Recently I got the idea in my head that standing behind a desk is better than sitting.The idea came from an article of Gina Trapani (known as the founder of Lifehacker.com). There are a couple of benefits to it and it has my interest. But the thing for me was, am I going to maintain this set-up? Therefore I decided not to buy a stand-up desk, but to make my own to test out.

First, why?

Using a Stand-Up Desk: Why Would You?

There are a couple of benefits to the system:

• Better condition. Because I have to stand all day when I am behind my computer, I will stand for a lot more hours, this will benefit my condition. Gina, as a woman, of course pointed out there will be a lot more calories burned (something I don’t consider as important), that would be a thing too.
• Better posture. My main reason. I’m pretty tall, so when I’m sitting I have a bad posture, I tend to hunch when I sit. Now I don’t feel anything from that now, but I know I will have backpain in 10-20 years if I continue to sit like this.
• Better productivity. When standing, you tend to work faster. There are studies which show that when meeting would be standing meeting they would go way faster. I think this is the same with standing behind your desk.

So 3 simple reasons to try this system out.

Now, I was wondering how I could test this out, cheap. And I thought of something.

How to Create a Stand-Up Desk for Almost Nothing

Necessities:

• 12 Pringles packages. These tubular things can carry a lot of weight.
• Two simple bookshelves. Again, easy. They should be big enough to carry your laptop (plus external monitor) and keyboard + mouse
• A Desk.

Creating a Stand-Up Desk

1. Divide the pringles boxes in 4 sets. Three boxes at each set.
2. Put one shelf on 2 set of boxes. This makes 6 pringles boxes in total.
3. Repeat step 2 with the other shelf.
4. Put your laptop, monitor, keyboard and mouse on the shelves.
5. Put your chair away and done!

That easy? Yes that easy. Here a picture of my set up:

 

Now, this is a good test set-up. After three days I can say now that your legs will hurt at the end of the day. But hey, you need to get your workout right?

[easyazon-image-link asin="B001MS70Z2" alt="Safco 1929CY Adjustable Height Stand-Up Workstation, 29w x 19-3/4d x 49h, Cherry PVC Top" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41h4fqusw3L._SL160_.jpg" align="left" width="116" height="160"]Again, this is only a test set-up, if you want to go for the real deal right away, the Safco looks right and is only $236.99 on Amazon.

Let me know what you think about this set-up and about this experiment, are you in?

Contest + Giveaway announcement!

On Sunday the 14th the microsite of the Adobe Back to School Contest/Sweeptakes will launch. I will notice you in time and there will be more details by then.

Adobe gave me a CS5.5 package to review and to tell you guys about and I have to tell you, it is pretty awesome! Played around with it for a little bit (actually created this Read It Later workflow with it (more on this in Friday’s post!) and it works pretty smooth. The cool thing is, 80% off for students!

So in the near future I will send out updates about the sweepstakes and the contests! I hope you don’t mind, I mean, I’m giving away free copies, so I don’t think you’ll mind! Last note: I will be on (a well deserved) holiday the upcoming weeks, so my excuses if I don’t respond very fast. I have the posts about the contests and everything scheduled, so their won’t be any problem with that! Thanks!

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