Standing Up

For those of you who have been following my blog for a while, you know about the crazy-insane back problems I have been having over the course of the last year or so. I'm super thankful to have met a great chiropractor who has really helped me get my spine back in alignment, and I hardly ever experience pain any more. I hit a bit of a plateau in my treatment lately, though, and after a while I realized that the reason was the amount of time I sit at my desk during the day at work. It's hard to keep good posture when you get to work at 8, leave around 6, and are sitting almost the entire time.

So I hit the internet, and read a lot of articles about the health drawbacks of being in a culture that spends so much time sitting. Here's one that I particularly liked, and I thought this was a pretty good info-graphic that explains some of the risks more concisely.

My next step? I knew I wanted to change my setup at work, but I didn't really have the option of replacing my desk at work (even if I did, though, those desks are like $1000...no thanks). I have a little office with a big huge desk that I'm confident is made from the same material as black holes. It's that heavy. So what's a girl to do? Time to hack something together.....I hit the internet again, knowing that someone somewhere had the same issue I did. I was hoping that person was also as cheap as I am. I lucked out.

I came across Colin Nederkoorn's blog after a laughably quick Google search, and was immediately grabbed by the title. A standing desk for $22? And it's a modification for an existing desk? Sounds too good to be true. I read on and found out he had purchased all the materials from Ikea! Perfect! Needless to say, I made a list of what I needed, and made an insane Saturday trip to Ikea to get the things I needed. I should stop here and state that anybody who goes to Ikea voluntarily on a Saturday hates themselves at least a little. It was a total mad-house. I was on a mission, though, and was in and out in less than an hour. After some super-basic assembly and some measurements (my husband was a huge help, especially after I dropped the fully assembled LACK side-table squarely on the top of my foot and thought for sure I had broken bones) my new standing desk was complete! I brought it to work this morning, and it took me about 10 minutes to get my monitors situated along with my keyboard and mouse, but I'm pretty darn impressed with the result! I still have plenty of work space on top of the LACK table, and I already feel less pain in my neck and shoulders. I think a fatigue mat will be the next purchase, because I can see my legs getting tired after standing all day, but I think it's also a matter of adjusting. After spending that much time sitting, I'm sure it'll take time for my body to get used to standing more.

So there you have it! My fancy new standing desk! Want to make one yourself? Check out Colin's blog for the materials you'll need as well as the instructions.