Standing Desk Benefits and Proper Use

Have you heard about standing desks and are wondering what all the hype is about? Maybe you’ve been browsing through Lifehacker, you’ve been barraged with articles about them or just heard that sitting 8 hours a day is killing you. As annoying as those things can be, they’re not wrong. Sitting wreaks havoc on your body and one of the ways that you prevent it is by not sitting so much. However, there’s a right and wrong way to use standing desks, and it could make all the difference in the world. So, let’s dive into standing desk benefits, but first, how do you even use it?

Standing desk benefits

How to use a Standing Desk: the Wrong Way

Imagine, you hear a knock at the door, and so you slowly stand up and open it. There’s a guy (or gal) with a big box and that famous black amazon tape around it. You sign on the dotted line and bring that not-so-light box into your living room. You walk to the kitchen, grab a pair of scissors and delicately slice open the tape on the box. Inside is that thing you’ve been waiting for, the thing that’s supposed to save your life, improve your productivity, reduce your back pain, increase metabolism, etc. It’s your standing desk!

You were one of the smart ones and got one that was already assembled, so you pull it out of your box and carry it (maybe with some help) to your office.

You make space right in front of your chair and, luckily, the cable to your monitor is long enough to reach the top of it. Your Bluetooth keyboard and mouse fit perfectly on the try. You kick your chair out of the way and raise that baby up so it’s at eye level and you start working, checking emails, replying to comments, taking calls.. but after about 2 hours, your back is killing you!

Related: Height Adjustable Standing Desk – What to look for when you buy

Standing desk benefits

Your feet hurt, your back is screaming, and you can barely focus on the screen anymore.  Why would people buy a standing desk? This is so uncomfortable! There are ZERO standing desk benefits!

Alright, all anecdotes aside, this is not what standing desks were designed for. Being on your feet for hours on end is just as bad, if not worse than sitting all day. You will burn more calories, but you’ll also be incredibly sore and uncomfortable. Just ask anyone who’s on their feet all day. A nurse is an excellent place to start.

Related: What Are the Benefits of a Standing Desk Mat

 How to use a Standing Desk: the right way

Let’s go through this again.

You get your box, open it up, and after you get your monitor, keyboard, and mouse all set up on your standing desk workstation, you move it to the proper standing height setting and start answering e-mails. After around 25-30 minutes you lower it and start working sitting down. You work that way for the rest of the hour and then when you hit 60 min, you raise it back up to continue working standing.

You repeat this process, every hour, as many times as you want during your workday. That’s How to use a Standing Desk and how you reap the maximum benefits from a standing desk.

A standing desk, as much as the name might imply, is not made to be used standing all day every day. That’s not what they were designed for. Standing desk benefits come from giving you a break from sitting all day, boosting metabolism, keeping your blood flowing all while still being productive at work. This can be and should be done in a matter of 30 minutes.

Research says you should stand about much as you sit every hour. That doesn’t mean an average throughout the day. That means every hour stand at least 30 min.

DO NOT sit for 4 consecutive hours and then stand for 4 straight hours. That’s not good for you either.

Standing desk benefits

There are many advantages to standing when compared to sitting. When you sit for a prolonged period of time you increase your risk of metabolic syndrome, heart attack, and stroke. Those sound scary because they are scary. You may not notice it now, but if you’re a freelancer who needs a computer to work and you do it seated at a desk for many years, those nasty side effects start to rear their ugly heads after a time.

There’s also new research that shows that extra trips to the gym won’t undo the harmful effects of sitting. Will they help? Of course, they will. Exercise always helps (to a point). But they can’t completely reverse it. The only way to do that is to sit less. Plain and simple, you have to be standing.

Related: What about a stand up desk workstation?

Enter the Standing Desk

With the revelation that the only way to stop the adverse effects of sitting is by standing more, the standing desk was born. It allows you to both sit and stand at your desk, and maintain productivity (maybe even improve it) by cutting your sitting time in half.

If you’re really into standing desks benefits and how to use them, which I hope you are, you should consider getting yourself an electric sit-stand desk. The electric part of that title is the most important part. Switching from standing to sitting up to 16 times with a crank, or a lever will get really old, really fast. Electric sit-stand desks give you the option of setting different heights. This lets you change positions with very little effort.

If you’re interested in exactly what you should look for, take a gander at my article: Stand up Computer Desk – Ultimate Buyers Guide

Make it easy

If you’re like me, when you’re working, you lose all track of time. So, all you need to do is set a timer. There’s a perfect one online at Time and Date. You can even add a couple of timers which can go off consecutively, so you don’t have to worry about setting a new one or resetting the old one. This timer could also be perfect for the Pomodoro Method, but that’s a whole other article.

Make sure if you decide on a standing desk, which I hope you do, that you learn how to use it properly. If you plan on being a freelancer for many years to come, then standing every 30 minutes could quite literally save your life. Take a look at my article How to Help Lower Back Pain – 5 habits to change your life, where I give you a simple overview of the proper height your desk should be at to maximize the standing desk benefits and to make sure you’re a healthy, fit freelancer for life! Happy Freelancing everyone!

Have you picked yourself up a standing desk? What do you think so far?