Standing To Code

Over a decade ago I read suggestions that standing to work might be healthier than sitting, and tried it.

Shortly afterwards it seems like a lot of the world did the same: desks at my office were gradually swapped for motorized sit/stand desks, and such desks became the default.

It also quickly became apparent that despite having the choice right in front of them most people were going to mostly sit.

Not me; I love standing.

But, there are a couple of caveats.

Standing Mat

There is no way I could stand to stand to work all day without a standing mat.

Ouch. That would hurt.

And by standing mat I mean a really thick, solid, soft mat made specifically to alleviate fatigue when standing.

I take off my shoes, and stand on an Imprint CumulusPRO:

Imprint CumulusPRO on Amazon

I guess there are plenty of similar products that work—but it does need to be pretty solid. At first I used a folded yoga mat, for example, and it was much better than nothing but annoying to manage.

Over the years I mused and marveled at my company buying expensive standing desks but not shelling out the $100 for a mat to go with each to make it actually usable. Go figure.

Only For Coding

I find coding to be a very “active” occupation: I physically move quite a bit as I switch between windows; and I’m always pushing towards the next checkpoint in whatever I’m doing.

Other fast tasks like processing or writing email work similarly well.

But if I have to write a design doc or something else with a higher level of time-per-line investment, I find that is a sufficiently different type of activity that I leave my desk and sit with a laptop.

Huge Screen

I use a 43 inch screen—I’ll probably write about it at some point—and I think this harmonizes perfectly with standing to work; more screen real estate, more physical mobility.

Advice

This is one of those “try it if you get a chance; you probably won’t like it, but if you do, you’ll love it!" things.

So my advice is, well, see above. And be sure to stand on something suitably soft.

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