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Standing While Working Results in Better Work?
Bamafan77 asks: "I've recently become fascinated by the idea of standing while working. I've found that I'm much more productive for
longer periods of time while standing as opposed to sitting. The best way to describe it is that my brain feels more 'engaged.' Apparently, many famous people feel the same way including Thomas Wolfe, Vladimir Nabokov, and Winston Churchill. Other benefits include a better ability to control weight. (Guess what? Your slow metabolism ain't the cause for that belly). The Mayo Clinic has gone so far as to do research into a treadmill workstation. Does anyone here have experiences to share when it comes to standing while working, especially in the IT field?"
Standing sounds like a good idea, but walking? I keep getting this hamster image in my head. Plus, I'm sure if I put the computer on a treadmill it wouldn't be too long before I became distracted and forgot to walk. I often use my exercise ball instead of the regular chair at the computer at home. You're constantly using the leg and abdominal muscles to balance yourself. It also reduces back fatigue and improves your posture.
... take from that what you will.
Better work and a sore back? I dunno about you,but I can't stand around typing all day without some serious pain.
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I am a facility production operator on the North Slope of Alaska. To the layfolk, that means I separate oil from water and gas and some suspended solids and then ship it south, where it is turned into everything you see around you (basically).
Anyway, the point is, my job entails a lot of walking. Like, a lot. I routinely walk 12 miles per day during my 12 hour shifts. More than that even. But, sometimes, I sit. And when I sit, I get tired. And time slows down. And it generally gets pretty tough to handle.
So when there's nothing to do, I play janitor. Mopping the floors of a billion dollar facility is actually not too bad, considering the alternative (just sitting there waiting for time to pass).
TLF
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
I found that sitting down greatly improves my comfort and the quality of my pr0n surfing.
What, you meant real work? Well...ok...
Never underestimate the predictability of human stupidity...
Standing usually means you're moving around. I used to do this all the time when thinking about a problem. It gets the blood circulating and really does improve mental abilities. Thinking on your feet. It's not just a good idea!
He typed at a standup desk as well, at least sometimes. I remember seeing a pic of it.
Of course, then he offed himself, so maybe this isn't such a good idea...
I am trying to picture myself working all day in front of the PC standing up, but something just doesn't quiete click.
It feels the other way around, like I wouldn't be able to concentrate that deeply.
Being able to relax seems to be important to concentrate on something specific, even lying down sounds like I'd be more concentrated.
In a retail environment, standing all day just results in sore feet and irritability while working. Maybe the IT field is different, but in retail, standing all day sucks. Oh course, most things in retail suck, so why should standing be any different.
-William Brendel
I have worked standing up for the last 3 years. It all started when I began to outfit my new office; my work requires me to look at a lot of plans and hence I built a drafting table, which are traditionally at standing height. To make matters simpler, I decided to also build my regular workstation at the same height. To make things just right, I hung my dual LCD flat panels at eye level.
:)
I ordered two nice Hon drafting chairs and expected to wind up sitting in them as I had a regular desk chair in the past.
I soon found though, that it was much more convenient and comfortable to just forego the chairs and work standing up. I discovered that I didn't get tired from standing at all, and in fact felt more awake and alert as a result. There's also the nice side benefit that without chairs, people don't really tend to come and camp out in my office
Last year, I was diagnosed with a herniated disc in my lower back. This is where the working-standing-up plan really pays off. I quickly discovered that when I sit, the pain is worse. After sitting awhile, it's a *lot* worse. The doctor explained that this is because sitting puts the more pressure on your disc than laying or standing. In fact, standing seems to be the most neutral position for your back and relieves more pressure on the disc than other positions. So if you have back problems - working while standing could mean the difference between working or not. I know it has for me on many days.
So to those who haven't tried working while standing up - I highly recommend it. I believe the health benefits are strong and the impact on your mental processes is positive.
At uni whenever I was doing research or trying to solve a problem, I always found it best to walk around for a bit. I would usually after making a few rounds of the room have a solution.
I work for the Geek Squad (let the flaming commence). My job requires me and everyone else with whom I work to stand for almost the entire duration of our shifts. For 4-6 hour shifts (I'm a part-time employee), I do find that I am more productive than I would be be sitting. I am able to efficently work up and down the bench of computers in repair as opposed to working on just 3 or 4 on a KVM. However, on shifts that last longer than 6 hours, I end up being more concerned about my feet being sore than actually fixing units, which does adversly affect my productivity (and I do wear comfortable shoes with good insoles). I just want to sit down and work. On the longer shifts, it turns out to be something of a wash. It would be nice to have a chair or stool around, but overall I prefer working while standing.
Well i couldn't agree more. My brain works billion% more when i am not sitting on a chair. My most creative thinking comes usually when i walk. I am a programmer , so someone could ask when do i write code? Well shooting keys on the keyboard is the trivial task, and i could sit in front of a screen writting code for 3 days straight without sleeping. But i do not consider that creative work. I consider it the "dictation/translation to code/visualization" of ideas born after a long walk.
or in other words' You are going nowhere fast if you dont know where you are going
2+2 = 5 (for very large values of 2)
I've had two onsite roles where you could choose from different workstations within an open office layout. I actually started working from a regular desk, then moved to using one of those kneeling chairs for posture. Then upgraded to the partially tilted drafting tables with high stool and eventually found myself at the standing desks (which is fine as long as the screen is at eye level, using a laptop on these desks was difficult because you actually look down and makes your shoulders hurt after a while)
What happens is that you find that you focus a lot less on the screen all the time, you find yourself walking around a lot more, you make more cups of tea/coffee and it feels more productive. The only problem was that you can't really jump into the standing thing straight away, especially when you've been used to sitting at a desk for years. The other problem is if you get tired you tend to lean on your forearms like leaning on a bar.
The other thing I really liked about the standing desks is that they had bi-fold doors directly behind you which looked out onto an atrium with a large tree full of birds for most of the year. You could stop typing, phase out of the work at hand and listen to life for a bit. It was awesome during summer when you get the warm light rain, with the door open, coffee and maybe light music on in the background.
Task Mangler
I would think typing while walking on a treadmill would be really uncomfortable and difficult, as well as anything requiring semi-precision mouse work...
Wow - aim high, buddy!
A post a day keeps productivity at bay.
Standing sounds like a good idea, but walking? I keep getting this hamster image in my head.
It's surprisingly good for some things. I bought a treadmill off Craigslist and added a sheet of wood where I can put my laptop. I really like it for reading and replying to email and reading stuff on the web. For things where I have to type a lot, 1.5 mph plus or minus seems good. For pure reading, I'll go up to 3.3 mph if I'm feeling peppy.
It's specially nice first thing in the morning when I'm still a little groggy. I'll put on one of the Run to Cadence albums, pop open Google Reader, and do two or three miles of news and email.
For some reason, though, I usually can't walk and code at the same time. (I can chew gum while coding, though.) For coding I just stop the treadmill and use it as a standing desk. If I do that continuously for a couple of hours, I'll switch between the standing position and sitting at a table with a regular chair or an exercise ball.
I sit next to a guy with a stand-up cubicle. The walls of the cubicles are about four feet tall so all day long there's this guy's head looking down on me. He's also a loud talker on the phone so there is a loud phone talking head staring at me all day long.
Have I mentioned his sneezing, coughing and his constant eating of corn nuts? So I have a loud phone talking, coughing, sneezing, corn nut breath head leering at me 8-10 hours a day.
Oh! and he's also a mouth breather.
I'm not a Troll, it's reverse psychology.
My standing desk at work has a urinal underneath it so I never have to leave it.
I've tried this and have known several people who have tried this. In the short term, the novelty tends to lend itself to "higher productivity." It seems that freeing yourself from the trappings and surroundings where you've allowed yourself to develop bad habits (slouching, surrepticiously surfing /., playing solitaire, staring at that mark on the wall of your cubicle) that are not productive causes you to have a spurt of higher productivity. Nowadays, I find that a periodic change of venue helps me in the same way - I goto the library for a while, move to a table and spread my stuff out instead of on a desk, sit on the floor or on a couch. I think that the people that I work with innately understand what I'm doing, even if it looks funny.
The only thing I have against standing is that I have to find a counter or something of similar height that functions as a work surface - otherwise, i'm hunched over and a sore back is a real productivity killer....
see http://www.pbs.org/cringely/nerdtv/transcripts/001 .html
We have a daily stand up meeting. 5-10 minutes every morning where we let everyone know what we've been doing and where we plan to be by the end of the day. When standing in a big circle people tend not to waffle on like they do when sitting around a table in a meeting room.
As for spending all day in one position here's what I rekon:
If you spend 10+ hours a day sitting on your arse then you'll probably get a sore arse.
If you spend 10+ hours a day standing on your feet then you'll probably get sore feet.
If you spend 10+ hours a day standing on your head then you should probably seek help.
Go the middle way. spend some time sitting, some time standing and some time dancin' like a funky chicken.
Unexpect the expected!
What's funny about Donald Rumsfeld, is that thinking about him standing, will forever more make me think about torture. It's all just because of how I learned about it: where prisoners were having to stand, and Rumsfeld wrote at the bottom of memo that it was no big deal, because he stands all day. ;-)
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from a medical point of view you also have dis-advantage in working in a standing position.
Mainly : the problem of venal blood return and venal stasis.
In short : your feet swell because the heart has a hard time pumping the blood back up all this height.
Just ask a surgeon (or any other job where one must stay standing up without moving a lot).
Walking may improve the blood flow (the muscle may act as supplementary pumps, because veins have valves).
But on the other hand it puts a lot of strains on the muscle of the lower extremities.
Most of the sportives (typical persons who work by moving in an upright position) have knee aging prematurely.
And I think most slashdotter know the problems associated with a sitting position.
Hence : there's no "perfect" position for working.
One should mainly change between them a lot, go for a walk once in a while, etc...
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I'm a software engineer. I recently made my own stand up desk for work in my woodshop at home (then expensed the desk of course). I don't think it's healthy to stand for 8-10 hours straight every day either - at least that's what I've read - so I also have a drafting stool in case I want/need to sit.
I'm definitely more alert and not so sluggish during the day, especially after lunch. The first couple of weeks after I transitioned from sitting to standing I realized how many muscles there are in my back and legs. Actually, the first few days were brutal since I didn't get my stool until about 3 weeks after transitioning. I'm not grossly out of shape or anything and I work out as often as I can, but I had no idea how many muscles it takes to actually stand up for long periods like that. Of course I'm acclimated now so it's no big deal. If you can get over those first few days without giving up then it's great.
The biggest beneift that I've noticed is that my neck and back don't hurt anymore. I've been sitting in front of a desk for 7+ years and the main reason I started thinking about a stand-up desk (aside from the other 6 people here that have them now) was the aches and pains I had from poor posture. I had a comfy oversize leather office chair and I got lazy and had terrible posture. I would slouch during the day, rest my head on the back of the chair and work, etc. To make matters worse, I had to keep the chair rather low to get the arms to fit under my desk that was already elevated on blocks. I'm tall, about 6-4 so all of that added up to bad posture and pain.
After moving to the stand-up desk, I haven't had any shoulder, neck, or back pain - none. The key to that I think is that I took custom measurements of myself. Since I made my own desk I was able to custom make it to fit me. I took measurements so that I would be in a natural, comfortable position when I was typing and working. The downside to that is that the drafting stool is ever so slightly short when I do try to sit and work, but it's not for long periods so it doesn't bother me. People ask me if I find it hard to code or type for long periods while standing. I haven't had any trouble, but again I custom fit my desk to me.
Overall, I feel much better physically and I'm not as tired and sluggish as I used to be throughout the day and even at home. For me it works - I definitely notice healthful benefits. I don't think I'd ever go back to a sit-down desk for work.
The best advice I can give to someone moving to a stand-up desk is this: Wear comfy shoes, get an anti-fatigue mat, and have the desk custom fit if at all possible. If you can make your own then do it.
If you do what you always did, you get what you always got.
NOT for the muscle, sory. Was tired. Puts strain on your *joints*.
If you must walk the whole day non-stop for your job, your knee may get worn more quickly. (medical nurse and some military personnal come to mind). But then, again that's in the perspective of a job composed of non-stop working.
For the typical
From a biomechanic point of view, laying is the less stringent position. But you still need to move from time to time and also, you don't burn enough calories. (But is still a good solution to read your books for your exams. Just take in account that you need correct lightning in order to avoid injuring the eyes)
Walking is less damaging than running (you're right). On the other hand, bicycle riding puts *less* strain on the joints than walking (your knee don't have to support all the weight. The bicycle does). Note that using a bicycle to move between home and work is a good solution. At least here in europe were it is still possible to do it. My remembering from USA is that there it is a lot harder.
Swiming is in an interesting sport : almost weighlessness in water so no strain on joints. But on the other hand good effort and good sport. But no way to incorporate it in a normal work day.
Standing is less good than walking, because of blood flow problems I mentionned in previous post.
Sitting without moving is bad too (hemorrhoids, back pain in case of bad position, blood flow problems too although lesser).
So the best is to alternate situation.
If you have a "Sitting-in-front-of-a-computer" job as most of the rest of
Just stand up and walk to your coworker if you have to say something to them, instead of phoning/emailing/IMing them.
Don't take the elevator unless you have to go from 1st to 23rd floor, or have a big wheight to move.
If you apply this, you both burn more fat AND variate your position. Which is all good. As with anything diversity is good. There's no single miracle solution.
Note: the main problem is that we've evolved from 4 legged animals to a bipedal hominid, but we aren't 100% optimal yet. Joint strains (knee and lumbar vertebrae) and blood flow problems (bigger height difference between lower extremity and hearth) are the main problems that are still happening.
So in a way : we're designed in a weird way that's still not good for anything. It's not anymore good for quadripedal stature. But it's not good for upright position either.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]