Standing desks

[wildcatadam6]

Does anyone have experience with these? Heard an advertisement for varidesk, and those look simple and foolproof. My wife is wanting one for her new job, where she works at a desk quite a bit more than she did before.

The ones on varidesk look great and are priced what I would guess is pretty fair.

Thanks.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Do me a favor, if you want one so damn bad for your office, put it together yourself. The IT Department shouldn't be responsible for some $400 piece of non-tech furniture, putting it together, or re-adjusting it for you just because you want some new thing the guy next to you has. We don't care about your back problems or that you want to lose 15 more calories a day.

That's who this is made for: The Millennials, The self-important and the lazy asses. 90% of people waste the company money, and stand-up for 1 hour a day, max, after the 1st week.

/rant

 

[wildcatadam6]

First, it's not for me. It's for the wife. Second, it's proven that sitting is very detrimental to your health. Third, I'm buying it for her and it comes preassembled. Fourth, contribute or shut up.

Thanks.

 

[bthaunert]

We have a lot of people in our department who use them. One thing we did is go more expensive to get ones that are motorized to adjust up and down very easily. Not sure the budget you're looking at, but that might be an option. Also, if she isn't sure how much she will use it, try building something (not too difficult) first to see if she likes it before investing money. Overall, the people who we got them for use them a lot. I use mine about 75% of the time.

 

[ukalumni00]

One of my customers has a lot of back issues and he bought one a few years ago. He said it has really helped his back and he is much happier. His staff will confirm that since they all say he is in much better moods these days than in the past.

 

[wildcatadam6]

The cost is $400. Not sure I could build one for that. If she ends up not using it, I'd use it here in my home office.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

First, it's not for me. It's for the wife. Second, it's proven that sitting is very detrimental to your health. Third, I'm buying it for her and it comes preassembled. Fourth, contribute or shut up.

Thanks.

I did contribute. I told you that chances are, it won't be used more than 10% of the time after the 1st week, because in reality, most people don't want to stand all day. Aside from medical issues, if "health" is a concern, maybe don't jump at every "cookies in the breakroom!" corporate email. Take breaks and walk around. SKip the elevator. Nope. instead, lets blame our desks and make the company adjust our weight.

And while the desk may come pre-assembled (many do not) that doesn't include the rocket-science "can you guys just do this for me?" task of screwing the monitors to the stands. And the modifications. And running the cables. And the keyboard arm. And getting them a new one because they don't like the color..

Obviously I'm jaded by these things, lol and some of the above out of humor.. But I really do think the vast majority aren't needed and it's really just "Well how come Bob got one? I want one now?" mentality.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

<--- Before moving on from the Support Team, we had to order, assemble, and configure almost 100 of these desks. Just telling you my experience.

 

[Get Buckets]

Very shocked to come home and see Joeyruption hasn't posted in this thread.

 

[wildcatadam6]

My wife is quite healthy...walks a lot, lifts some. Sweets aren't her thing.

She is a PT, and used to be on her feet all day. Now, it's about 25% of the time. She wants to stand. She'd be the first and only in the hospital. Again, we are paying for it.

Learn "happy wife happy life".

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I'll tell you this.. the "foolproof" part, and whatever the advertisement said,, isn't always the case. While they adjust in many ways, some just don't work for some body types. By that i mean, varying heights, eyes to hand distance, etc. I can't keep up with the brands, we've used over a dozen, and I have no desire to spend career time messing with furniture...so not sure about Varidesk, but go over reviews, especially ones about height and comfort. I haven't seen a one-size-fits-all desk, yet.

 

[crazyqx83_rivals88013]

Learn "happy wife happy life".

I subscribe to the "why are you out of the kitchen?" mantra.

 

[mashburned]

Real good thread.

I always wanted to try the big bouncy ball thing. Looks fun.

 

[d2atTech]

standings desks work if you have the right crowd, but they are expensive. At goog, we all had standing desks (with electric motors, so they can become sitting desks with little effort). About 50% of us used them in standing mode. Price for each desk was $750. That's probably unaffordable for most workplaces. You can build a static one for about $100 worth of wood.

 

[BankerCat12]

Does it fit into a bathroom stall? I could work all day then. I would love to make that my "go-to office" when meeting with clients.

 

[cole854]

Second, it's proven that sitting is very detrimental to your health.

No...that isn't proven at all. Sitting for 8 hrs or more and not getting up and walking around, stretching, etc... combined with a sedentary lifestyle is.

Now don't go nutso and get rid of all your chairs in the house.

 

[wildcatadam6]

Well, when 60-80% of your work day is at a computer, that's not healthy. Standing up while working when you otherwise cannot go for a stroll around the hospital campus is a good way to get off your *** and mitigate some of the danger of being sedentary. Even with exercise and a healthy lifestyle, sitting is still dangerous.

Enjoy = http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/21/health/sitting-will-kill-you/

Thanks for playing =
http://chriskresser.com/how-sitting-too-much-is-making-us-sick-and-fat-and-what-to-do-about-it/

And

Get pumped = http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-sitting-health-20150119-story.html

 

[Kaizer Sosay]

Unexpectedly, this thread has major potential.

:boxing::boxing:opcorn:

 

[d2atTech]

Unexpectedly, this thread has major potential.

:boxing::boxing:opcorn:

we need naughty teecher pics. willy, hook up bro!!

 

[JonathanW_rivals]

My previous employer moved us to the Open-space plan about 4 years ago. They made about 1/2 the desk adjustable height. About 10-15% raised them to standing height. Some for just an hour or two a day, but about 1/2 stood all day or the majority of the day. More than I thought would do it.

 

[KopiKat]

Does anyone have experience with these?

Two times in the past, yes. Both were female and the request for standing work stations was for "health reasons." Got them out of cubes and into offices. Within a few weeks decided they didn't like it. One turned out to be pregnant. Neither went back to the cubes. Real pros.

 

[AustinTXCat]

<--- Before moving on from the Support Team, we had to order, assemble, and configure almost 100 of these desks. Just telling you my experience.

Four years ago, my crew assembled ten units for those who can't get off their asses for an hour daily while at work and walk around. Out of 10, two are still in use by the original customers. My group re-purposed 4. It's a GD support nightmare for the self-entitled.

I walk 30 minutes during lunch, 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon while schlepping a Surface or phone to assuage the stress cases. Not difficult. What's that I hear? Too cold? Too windy? Too hot? Rain? Suck it up and drive on!

 

[backbeatcat_rivals376595]

Does anyone have experience with these? Heard an advertisement for varidesk, and those look simple and foolproof. My wife is wanting one for her new job, where she works at a desk quite a bit more than she did before.

The ones on varidesk look great and are priced what I would guess is pretty fair.

Thanks.

I read an article about building a standing workstation on top of a desk for $40 in IKEA shelving and parts and put it to work. I stand 90% of the time and can convert from sitting to standing in about 2 minutes. Do that and save some $$

 

[Kaizer Sosay]

we need naughty teecher pics. willy, hook up bro!!

I was thinking more along the lines of naughty secretary pics bent over standing desks. Seems more in tune with the theme of the thread.

 

[argubs2]

These things are great. I practice my C-Walk while I respond to emails and take calls on my tooth.

Tooth is what I call Bluetooth. Just FYI.

 

[KingOfBBN]

@LineSkiCat14 [roll]

Love that guy. Just escalated that situation x100 and that's something a real working man would do. Just waited for the chance for some naive person to walk into that and LineSki seized the opportunity with that awesome rant.

If this was an 80s teen movie, I'd start the slow cap. [cheers]

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I honestly didn't mean to go on the attack haha.. but.. Damn, I lose my **** almost every day at work with this stuff. And here's the newest one:



Look at these crunchy millennials.. Who gets sore from sitting at 24? Oh you sometimes have to work 9 or more hours in a day? These schmucks are even playing hackysack on it!

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Half the girls are wearing high heels in the video. I'm not pediatrist, but maybe wearing shoes that destroy your feet every day isn't a good idea?

 

[joeyrupption]

Very shocked to come home and see Joeyruption hasn't posted in this thread.

Standing desks are bunk. Taking a walking breaks is much healthier than merely standing instead of sitting.

Just listen to your Apple Watch when it tells you to stand up and you'll be fine. It's pretty self explanatory.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

Standing desks are bunk. Taking a walking breaks is much healthier than merely standing instead of sitting.

Just listen to your Apple Watch when it tells you to stand up and you'll be fine. It's pretty self explanatory.

I have a watch with a hydra timer. Supposed to be used to remind you to drink water, I just sit it for an hour, when it starts beeping, I get up and walk for five minutes.. Automatically starts over as well. Sometimes I ignore it when I am really busy or in the middle of something I don't want to take my attention away from though. Really helps in reaching my step goal for the day, I can get at least 500 steps within that five-minute period. If I were to to take a five-minute walking break every hour at work, I'd get in at least 4000 steps a day (8 hours x 500 steps) just form the walking breaks.

 

[gocatsdotuk]

You owe me $378...


http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7033432

 

[LadyCat92]

I started using one a couple of months ago. Some days I'm on conference calls for 4-6 hours, and can't take walk around breaks when I want other than walking to a meeting. It's nice to be able to raise my desk and stand while on these calls when having to be attentive to my laptop as well. I've also noticed my upper back doesn't bother me as much because instead of being hunched over the computer, I'm standing up and using better posture. There are some days I never stand, and there are others that I stand almost all day. It just depends on what I'm doing. I have the motorized one, so even sitting, sometimes I like to raise it a little higher than a normal desk. Not sure if Varidesk has the same flexibility.

Also, what kind of ****** places do you people work at that IT has to support these. This should be handled by facilities, not IT.

 

[TransyCat09]

A lot (more and more) companies have rolled IT into facilities and are basically moving both to a 100% service role. It's unfortunate, but yeah.

 

[UKGrad93]

My boss sent an email last week basically telling us we can get standing desks if we want them, so I'm considering it. I'm not fat and lazy, I run and bike nearly every day. On the other hand, my job has put me at my desk more and more. I've seen how sitting behind a desk can contribute to poor health by watching my boss. He's out of work this month for back surgery.

Can IT put these things together with a remote connection? That's about the extent of my IT support, unless you count hamper in my ability to work because they see no reason why MS Word can't do everything under the sun.

 

[wildcatadam6]

I started using one a couple of months ago. Some days I'm on conference calls for 4-6 hours, and can't take walk around breaks when I want other than walking to a meeting. It's nice to be able to raise my desk and stand while on these calls when having to be attentive to my laptop as well. I've also noticed my upper back doesn't bother me as much because instead of being hunched over the computer, I'm standing up and using better posture. There are some days I never stand, and there are others that I stand almost all day. It just depends on what I'm doing. I have the motorized one, so even sitting, sometimes I like to raise it a little higher than a normal desk. Not sure if Varidesk has the same flexibility.

Also, what kind of ****** places do you people work at that IT has to support these. This should be handled by facilities, not IT.

What kind do you have?

 

[AustinTXCat]

Also, what kind of ****** places do you people work at that IT has to support these. This should be handled by facilities, not IT.

System Analyst III for TX Department of Aging and Disability Services.

See Transy's answer. Agreed, facilities should handle this crap, but guess who always weasels out of it. Another excuse: "We can't run cables".

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

Putting together a desk = facilities/physical plant work, not IT.

 

[TransyCat09]

Coming from the facilities side, it isn't always "weaseling out."

Sometimes it's, we have half the number of people necessary to complete mission critical work orders that are affecting the integrity of the work environment and Veronica in processing won't stfu about her new desk.

Since facilities and IT are moving under the same umbrella, sometimes it just works out that IT gets it dumped on them.

Of course it is just ishy management and delegation sometimes, but facilities and IT both almost always need budget increases in any organization.

 

[LadyCat92]

What kind do you have?

I'll look when I'm back at the office tomorrow and let you know.

 

[LadyCat92]

I figured it out. We use uplift desk and provide the tops for them since we have a lot of left over office furniture. You can get a sheet of plywood from Lowe's and cut it to whatever size you want to work with it.