standing desks

The Great Erection: Standing Desks Are On the Rise

I did an interview with the New York Observer on standing desks. The reporter messed up my diet, but otherwise it's a great piece.

"John Durant eats raw foods and lean meats [WTF?] as a follower of the Paleo Diet, and owns a lifestyle brand themed around mimicking ancient human behavior in modern times. He tried to build a standing desk in 2006, using a milk crate and a variety of objects he found around the Midtown management consulting office where he worked as an associate. The contraption lasted for two days. Standing at work felt awkward, and, judging by the sideways glances of his colleagues, it looked equally odd. “Coworkers think it’s goofy and they tease you about it,” he explained. “It makes them feel like they’re lazy. It’s like being the one person at the office birthday who turns down a piece of cake. ‘Just eat the cake!’” He sat back down for four years."

I eat raw and cooked foods. I also eat lots of fat from both plant and animal sources.

Here's the whole article, interesting throughout.

Upstanding Citizen #14: Dwight Schrute from the Office (Rainn Wilson)

It is a great honor to be mocked by Rainn Wilson.  Here is a clip from a new episode of The Office where Dwight gets a standing desk.

And so it is only appropriate that the Upstanding Citizen Standing Committee, by unanimous vote (1-0), would like to honor Dwight Schrute with the most prestigious award in vertical workspace technology.

  • For calling sitting it by it's true name -- a suicide cult
  • For standing up against prejudice in the workplace
  • For a man who is truly in touch with the bipedal ape within 

For all these things, you are truly an Upstanding Citizen.  And you join such esteemed cohorts as Thomas Jefferson, Donald Rumsfeld, assistants to the Iowa State Cyclones football team, and News Corp heir-apparent James Murdoch.  You can see past award winners here.

I can't wait for Dwight to go paleo.  Jokes about legumes write themselves.

Upstanding Citizens #11-12: Iowa State Cyclones Football

Athletes hate sitting at a desk all day.  Our latest installment in Upstanding Citizen comes from the Iowa State Cyclones football team, and is a double.

"Attached are our Iowa State Football standing desks. Drew Mehringer and myself [Matt Karleskint] (owners the desks) are Graduate Assistants for the offense and simply took cardboard boxes and paper reams to prop up our computer stations. It is not fancy but it is simple, works fantastic and is obviously affordable. On days that we are in the office all day, which is rare, I have found that I sleep better at night. For me, there is something psychologically better about standing all day as opposed to slouching in the chair. Again, great blog and keep up the good work!"

Go Cyclones!

Upstanding Citizen #10: Geologist at a Canadian mine

Our latest installment of Upstanding Citizen comes a mine in Canada.  That's Damien, a geologist, and he's logging drill core.

"The core bench is fairly standard for what geologists log drill core on, sitting isn't really an option- i think, and it's been there since way before I started.  In warmer countries geologists log core out side in the sun. I actually like working like this for part of the day (12 hour work days), and normally i do 5-7 hours a day logging core, and you do get used to standing on your feet all day fairly quickly. But doing it for more than 8 hours straight gets too much for the legs - they get tired. But it's not like i'm standing still in one place, that would be a bit torturous i think (the monitor slides along a rail). The rest of the day is mainly in the office.     

Damien, you are truly an Upstanding Citizen -- a type of citizenship that extends across national boundaries.  Maybe one day we'll even have our own passports.

You can find earlier installments of Upstanding Citizen here.

Furniture competition: The violent, dystopian future of standing desks

This is a sign of things to come.  As standing desks suddenly become more popular, there will be competition for the best ad hoc furniture pieces to build them with.  There will not be enough to go around.  Violence may ensue.  Looting is likely.  Brother will face brother in battle.

My old roommate (the subject of an upcoming Upstanding Citizen) is back in town, and he snagged my standing desk when I sat down for a bit.  I have only myself to blame for that.  So I grabbed a chair and made another.  And after I'm done with this post, I'm going to break the chair over his back, and take back my throne.

Hmmm...that's an interesting thought....a standing throne. Homework assignment: What would a standing throne look like?  

Infographic: Sitting is Killing You

Check out this sick infographic on sitting.  Go see the full thing at Mashable, it's worth it just for the art.  I think they tried to get in touch with me about Upstanding Citizen, but I was in the monastery.

Sitting is lethal

This is getting too easy.  It's as if I have a whole team of reporters over at the New York Times who are doing all my health research for me -- and they're doing a bang up job.  It's true, I was being a little lazy in a past edition of Upstanding Citizen when I said that standing makes you "die less or something".  A few of you pushed back on the science behind it.  (As you should have.)  Well, here it is, in black and white, baby:

Alpa Patel, an epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society, tracked the health of 123,000 Americans between 1992 and 2006. The men in the study who spent six hours or more per day of their leisure time sitting had an overall death rate that was about 20 percent higher than the men who sat for three hours or less. The death rate for women who sat for more than six hours a day was about 40 percent higher. Patel estimates that on average, people who sit too much shave a few years off of their lives.

...

Sitting, it would seem, is an independent pathology. Being sedentary for nine hours a day at the office is bad for your health whether you go home and watch television afterward or hit the gym. It is bad whether you are morbidly obese or marathon-runner thin. “Excessive sitting,” Dr. Levine says, “is a lethal activity.”

Read the whole thing, it's juicy.  Past installments of Upstanding Citizen here.  Thanks to Rob, Aleta, and many others for the pointer.

Upstanding Citizen #8 : Standing Up Down Under

This is the most stylish and minimal standing desk yet submitted.

It's the desk of Michael Honey in Canberra, Australia.  Michael is founder of Icelab, an interactive design studio.  Michael, for showing that creativity does not require a futuristic egg-pod or bean bag chair, you are an Upstanding Citizen.

You can see past installments of Upstanding Citizen here.

Upstanding Citizen #7: The Fox

As usual, the animals know best.

That's a real photo, by the way.  Here are many more pictures of a Russian man and his unusual pets.  Highly recommended.

Here are past installments of Upstanding Citizen.  Thanks to Zoe for the pointer.

Upstanding Citizen #5: How to be more confident on the phone

Standing isn't just about a healthy body, it's also about a healthy attitude.  So this week's installment of Upstanding Citizen features Dana Highfill, who shows how standing can help you be more confident and assertive.
 
First, check out Dana's standing desk.  Very clever -- she converted an existing bookcase.
 
"The only thing that needed a little modification was keyboard location. I put some card board down so the key board could protrude from the actual shelf. The cardboard is actually USP boxes left over from extra packing material I had around and it turned into a perfect sliding tray for the keyboard and mouse. Total cost: $30 for the bookshelf, $0 for found cardboard. I have a dining table in my office for laying out papers and generally creating a mess (which is what my desk would turn into if I had one).  Another perk of having a bookshelf as a desk is that I can keep important documents, printer paper and RWCDs available without it cluttering my work space.
 
 
 
Dana described what she likes about standing desks (my emphasis):
 
I'm more alert and attentive at the standing desk. Even when talking on the phone and using the computer I feel more present and even able to hold my ground when negotiating. When I sit I feel like I get sucked into the computer rather than just using it as a tool. Sitting for long periods encourages disconnecting from the body.
 
Exactly.  I rarely sit down when I'm on the phone anymore, particularly if I'm talking business with someone I don't know very well.  If you want to be confident and assertive, you have to carry yourself confidently and assertively.  This advice is particularly important for people who have difficulty being confident or assertive.  Consider the reverse situation: Would you curl up in the fetal position during a phone interview for a new job?  Hell no.  So don't be hunched over and passive either.
 
It's the same deal with a handshake.  A handshake is a signal of attitude.  Does a strong grip make you a good salesman?  No!  But a strong grip indicates confidence, assertiveness, and extroversion.  And those qualities make for a killer salesman.
 
If you don't have a particularly firm handshake and you don't negotiate well over the phone, then you basically have two choices.  You could be defeatist about it and say, well, I'm just not naturally assertive.  Which is about as lame as saying you're genetically predisposed to heart disease while scarfing down a gourmet cupcake.  Or you could take steps to act more confidently.  And confident posture makes you more confident.
 
Dana also saw her lower back pain go away, her productivity improve, and she spends less time on the computer.  Tip: she bends her knees slightly at her standing desk.  You don't want your legs to be hyper-extended all day long.
 
For your DIY ingenuity and upright negotiating prowess, Dana Highfill, you are an Upstanding Citizen.  Dana has her own massage therapy business in Portland, Oregon.  She also works with an organization called Quiet Thunder that teaches people to be more aware and present in their bodies.  If you're in Portland looking to re-balance, look her up.
 
You can see earlier installments of Upstanding Citizen here.  Take an interesting photo of your standing desk, and send it in.

Upstanding Citizen #3: Mountain bulldozed by the bureaucratic machine

This installment of Upstanding Citizen really makes my blood boil.  First, check out this awesome workstation that Mountain Chang assembled.  

"In March of last year, I fashioned a standing workstation by using a chair, letter tray, and cardboard box to raise my monitor, keyboard, and trackball respectively. "

 

Now the absurdity begins:

"In less than 2 days, I received the attached e-mail. 

Unbelievable.  Standing desks are a safety hazard???  You need a medical reason to use one???  Bring in a doctor's note???  This is mind-blowingly stupid.  Welcome to the Cult of the Normal -- where everybody is equally mediocre.

What's probably going on here is the company is afraid of getting sued.  This has nothing to do with health:

"My company buys bagels for everyone on Fridays, and keeps 2 refrigerators stocked with free soda every day. All this, and the audacity to send us quarterly "wellness" newsletters filled with the same old cardio+lowfat message."

Free soda -- a wise foundation to any corporate health program.  I'm putting a SELL rating on this company's stock for their risk-averse normal-loving bureaucracy.  Employees who take innovative and proactive steps to improve their health -- and their productivity -- should be rewarded.

Mountain, I can't give you a raise, but I can give you a little bit of title recognition.  You, sir, have earned the designation of Upstanding Citizen.

You can find previous installments in Upstanding Citizen here.

Upstanding Citizen #2: James Murdoch, presumed heir to News Corporation

We continue with our next installment of Upstanding Citizen, a riveting series about people who don't take life sitting down.  Upstanding Citizen #2 is James Murdoch, presumed heir to News Corporation, who uses a standing desk:

"That James works from a standing desk in his office in London — sitting is less efficient in getting work done — adds to the image of him as a tightly wound executive, as do his black belt in karate and his hobby of competitive cycling."

Tightly wound or active and alpha?  They don't call them executive desks for nothing.  (But here's the question: Does the executive make the desk or does the desk make the executive?)

It gets better, this time from an interview in Intelligent Life:

"He is more animated when talking about technology. “I’ve got this great high-definition video link, right?” he tells me excitedly. “It sits [in his Wapping office], and with one push of the button—well it’s two—I get a list of people, and push the person, and they come right up!” To me, the most interesting thing about this gizmo is that it’s fixed to his office wall at head height. Just above his desk, which is at chest height. “I’m a big believer in standing up. I told some of the team at News International the other day that I thought they should get rid of their chairs. They weren’t very happy. It was very funny. They didn’t know whether to take me seriously.”

All this standing sounds, well, rather tiring. Oh no, he counters, “because, think about it, you sit down when you go home, then you lie down. So you could stand up and walk around for the day.” Which is clearly what he tries to do, much of it on the phone. He must have a lot of stamina. And very comfy shoes (although a glance under his chair doesn’t fill me with hope for his feet: the shoes are shiny, black and pointy). Still, it’s hard to picture even the hardiest soul reading or writing more than a few paragraphs in one go at a standing desk."

For suggesting, with a straight face, that everyone get rid of their chairs, you, James Murdoch, are an UPSTANDING CITIZEN.

If you don't take life sitting down, snap an interesting photo that captures you exercising your bipedal birthright, ideally with you in it, and send it in to john@hunter-gatherer.com.  I've already received a bunch.

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