Just Because You Have a Standing Desk Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Sit Down

I love my standing desk. I made it by sticking a wire crate on top of my thrift-store desk (which is not even a desk, it’s some kind of Ikea table, but you work with what you have). I put on a big pair of rubbery flip-flops that I bought at Rite Aid for two bucks, I stand up, and I rock out.

I don’t think my standing desk makes me any more productive. I have a lot of evidence that working at a standing desk makes me feel better, although my “evidence” is mostly “it’s fun to bounce around to Pomplamoose while I work.” The key takeaway here: when I get tired, I sit down. That’s why I made my standing desk out of a wire crate and not a set of concrete blocks. It stops being a standing desk in approximately 1.5 seconds.

Dan Kois decided not to sit. For his newest NYMag piece, he bought himself a standing desk (and “insoles and an anti-fatigue mat and doohickeys”) and set himself the goal of standing up, at all times, for 30 days. He gets to sit when he is driving and when he is using the toilet. No other exceptions.

Spoiler alert: he learns that standing and sitting are both best performed in moderation.

I estimate that I spend approximately half of an eight-hour workday standing (which in my case usually means also kinda dancing). I’m curious how the rest of y’all do it. Do you have insoles and doohickeys and fancy gear, or do you stick your laptop on top of a milk crate and go to town? Does it actually make you more productive? Do you feel better?

And most importantly: Do you rock out? And, if so, what is your playlist?

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