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Things I've quit doing at my desk

justinjackson.ca

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Re: Things I've quit doing at my desk

#11

Post by cstejerean »

poblano wrote: post #6

Has anyone else switched to a standing desk setup? Do you like it?

Yep. I first switched to a standing desk at work, and later got one for home as well (built from IKEA parts). I've found that I'm a lot more productive with a standing desk, mostly because I procrastinate less.

Adjusting to working while standing is difficult. Adjustable desks that can go up and down, especially at the push of a button, only make it harder to actually get used to it. You'll get tired quickly from standing, switch to sitting, and then forget to stand back up (because sitting is a habit, whereas standing is not yet).

I've built a standing desk that does not adjust. When I get tired of standing I'll grab my laptop and go to the couch for a bit, and then get back to standing. This might not work for every setup, but it's great for me.

Re: Things I've quit doing at my desk

#12

Post by jseliger »

Sitting: for the past 18 months I’ve been using a standing desk. I’ve realized that the best part isn’t that I’m standing all day; it’s that I’m not sitting.

I actually got a GeekDesk a while ago, and I think it's a better solution: I wouldn't want to sit or stand all the time.

Re: Things I've quit doing at my desk

#13

Post by TillE »

philwelch wrote: post #8
praptak wrote: post #7

Ad procrastinating: I remember someone (Paul Graham?) reporting that he configured a separate machine for procrastination-inducing activities so as to avoid the "just quickly check my feed while this is compiling" syndrome.

It was Paul Graham. He later noted that it didn't really work.

Interesting. While it's not a panacea, I do think it's an important part of creating separate work and non-work environments.

Making a separate user account just for work really helps me stay focused. Same computer, but still a different environment.

Re: Things I've quit doing at my desk

#14

Post by emillon »

praptak wrote: post #7

Ad procrastinating: I remember someone (Paul Graham?) reporting that he configured a separate machine for procrastination-inducing activities so as to avoid the "just quickly check my feed while this is compiling" syndrome.

Matt Might suggested something similar for distractions and gaming :

http://matt.might.net/articles/cripple-your-technology/

Re: Things I've quit doing at my desk

#17

Post by warp »

cstejerean wrote: post #11
poblano wrote: post #6

Has anyone else switched to a standing desk setup? Do you like it?

Yep. I first switched to a standing desk at work, and later got one for home as well (built from IKEA parts). I've found that I'm a lot more productive with a standing desk, mostly because I procrastinate less. Adjusting to working while standing is difficult. Adjustable desks that can go up and down, especially at the push of a button, only make it harder to actually get used to it. You'll get tired quickly from sta…

My solution for when I get tired of standing is to sit on a bar stool. I have an Ikea Sebastian bar stool which is the perfect height to sit at my standing desk. It is uncomfortable enough that I switch back to standing after a while.

Re: Things I've quit doing at my desk

#18

Post by TillE »

mhw wrote: post #9
_delirium wrote: post #3

#1 (thinking elsewhere, especially while taking a walk) is definitely true for me, but it does require being in a setting where you're allowed to leave the office for a few hours in the middle of the day to go for a walk in a nearby park. In academia or at your own startup, probably not a problem, but many companies aren't very accommodating of people leaving the office for hours at a time.

I find that too - much of my best thinking in the past has come to me during the walk to the office or back home again. I once took to carrying a dictation machine so I could capture these thoughts because I used to find that the process of arriving at the office, making a coffee, booting up and logging on used to distract me and I'd forget what I'd thought of while walking. My theory about thinking and walking is th…

I suspect it's a mental context switch more than anything physiological.

For example, I'm pretty bad at creative tasks when at a keyboard (this was also true in pre-internet times, so it's not a matter of distractions), but sit me down with a pencil and paper and the juices start to flow. It just creates a different state of mind.

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