Building a standing desk

Stand while you work. After months of experimenting at home, I recently built myself a "standing desk" for the office.

Building a desk that stands 40" tall required a trip to IKEA for the following components:

• VIKA AMON tabletop - $49
• VIKA BYSKE adjustable stainless steel legs - $20 x 4
• HUGO barstool - $119
• Total cost: $248

I have a bar stool that I'll sit on every hour or so to rest my legs.

Why are you doing this? - quote from my co-workers

While I plan on going into this in more detail in a future post, I have two reasons:

1. I have way more energy and focus when I stand and use a computer.
2. Sitting at a desk all day is proven to cause deep vein thrombosis, obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol, herniated disks, poor posture, knee pain, muscle weakness, depression, slow metabolism, neck problems, backache, and death.

The point isn't necessarily to stand in one place all day: the whole point is NOT to sit. At a standing desk, you can choose your position: standing, leaning, sitting, standing with one foot up, etc...  When you sit, you're limited to one posture; when you stand, you have more flexibility.

Related links:

• This desk is based on a similar design