The Do’s And Don’ts Of Using A Standing Desk
All of us must come to terms with the fact that simply buying a gym membership or setting up the gym equipment at home will not deliver any improvement to your health and wellbeing. To make the most of your health while you spend hours working, you need a standing desk. It will help increase calorie burn, improve your focus at work, bring relief from back and neck pain, and will enhance creativity. But to get the maximum benefits out of it, you need to use it properly. If you want to get the most out of the desk, there are some do’s and don’ts you need to be aware of. Let us go through them in detail.
Do’s.
Optimize ergonomics
There are many users who have reported that the standing desk will help eliminate many pain-related symptoms. But just standing on the desk is never enough. Proper ergonomics is always the key-whether you are standing or sitting. You need to have a height-adjustable desk that can be raised to a height that allows your back to remain straight and your arms to remain relaxed or to comfortably hang perpendicular to the floor. Whenever you type, the forearms need to be at a 90-degree angle to the upper arms. In order to avoid neck pain, you must also ensure that the monitor is set at the right height or just below eye level. Hence, you will not have to tilt the head up or down when you look at the screen.
Take time to ease into standing
If you had to run a marathon, you wouldn’t just go for it, right? It is important to practice and ease into it before the final run. The same applies when you bring home a standing desk. You need to work your way up. You cannot start standing for 8 hours on the first day. If you have got a height adjustable desk, you need to start by standing for a short period of time and lower the desk to the right height for some time. Now alternate back to standing. This will get you accustomed to the standing desk. As each week passes, you can increase the time you stand a little more. It will soon become your natural and preferred position when working.
Switch between sitting and standing
Too much of anything can be very harmful. Excessive sitting can lead to health issues and too much standing can also cause a lot of discomfort in the legs, feet, and back. Hence, always alternate between sitting and standing. You can also sit for one task and stand for another one. Whenever you are talking on the phone, take a quick walk in the area. Such transitions can be accomplished with a height-adjustable desk.
Accessorise the desk for optimal comfort
You might find it difficult to get used to standing for the first few weeks. Floors can be unforgiving. But you can handle it with accessories like a floor mat. It helps provide cushioning when you are standing.
Remember to move around
If you stand in a static position, it will harm your health and wellbeing. The idea is to maintain active motion. Continue to move back and forth or side to side when you shift positions. Whenever possible, take a walk across the room. If you are working from home, you can consider stretching for a few minutes.
Dont’s
Sit all day
Do not make the mistake of sitting on your desk all day. The purpose of a height-adjustable desk is to allow convenient movement and you must use it efficiently. It is easy to leave the desk in a seated position and forget to stand. But it will not deliver the benefits you are looking for. In the initial days, you can set a timer to ensure that you switch between sitting and standing throughout the day. Eventually, you will get used to it.
Use the standing desk to replace for diet or exercise
Your standing desk health benefits are only a small part of the total approach towards health and wellbeing. If you want to be the best, you must remember that simply standing on the desk will not improve your health. You must combine it with a healthy diet and regular exercise. You will certainly see benefits in the long term but standing at the desk will not help solve all the health problems.
Overload the desk with accessories
Keep in mind that the height-adjustable desk will help raise or lower the work surface but weight is a top consideration. Do not place multiple large-sized monitors or have heavy items on the desk. Instead, look for a model with extra weight capacity if needed. If you are someone who needs two monitors or a lot of notebooks and journals, you need to look for a desk that can accommodate it all. Check the weight capacity of the desk before you make a buying decision.
Clutter the space
Your productivity depends on how well you can think and perform. If you clutter the desk with several unnecessary accessories, it will only distract you. You can find desks that are available with a range of accessories. They can allow complete customization of the desk for your productivity. If you do not need something, remove it from the desk.
Standing desks have become an important part of the wellness plan but you must make the most of it in every manner possible. You can find a range of color and frame options, so pick one that works best for you. It is a well-known fact that a standing desk can help improve cardiovascular health, burn calories, and improves productivity. It can help increase creativity, engagement, and collaboration. You must consider a height-adjustable desk as an effective and integral part of the health and wellness program.
