bolt on a monitor arm to prevent that though.
    - bstar77 12y ago
      It wobbles ever so slightly, but that's mostly due to the fact I'm using it with a $20 Ikea Lavia desk on carpet. It's plenty stable for my needs, but there may be better solutions out there.
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captainmojo 12y ago
Agreed regarding sit/stand desk. The prices of these things are off-putting, but I was able to get a new workstation for around $600. I ended up ordering a base [0], and bolted on an 8'x3' melamine sheet from Home Depot [1] (they chopped off 1 foot, lengthwise, in the store). Three extra things I had to do to make this work: 1.) I had read that unsupported melamine will sag. I bought a thin steel beam [2] to add support in the middle. They chopped it in half in-store and it fits nicely between the base and the top. 2.) Iron-on edge banding [3] will "finish" the sides. 3.) I failed a couple times at getting the adjustment console attached to the bottom of the table. You have to pre-drill some holes near the width of your screw, and you have to make sure your screw isn't so long that it comes out the other side(!). The diameter of the head matters too. You'll see why when you see the console. Order the base first, and when you go to Home Depot take the console thing with you to find the appropriate screws. Now I have a sturdy, 8 foot(!) adjustable desk. If it starts sagging in a couple years (and it very well might), I can spend $25 for a new top. I should point out that I'm not that good at building things, and this wasn't too bad. The hardest part was getting an 8'x3' board from Home Depot back to my house (they'll rent you a truck for like $20 if you need it). At the same time, I switched my chair to a red exercise ball ($30 at Target). I think this was a really good idea (even if one doesn't change their desk), if only for the fact that when I'm standing on a conference call I have this giant ball to mess around with, now. Others might be able to speak to health benefits. I also had to ease into standing, like others have mentioned. I started with standing for two half-hour chunks a day, for maybe three days, then bumped it up to two 1-hour chunks a day, etc. Now I'm at about two 3-hour stints a day, which is probably where I'll stay. In three months with this setup, my back feels 10 years younger and I'm much better at standing (both the state of standing as well as standing up from a sitting position*), getting out of bed and bending down to pick stuff up (most notably shoes and small family members). I also walk taller and have better posture. [0] http://www.thehumansolution.com/uplift-900-electric-sit-stand-desk-base-black.html http://www.thehumansolution.com/uplift-900-electric-sit-stan... [1] http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Melamine-White-Panel-Common-3-4-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Actual-750-in-x-49-in-x-97-in-461877/100070209 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Melamine-White-Panel-Co... [2] http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-in-x-72-in-Plain-Steel-Flat-Bar-with-1-8-in-Thick-801027/204225737 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-in-x-72-in-Plain-Steel... [3] http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-13-16-in-x-250-ft-White-Melamine-Edgebanding-with-Hot-Melt-Adhesive-03white/204217201 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-13-16-in-x-250-ft-White...

by bstar77 12y ago

dopamean 12y ago

I haven't looked into it recently but last I checked those adjustable desks were frightfully expensive.

blawson 12y ago
Depends on where you look! < $500 feels very affordable. No experience with this desk in particular though. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S19022530/ http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S19022530/
patchorang 12y ago
If you don't mind making one yourself you can do it pretty cheap. I copied mine off http://www.codeovereasy.com/2013/09/diy-adjustable-desk-for-under-25/ http://www.codeovereasy.com/2013/09/diy-adjustable-desk-for-..., and it took just a few hours and $40.
tgb 12y ago
How about a tall chair/stool? Seems cheap, though not as comfortable as a good chair. (But then again, maybe you don't want it to be too comfortable if you want to avoid sitting.) Edit: see athenot's top-level comment.
m-i-l 12y ago
The adjustable Ikea Bekant sit/stand desk is "only" about three times the price of the non-adjustable Bekant desk. (I don't have one but have been tempted.)
- slantyyz 12y ago
  Three times the price of fixed legs, but compared to most other sit/stand desks, it's relatively inexpensive. I tried it at the store, and I was surprised at how smooth and fast the motor was, especially given the price.
bstar77 12y ago
I use the varidesk, I think it was $250 when I bought it. The quality definitely justifies the price, but I didn't find it too expensive to begin with especially since it was a write-off.

psychometry 12y ago

Because you can't build one of those with $22 in Ikea parts. Geekdesks cost around $1000.

dnissley 12y ago
What about getting an ikea lack coffee table that you can set on top of your regular height desk? That's the strategy most people take in our office.
- wongarsu 12y ago
  That's pretty much what the author did [1]. He just screwed on a shelf on the coffee table to support the keyboard and mouse. http://iamnotaprogrammer.com/Ikea-Standing-desk-for-22-dollars.html http://iamnotaprogrammer.com/Ikea-Standing-desk-for-22-dolla...
wongarsu 12y ago
I'm pretty sure that this chair for standing desks [1] can't cost much more than $22 either [1] http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/376/3321/original.jpg?w=800&h http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/376/3321/or...

slantyyz 12y ago

Like the author of the article, I was totally stoked about jumping on the "standing desk" bandwagon. I had thought about getting a counter height table to save on costs over a sit-stand. Before I made a big purchase decision, however, I figured I'd set one up using some spare furniture as stands just to make sure the idea worked for me. For the first 30 minutes of standing, I wondered "wtf was I thinking?" After standing for an hour, I did get used to it. After a couple of weeks, I realized a stand-only table was actuallly not a good idea for me. It wasn't so much related to fatigue (I do squats periodically to break the monotony and get the blood flowing), but I realized that for me, some work was just better done sitting. My hand-eye coordination was never good to start with, and it was a little less precise (or maybe I'm a little less patient) when standing. I find that mouse-intensive work like manipulating an SVG in Inkscape or placing objects in a PowerPoint requires me to sit down. I'm actually thankful I set up my temporary standing setup, because I realized that for a long term solution, I need either a sit-stand desk, or a something like a Varidesk (http://ca.varidesk.com/ http://ca.varidesk.com/) or a Winston (http://www.lcdarms.com/winston-sit-stand-workstation.php http://www.lcdarms.com/winston-sit-stand-workstation.php).

bstar77 12y ago
I use the varidesk, it works well for me. I've had it for about 2 years and it's handling the ups and downs well with the load of my 27" iMac. Not the prettiest thing, but it gets the job done.
- slantyyz 12y ago
  Does your iMac wobble after doing an up or down motion? That's currently my main concern with the Varidesk. I guess you could bolt on a monitor arm to prevent that though.
  - bstar77 12y ago
    It wobbles ever so slightly, but that's mostly due to the fact I'm using it with a $20 Ikea Lavia desk on carpet. It's plenty stable for my needs, but there may be better solutions out there.

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captainmojo 12y ago

Agreed regarding sit/stand desk. The prices of these things are off-putting, but I was able to get a new workstation for around $600. I ended up ordering a base [0], and bolted on an 8'x3' melamine sheet from Home Depot [1] (they chopped off 1 foot, lengthwise, in the store). Three extra things I had to do to make this work: 1.) I had read that unsupported melamine will sag. I bought a thin steel beam [2] to add support in the middle. They chopped it in half in-store and it fits nicely between the base and the top. 2.) Iron-on edge banding [3] will "finish" the sides. 3.) I failed a couple times at getting the adjustment console attached to the bottom of the table. You have to pre-drill some holes near the width of your screw, and you have to make sure your screw isn't so long that it comes out the other side(!). The diameter of the head matters too. You'll see why when you see the console. Order the base first, and when you go to Home Depot take the console thing with you to find the appropriate screws. Now I have a sturdy, 8 foot(!) adjustable desk. If it starts sagging in a couple years (and it very well might), I can spend $25 for a new top. I should point out that I'm not that good at building things, and this wasn't too bad. The hardest part was getting an 8'x3' board from Home Depot back to my house (they'll rent you a truck for like $20 if you need it). At the same time, I switched my chair to a red exercise ball ($30 at Target). I think this was a really good idea (even if one doesn't change their desk), if only for the fact that when I'm standing on a conference call I have this giant ball to mess around with, now. Others might be able to speak to health benefits. I also had to ease into standing, like others have mentioned. I started with standing for two half-hour chunks a day, for maybe three days, then bumped it up to two 1-hour chunks a day, etc. Now I'm at about two 3-hour stints a day, which is probably where I'll stay. In three months with this setup, my back feels 10 years younger and I'm much better at standing (both the state of standing as well as standing up from a sitting position*), getting out of bed and bending down to pick stuff up (most notably shoes and small family members). I also walk taller and have better posture. [0] http://www.thehumansolution.com/uplift-900-electric-sit-stand-desk-base-black.html http://www.thehumansolution.com/uplift-900-electric-sit-stan... [1] http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Melamine-White-Panel-Common-3-4-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Actual-750-in-x-49-in-x-97-in-461877/100070209 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Melamine-White-Panel-Co... [2] http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-in-x-72-in-Plain-Steel-Flat-Bar-with-1-8-in-Thick-801027/204225737 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-in-x-72-in-Plain-Steel... [3] http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-13-16-in-x-250-ft-White-Melamine-Edgebanding-with-Hot-Melt-Adhesive-03white/204217201 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-13-16-in-x-250-ft-White...