Sitting all day can put a lot of strain on your body and there are numerous studies showing the negative affects on the body. I have also heard of studies claiming the opposite and claiming that standing can causing stress to your legs and is worst than sitting. This reminds me of a skit from the show Portland where a couple reads endless series of conflicting studies and end up dying from confusion. My solution is to alternate between sitting and standing all day.
I have a standing desk at the office but since I have started working from home most of the time, I found myself sitting the entire day. After some time working reclined all the time, I decided to build my own standing desk. I was looking for an easy to build and affordable solution and came up with the idea to use a closet organizer for the desk. I don’t fully trust my carpentry skills, which attracted me to using shelving system that uses a track. It made it very easy to position the heights of the the two different shelves to where they were the most ergonomic and comfortable.
I start the morning standing and by lunch time my computer is low on batteries and place it on my other desk with my monitor to charge during lunch. In the afternoon, I sit at my normal desk while my battery finishes charging and once fully charged, I resume standing and repeat this process throughout the day.
Construction
I went out to Home Depot and pieced every thing together in my head while in the closet aisle. I grabbed two 30 inch metal tracks, two 12 inch shelving brackets, two 8 inch shelving brackets and 3 foot long corresponding shelves. With all the hardware, shelving system, and an anti-fatigue mat to stand on while at the desk, my total was $60.
I measured the distance from my elbow to the ground when my arm was at a 90 degree angle and figured that would be the height where the first shelf should be hung. I calculated where the same height would be on the wall and attached the first shelving track starting about 6 inches below that point where the first shelf would hang. Using a long level, I was easily able to find the next spot on the wall about 28 inches from the first track to mount the second track. Checking again that the span from each track was level, it was a matter of inserting the shelving brackets, laying and then securing the shelves to the brackets. I played around with the locations of the shelves finding the optimal height of each shelf before securing.
The total build time was about 15 minutes and I am super pleased with the result. I no longer have sore shoulders, wrist, or neck pains. I find switching from standing to sitting, really helps break up the work day. If you work with a computer for a living and have the space, I highly recommend building a standing desk. Everything in moderation always seems to be the key to a happy life and regulating the amount of sitting you do, is not an exception to the rule. 10/10 would buy again.