Some time ago, I add a card in the inbox column of my personal GTD kanban board (I can share the model if needed). The card was labeled “Standing Desk”.
During the next review, I moved this card in the “Someday / Maybe” column. And the card sat there for… nearly ever.
During the same week several factors made me reconsider this card:
- I had skipped some breaks during the days, and forgot to change posture, so my back started to hurt a little
- Colleagues at work were discussing the idea to buy standing desk and they did it and report that they were happy 🙂 (Thank you Mark and Hugh!)
So, I moved the card directly to the to do this week column, look at the options and decided to change my whole desk (I bought the previous one 20 years ago) and chose the IKEA Berkan model.
With this desk I can have my whole set-up moving. The first week, I thought it will really help me to “not forget breaks” and to “not forget to change posture” as it was difficult for me to stand for long, so I alternate sitting and standing position during the day.
After 2 weeks, I can stand longer, the cat is using my chair, and I need to be sure to start my pomodoro timer to remember to have a break and to change posture. The fact to stand has a good impact on my numerous conference call during the day: I am able to close the call faster. The same effect that leads to decide that a daily synchronization meeting should be done standing up, this way it could be shorter (There’s a study on that effect here).
I recommend you to test, and you will probably adopt it!
The day I received my IKEA desk, Lisette Sutherland published a post showing her desk, probably the same model in another size! By the way, if you are interested in collaboration and remote work, follow her!
Header picture is from Ryan McGuire.