{"id":45853,"date":"2013-10-31T14:30:36","date_gmt":"2013-10-31T18:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=45853"},"modified":"2013-10-29T12:30:07","modified_gmt":"2013-10-29T16:30:07","slug":"stand-up-everything-you-need-to-know-about-a-standing-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=45853","title":{"rendered":"Stand Up! Everything You Need to Know about a Standing Desk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>by Ruth Lincoln, Head Editor <a href=\"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?page_id=5679\">INALJ Washington, DC<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Stand Up! Everything You Need to Know about a Standing Desk<\/span><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_28255\" style=\"width: 190px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/ruthlincoln.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-28255\" class=\" wp-image-28255 \" alt=\"Ruth Lincoln, INALJ DC Head Editor\" src=\"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/ruthlincoln-300x165.jpg\" width=\"180\" height=\"99\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-28255\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruth Lincoln, INALJ DC Head Editor<\/p><\/div>\n<p>While our jobs as information professionals can run the gamut, we often find ourselves sitting. A lot. All that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/04\/17\/magazine\/mag-17sitting-t.html\" target=\"_blank\">sitting can take a toll<\/a>. For the past six months, I\u2019ve been working behind a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Standing_desk\" target=\"_blank\">standing desk<\/a>, and I wouldn\u2019t trade it for the most luxurious office chair.<\/p>\n<p>As a government contractor, I did not work during the recent shutdown. Besides the paycheck, I really missed my standing desk. Since I began standing I\u2019ve noticed the following:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Improved Posture. Standing requires you engage your core muscles (abs, low back, hips). Strengthening your core can help improve your posture.<\/li>\n<li>Sounder Sleep. I immediately noticed I slept more soundly at night. While a standing desk doesn\u2019t replace regular exercise, it definitely exhausts your muscles more than sitting.<\/li>\n<li>Alert afternoons. I\u2019m far less likely to feel sleepy around 3:30 when I stand. Really!\u00a0<span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em; line-height: 1.6875;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>How to Get a Standing Desk<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Ask!<\/b><\/p>\n<p>If you work for a large company or organization, odds are there\u2019s some sort of \u201cergonomics expert\u201d on staff. Ask your boss or administrative professionals if it\u2019s possible to install a standing workstation. Every desk is different, but it\u2019s sometimes as simple as raising one board.<\/p>\n<p><b>Hack it.<\/b><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em; line-height: 1.6875;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>A standing desk is easy enough to build or hack yourself. You don\u2019t even need to be an IKEA genie. There are ample guides to get you started:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/lifehacker.com\/the-two-best-standing-desks-for-any-budget-1247630057\" target=\"_blank\">A standing desk for $22<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.brit.co\/standing-desks\/\" target=\"_blank\">Get Up, Stand Up: 10 Do-It-Yourself Standing Desks<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/lifehacker.com\/tag\/standing-desk\" target=\"_blank\">LifeHacker: Standing Desks<\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em; line-height: 1.6875;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Tips and Tricks<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Have a Tall Chair or Stool. <\/b>Let\u2019s be honest. You\u2019re not going to stand all day. Everyone needs a break, and having a tall chair or simple stool is vital. Be sure to consider necessary back support. A stool might not be suitable for all.<\/p>\n<p><b>Start slow. <\/b>Don\u2019t expect to stand 8 hours on Day 1. Ease into your standing desk. I began standing for 45 minutes, sitting for 15, and repeated that throughout the day. Gradually increase the standing:sitting ratio.<\/p>\n<p><b>Consider a Mat. <\/b>The floor might seem harder after standing for a few hours, and comfy mats can alleviate this stress. You can go <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/s\/ref=sr_kk_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acomfort+floor+mat&amp;keywords=comfort+floor+mat&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382545795\" target=\"_blank\">fancy<\/a> or simple. I fold my yoga mat over a few times, and it definitely creates more cushion for my feet.<\/p>\n<p><b>Wear Comfortable Shoes. <\/b>This is the hallmark of everything librarian-related conference, so I\u2019m guessing you have a few pairs. Standing in heels for hours is far different than standing in supportive, comfortable flats, so pick your soles wisely. On a day you have a big event (maybe an interview?!), wear flats in the office and switch to heels when it\u2019s show time.<\/p>\n<p><b>Sit as Work Requires. <\/b>There are some intensive activities that require more thought and effort, and I definitely need to sit for those.<\/p>\n<p><b>Practice Proper Posture. <\/b>Standing isn\u2019t a golden ticket for proper posture. You still must make a conscious effort to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.yogajournal.com\/poses\/492\" target=\"_blank\">stand up straight<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=19660\" target=\"_blank\">stretch<\/a>, and move throughout the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Ruth Lincoln, Head Editor INALJ Washington, DC Stand Up! Everything You Need to Know about a Standing Desk While our jobs as information professionals can run the gamut, we often find ourselves sitting. A lot. All that sitting can take a toll. For the past six months, I\u2019ve been working behind a standing desk,&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=45853\">Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,4131,3637,4720,4389,5607,5608],"class_list":["post-45853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-health","tag-inalj-washington-dc","tag-ruth-lincoln","tag-self-care","tag-standing-desks","tag-work-enviornment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-bVz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45853\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}