Smarterware

Why and How I Switched to a Standing Desk

I spend about 45 to 50 hours a week working on my computer. Up until a week ago, I did that work sitting on my ever-expanding behind.

Last Monday I adjusted my desk to standing height (pictured right). I spent the week working on my feet, and I'm never going back to a sitdown desk again. Here are some questions and answers about the change.

What made you switch to a standing desk?

Ever since I wrote about a "treadputer" treadmill desk at Lifehacker in May of 2006, I've been curious about and inspired by alternative desk setups. My workday—which consists almost entirely of typing on or talking into a computer—is completely sedentary, and is a big part of the reason I'm more than 20 pounds overweight. Burning more calories while I work is a better use of that time.

Building or buying a treadputer is too expensive an undertaking for something I'm not sure I'll like or even have the space to accomodate. A standing desk, however, is doable. In July of 2010 I featured an Ikea Jerker treadmill desk, and mentioned I might just adjust my Jerker to standing height. This has been something I've been thinking about a long time.

Three straws finally broke the camel's back. First, I'm using RescueTime to monitor how I spend my time on my computer, and the weekly report made me realize how many hours I really do spend sitting down (week before last: 48). Second, I'm actively working on losing weight right now, and this seemed like a small way to add to the effort (down 12 pounds in 3 months so far). Finally, Macworld posted a guide to setting up a treadmill desk, and unequivocally recommended that you go from sitting to standing to walking, not straight from sitting to walking. That did it.

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Lengthen Your Attention Span with Interval Training

Email, IM and the web is a huge distraction, especially for those with short attention spans. My new friend Clay Johnson uses interval training techniques to lengthen his attention span the same way he trained his body to run a marathon. Clay writes:

Paying attention, for long periods of time, is a form of endurance athleticism. Like running a marathon, it requires practice and training to get the most out of it. It is as much Twitter’s fault that you have a short attention span as it is your closet’s fault it doesn’t have any running shoes in it. If you want the ability to focus on things for a long period of time, you need attention fitness.

Clay raises his attention fitness level several ways: by using a timer for work sprints (this works; I do it), by ditching his second monitor and stashing apps like Twitter and email in a separate virtual desktop that he hides while he works, by keeping his browser tab count down to a minimum, and by listening to lyric-free music. He's also looking into a standing desk. Test out your attention fitness level by seeing if you can read his post in its entirety--it's lengthy but full of interesting material that supports his approach.
How to Focus [InfoVegan.com]

IKEA Jerker Do-It-Yourself Treadmill Desk

The muscle soreness I'm experiencing today after walking around Comic-Con all weekend made me realize: I've got to incorporate more standing and walking into my daily routine. Maybe a treadmill desk? There are some expensive desks made to fit over a treadmill (sold separately), but someone on Hacker News modified an IKEA Jerker desk to do the job. The discontinued but beloved model of desk, which I already own, plus one of those utilitarian wire shelving units gives you a wide monitor stand with plenty of component/wire storage and keyboard and mouse room. Click on the image to see the whole setup. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it looks really tempting to try. The owner says:

Coding while walking works fine for me. As far as the mechanics, it's not hard to walk and type at the same time. 2MPH isn't very fast. I can't draw with the mouse while walking, so the occasional graphics work has to be done standing. Mentally, the consistent motion sometimes helps with flow, sometimes not. It's hard to tell, but switching between walking and standing seems to be enough for me to support the various required mental states. I've been doing this for about two months now, and while I have no hard data, I've done what I consider to be some of my best and most creative work ever in the last two weeks, so worst-case the walking isn't too great an obstacle to my coding. And this is indeed a huge improvement for my back over both sitting and standing.

I pace while I think, so this whole walking-while-typing thing is something I'd love to try. For now, I may just adjust my Jerker tabletop to standing position, and try that for awhile, before making the treadmill investment.
My Treadmill Desk [Hacker News]

Configure Your Workspace for Maximum Efficiency

Just launched up a new blog over at HarvardBusiness.org called Work Smarter (RSS). Expect to find less nerd and more business in the posts I publish there compared to this site or Lifehacker. A new one will go up once a week.

My first post published yesterday on how to organize your workspace for maximum productivity. Having moved three times in the past four years, this has become my mental checklist when reassembling my desk.

I'm still finding my legs and meeting the audience over at Work Smarter, but I'm thrilled to be hanging out with the brilliant folks there, at least virtually.

(Please note: Actual Harvard University admissions people would laugh out loud if I'd applied there at any point in my academic career, so thanks to HarvardBusiness.org for letting me have a taste of the Ivy League fantasy.)

Yet Another GeekTool and Todo.txt Desktop Head-Up Display

Mac user Grant Lucas is putting the Todo.txt CLI and GeekTool to great use on his Mac, pictured above. (Click to enlarge, or check out the annotated Flickr page.) GeekTool affixes the output from command line scripts (and more) to your Mac desktop, so when everything is minimized, it's still visible. Starting at the top left corner and going clockwise, you can see he's got the weather, his project status overview, today's tasks, a calendar, iTunes, and system information up, which automatically updates in the background. Just so happens this setup is very similar to my own. Lucas explains how he wound up with this good-looking display:

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The Office Made of Cardboard

Creative agency Nothing in Amsterdam wanted to make their entire office a "blank slate" so they built it out of cardboard. The desks, chairs, shelves, cubicles, and from the photos, even steps and a small loft is constructed entirely of brown cardboard, which invites lots of cool drawings. The Nothing web site explains:

The idea being, to create an office that will turn our clients into brand advocates, by using the most Nothing-building material we could find. At the same time, have the walls double as a blank canvas, on which people can leave their mark.

Here are a few photos of the cubicles and cool drawings:

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