Despite their growing popularity, standing desks are still the exception to the rule at many offices around the country. So, it may feel like swimming in unchartered waters if you’re the first to mix things up where you work. Not to worry though. We’ve talked to numerous first-timers like you. Here are 4 common things they say you can expect when being the first one in the office with a standing desk.
Get Ready for the Watchtower Jokes
You’re bound to hear a joke or two from your colleagues about how you remind them of a watchtower overlooking all the neighboring cubicles. Take it all in good stride. Humor is one of the easiest ways for many coworkers to break the ice about your new workstation.
Get Ready to Become Healthier & More Dynamic
You don’t need to read The Washington Post article on “The Health Hazards of Sitting” to know that sitting all day is bad for your health. You can feel it. Your neck feels tight. Your back aches. Your legs need to be stretched. You feel the need to get up and move around.
Because standing desks put you in the best position to keep your body in motion while working, most standing desk users burn more calories, feel more vibrant, and have a lower risk of developing obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease and cancer.
“I wear a fitness tracker to work everyday, and I’ve noticed that I get 2,000 to 3,000 more steps per day now that I use a standing desk,” says Reuben Miller, a creative director at PullPin in Texas. “It’s helped me be a lot more active throughout the day.”
Get Ready to Boost Productivity
While in theory, other solutions like treadmill desks are a great idea for boosting activity at work, the logistics of walking on a moving belt (even at a slow pace) while working makes it difficult to concentrate and do routine tasks like typing or eating a snack at your desk. According to Men’s Fitness magazine, a study published in the journal PLOS ONE “calculated that treadmill desks cause a dip in performance that lasts up to six months.”
Standing desks, on the other hand, don’t have any moving parts to distract you from your work. Instead they help boost productivity and make it easy to burn 80 to 100 calories per hour while also strengthening your leg muscles, improving blood flow, and supporting healthy movement that keeps your neck and lower back from getting too stiff in one sedentary position.
Get Ready for Jealous Coworkers
Remember, those same coworkers who were making the watchtower jokes? They’ll be eyeing you with jealousy after a few weeks of seeing you use your standing desk. Miller says several of his colleagues started using standing desks after seeing how much more active he was using his. “They were full of jokes when I first started using it, but now they love it just as much as I do,” he says.
Now that you know what to expect once you buy a standing desk, all that’s left is to find the one that’s right for you. Keep in mind, you have many options to choose from with Height Adjustable Desks, and even Standing Desk Converters that sit on top of your existing desk. So, have fun shopping!
