The Standing Desk

I started half-heartedly researching standing desks a while ago, but it wasn’t until recently that I got serious about finding out if a standing desk could help me.

I wasn’t thrilled with sitting at my desk or table for hours on end. My back hurt and I felt like a generally lumpy waste of space. I would start to work and then get distracted, my mind and my browser wandering to completely unhelpful and unproductive places.

I read a bunch of articles about standing desks, but one of the most helpful came from Gina Trapani on her blog, Smarterware. She goes through the whys of standing desks, as well as shows some DIY options for converting your current desk.
Because I’m a laptop user, I really wanted something that could travel around the apartment with me, depending on where I want to work in that moment.

The Portable Standing Desk for Laptops

To make my portable standing desk, I bought a large bamboo stacking shelf from the Container Store. It ended up being a little too short, so I stacked some large books on top, and that’s been working great. I may end up constructing my own portable desk once I figure out the perfect height for me, but for now it’s totally functional.

I really love that I have space for my small notebook next to the computer, as well as space for a glass underneath the table. I am the current reigning champ of Spilling Water On Your Laptop and Never Learning That You Shouldn’t Put Your Water Right Next to the Computer, so this has also been a huge step up productivity-wise. It’s hard to be productive when you’re constantly trying to clean up spilled water while maintaining a stream of heavy curses.

The Results

I can’t quite express how much I freaking love this thing. Not only do I feel better and more engaged physically, but I’ve found that I am WAY more productive when I’m using the standing desk. Someone better suited to the psychology of it could probably explain this phenomenon, but I think it has to do with the fact that my body is now more engaged and aware, so my mind is following suit. I’m spending far less time piddling on the internet (do you hear that, Pinterest? I’m breaking free!) and far more time actually getting things done.

If you spend a lot of time sitting in front of your computer, try out a standing desk. It could be as big a productivity-increaser for you as it has been for me!