Protesting the Standing Desk and Working in Bed

During the workday, I tried to follow certain rules. I would not go under the covers. I would get dressed, even if only in sweats. I could rise to use the bathroom, make coffee, and prepare lunch. Even these three basic functions ended up seeming pretty grueling: When you’re in bed, everything seems too far away, even the other rooms of your apartment — and I live in a studio. My water intake dropped to almost zero, which I never noticed until I went outside on some errand and found myself desperately thirsty after a few minutes of leisurely walking. One evening, returning home, I planted my right foot on a step in the hallway, and lifted my left foot assuming it would follow, but nope: It went back down exactly where it had started. I landed it on second try, but I was disconcerted. Were my muscles liquifying already? Typically, I do not have to concentrate on climbing stairs.

The New Republic’s Ben Crair, partly in defiance of the “standing desk evangelism,” decided he was going to try working from his bed for a several days in a row (it’s a stunt story, yes).

Some people love working in bed and have no problem with it (“I do EVERYTHING in bed,” novelist Gary Shteyngart tells Crair), while other say working in bed makes them more likely to fall asleep while working (which is also a thing that happens to me during the occasions that I’ve worked in bed). So I have a rule: If I am going to work from home, I am going to work at a desk. So what does Ben Crair learn after all of this? Well, spoiler alert, he’s back in a chair.

Photo: Jeremy Foo

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