Standing Desks: Any Tips or Suggestions?

hart posted a pic said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 11:21am ET

I'm on day 3 of my own little experiment: using a standing desk. Has anyone tried this before? If so, have any tips or tricks? I know @derek uses a standing desk, and we have others in the office considering it.

So far, it hasn't been the most peaceful transition (I already have a stool), but it's going ok!

enter image description here

15 comments, 16 replies
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dave said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 11:47am ET:

I remembered reading back in 2008 that Joel Spolsky went with motorized adjustable desks for his (then new) Fog Creek office.

Looks like he still does that:

though it's interesting that it may be more for the adjustability than the standing aspect.

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derek said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 11:47am ET:

There are several options for modifying fixed-height seated desks, including:

http://www.varidesk.com/

http://www.ergodesktop.com/content/kangaroo-0

Here's a comprehensive discussion on wirecutter:
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-standing-desks/

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- I got a tweet the other day from UpDesk (https://myupdesk.com/) when I talked about this. Don't know anything about the quality, but seem ok
  
  hart said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 12:49pm ET
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- I have an updesk. I love that I can change the hight as needed.
  
  justJeffjust said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 3:55pm ET
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denboy said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 11:56am ET:

I used a bar height desk for 12 years. Having a good chair and foot rest is important for those days and moments that standing isn't in the cards. Your body will love you for it plus it's easier to hide under your desk when people are walking by.

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snapster said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 12:17pm ET:

obligatory pic of my adjustable desk (had sent to author of that wire cutter post):

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gavin said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 12:32pm ET:

I'm a fan of the adjustable desk. Sometimes I want to stand, sometimes I don't. I'd love to have a NextDesk in my office.

More importantly, why aren't you on this guys level?

Think he ever does a full sprint while working?

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- I would be sweaty 99.98% of the time. Blerg.
  
  hart said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 12:53pm ET
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- I feel like it'd be hard to type at a full sprint
  
  spitfire6006006 said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 9:22pm ET
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matthew said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 12:40pm ET:

I want a treadmill desk so bad. Seems like a pretty cheapo treadmill would suffice for it, too. But a pretty cheapo treadmill is still a lot more expensive than my work chair. (If I showed you my appalling chair in a thread about workstation ergonomics, you'd seize up with sympathetic sciatica.)

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- My dad just put a plank on top of his treadmill. Seems to be working fine for him.
  
  gavin said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 12:47pm ET
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hart said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 12:55pm ET:

@matthew I don't think I could do that. Standing is enough for me. Although, you might like what @purplecave suggested to me this morning: a bike stand as a desk chair.

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- Too much rocking back and forth while pedaling I would think. That would drive me nuts. Plus my butt would start to hurt.
  
  justJeffjust said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 3:58pm ET
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justJeffjust said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 4:08pm ET:

When we moved in to our new office my boss splurged on an updesk for me. I love it!

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2cWG5AeWDw2U0QtRGM2VHcxUWc

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- maybe someone can make that embed?
  
  justJeffjust said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 4:13pm ET
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- Jealous...
  
  gavin said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 4:15pm ET
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- They actually tweeted me right after I talked about this. Seems a bit pricey for me, personally. But, hey, if your boss is paying...
  
  hart said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 7:07pm ET
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dave said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 4:13pm ET:

@ohjonnyboy, Maybe if it was recumbent:

For motivation, I'd hook it up so my internet bandwidth was controlled by how fast I pedaled.

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- I don't see any pedals on that.
  
  justJeffjust said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 4:15pm ET
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snapster said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 4:17pm ET:

@ohjonnyboy, whoa that bike pic is a cool find. had never considered that. I bet there's a slow pace that would be smoother for me than walking. harder to stop and move it out of the way though. Maybe a recumbent bike with a full seat?

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- ha, funny - same thought @dave I guess I should have refreshed.
  
  snapster said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 4:18pm ET
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denboy said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 4:35pm ET:

for only $21,500 MWE Labs can start us down the path to becoming gelatin like humans from WALL-E

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- Doesn't look like it'd be too hard to hack this into a Nautilus fitness center workstation, though
  
  matthew said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 4:37pm ET
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- i wanna see the drawings for that hack @matthew, i can't stop picturing Doc Oc
  
  denboy said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 5:29pm ET
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gavin said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 5:23pm ET:

We have these Thinkpods at our office. Not as cool as the picture above, but it gets the job done.

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- blue and white, named thinkpod, can't stop thinking about ibm
  
  denboy said Wed, Jan 15th 2014 at 6:27pm ET
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hales said Thu, Jan 16th 2014 at 10:02am ET:

@katherine, is this where I put in my official request for a bike stand as a desk chair?

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dave said Thu, Jan 16th 2014 at 10:18am ET:

I'm going a different route and turning my car into my office. Think of how productive I'll be while also traveling across America!

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katherine said Thu, Jan 16th 2014 at 10:22am ET:

@halesyeah, Consider it noted! Although maybe we could just get you a tricycle (fully loaded with ribbons and bell) and skip the stand? Then you'd have easy office transportation and a chair...

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- I say we go in the opposite direction - unicycle! Work just got more dangerous!
  
  hart said Thu, Jan 16th 2014 at 10:51am ET
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- Great idea! I won't be annoying with my use of the bell at all... :)
  
  hales said Thu, Jan 16th 2014 at 10:52am ET
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