Ask HN: How is your standing desk working for you?

I already had a fairly active after work life that involved powerlifting and cycling. I have to admit most of the time I am sitting at work as I am normally hurting somewhere (the good kind of muscle ache). But at home I have a standing only desk and it's best use is allowing me to quickly move from being at the device or doing something else. I don't feel like I am settling in for a long stint, I can quickly pop on a video or write a message and move away.

Have you tried working in a tatami desk? I found that it works well for me. Working in a tatami forces you to sit in a seiza style, which in turn forces you to straighten your back. The Japanese say it's supposed to be a "proper" way of sitting.

Really good investment. I have the small electric one from Ikea.

There are ones that have a preset, and I wish mine had that option.

I have an automated sit-stand desk, and I really appreciate having it. I don't necessarily switch to standing every day, but I do at least 75% of the time. When I do, it's for one to two hours at a time.

I'm kind of the opposite to you, where, when I realize I'm losing focus, I'll switch to standing and try to squeeze out a little more focus before relenting and taking a break. Sometimes that will get me right back into the groove and next thing I know it, I've been coding for another two hours.

That's not to say I don't take breaks throughout the day, but focus can be a bit tougher to maintain on some days. Switching my desk definitely helps.

I've been meaning to try the treadmill hack[1] to get a slow treadmill under my desk. Unfortunately, at 6'6" (2m), I'm not sure this desk (or any automated standing desk) is tall enough for me to get a treadmill underneath and still have my desk at a comfortable height.

1: http://www.treadmilldeskdiary.com/setting-up-my-confidence-p...

Standing hurts my feet within 10-20 minutes, but I found a treadmill/walking desk to be something I could do all day long. It helped a lot with back pain, and as a side-effect it cured post-lunch sleepiness.

Coding while walking was never a concentration problem for me, so I can only offer that as an anecdotal data point. It might be me, but maybe walking rather than standing makes it easier to concentrate?

There were plenty of downsides that make using the walking desk hard for me. I was working in games, and testing a 3d game while walking was often disorienting and would cause me to trip on myself or walk off the treadmill. Frequent visits and phone calls from other employees were more difficult to deal with than coding while walking. And a treadmill desk is bulky and noisy and hard to move around. I got the smallest setup I could find, and it still used up a lot more space than I expected.