If a person is convinced that standing up for part of the day is better for their health, what is the next step? It’s not enough just to want to reduce the total amount of time one spends sitting while at work, thereby getting healthier and probably feeling healthier. Experiencing the benefits of a standing desk may help convince everyone they need ergonomic adjustable standing desks. This is especially true in offices where other supervisors have to approve the upgrade to an ergonomic adjustable standing desk. One of the easiest things to do is to just spend a day standing at a regular office desk and see what happens.
The more a person stands, the better they will feel. This is true for the vast majority of us, even those in poor physical shape. The human body evolved to stand and walk, not sit in a chair. The easiest way to see that this is true and develop a stronger argument in favor of an adjustable standing desk, is to try it out. Choose a day and focus on getting up from the office desk every 45 minutes for a three to five minute stretch and walk around the office to get a drink or use the bathroom or whatever. Be sure the breaks don’t become 15 or 20 minutes, but also be sure not to miss them. The goal is to spend a significantly larger portion of the day standing.
After a few days of this, most people notice that they feel better physically and mentally, and if they are able to maintain short breaks before getting back to work, they even see their productivity increase. But this doesn’t actually prove anything about standing while working. So the next step is to try it out.
With a laptop, it’s relatively easy to find a box that is tall enough to set up a temporary, standing workstation. The laptop keyboard just needs to be high enough that one’s hand and elbows hang naturally without encouraging the body to slouch or bend over to reach the keys. This must only be a temporary solution because the monitor will be far too low below the eye line, but it provides sufficient evidence about the benefits of standing while working.
After a day or two of spending two to three hours, or even half the day standing instead of sitting, many people remark that the experience was unfamiliar, but that overall they felt better about the day. This is because of simple benefits like improved circulation and posture that come from standing. This is the kind of concrete, albeit anecdotal proof a person needs to convince themselves and their boss that ergonomic adjustable standing desks are a good idea.
