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Ben Halpern
Ben Halpern Subscriber

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How long do you sit for at a time?

And are you doing anything proactive to help with the physical tole our kind of work can sometimes take?

Top comments (34)

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tony972 profile image
Taxman972

My desk is programmed to go up and down at scheduled times so I sit for 2 hours then stand for 1 hour.

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Ben Halpern

Interesting! Do you find all your tasks of equal sit/stand preference? Or do you prefer some types of work sitting and some standing?

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Taxman972

I can do everything sitting down or standing up but I prefer to organize myself code/debug sessions sitting down and the rest like meetings or technological watch standing up.

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GrahamTheDev

I need this extra feature, my desk is sit stand but you have to press a button.

Saying that, do you not end up with the desk randomly rising mid meetings as that would be a big no no! 🀣

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Adam Crockett πŸŒ€

Comedy moment

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Taxman972

Yes it happened at the beginning but now we stop the timer especially before the meetings with our clients.

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Vera Tiago

I need that in my life!!

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Yaser Al-Najjar

Nice idea!
What's the desk you use?

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Taxman972
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Yaser Al-Najjar

Thanks!

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Tawhid

5-6 hours then I get up do some exercise or get some sleep or do something else for a while.

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Ben Halpern

Do you have a regular exercise routine in these times?

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Tawhid

Not exactly, I mostly do push-ups,stretches and dead hang

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Tina Huynh

Oh boy...I probably sit for most of the day >< BUT I just opened a new gym membership with 24 hr fitness and have gone everyday since. I'm loving getting up and moving again, lifting weights, and just being back in the gym again.

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Rishabh Rawat

I like to walk (in place) while brainstorming. Since a significant chunk of the coding time goes to that, I try to spend more time standing. Same goes for meetings.

The only part of the day when I must sit is when I'm learning/researching something new. Sitting helps me go all in while learning things. Walking is for connecting the dots and lettings things really sink in.

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Thomas Bnt • Edited

Woaaah huuummm... like 2-6 hours per day.
I try to do the POMODORO technique, but it may be that at times the time passes too quickly.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. It uses a timer to break work into intervals, typically 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. Each interval is known as a pomodoro, from the Italian word for tomato, after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer Cirillo used as a university student.

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GrahamTheDev • Edited

2 hours sitting, 1 standing, repeat. I have a reminder to switch using a free alarm clock app.

I can tell you as someone who is no longer a spring chicken, invest in a sit stand desk, it will reduce the chances of aches and pains (or alleviate them if you already have them) and keeps you energised through the day!

Oh and I used to use a walking treadmill when in standing mode but I found it hard to do anything that required precision with the mouse (design) or lots of reading code / docs. It was useful for writing articles and during meetings…I might start using it again for that so thanks for the prompt!

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Matt Ellen-Tsivintzeli

I recently did health and safety training for desk work, and I made a little windows app that notifies me every five minutes to check my posture.

Also, due to headaches, my doctor has given me a pamphlet on neck exercises which I'm doing.

I don't get up from my desk on a schedule, but I'm often pacing around the house trying to figure something out, so I could be sat down for anything from five minutes to a couple of hours.

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Artur G

For me, it's usually like 4 hours. I've got a standing desk so I in the morning stand for 2.5 hours then go for lunch and sit for 4 hours, and at the end one hour stand. Once bought an air-filled mini-mattress
just to be able to move more while standing, highly recommend trying it ;)

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Heather Williams

My fitbit sort of helps remind me to stand up every hour but drinking tea helps too since I get up at least once an hour to make tea. On occasion though I get lost in a task and hours pass before I finally stand up. I am also quite fidgety so always somewhat in motion. And I try to take meetings standing up (and usually pacing around or stretching).

Unfortunately having plantar fasciatis means I cannot use a standing desk due to the pain.

I also make sure to take a short walk at lunchtime or move and stretch while waiting for the kettle to boil. And not stare at my screen during lunch but rather colour in or knit or something else.

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Adam Crockett πŸŒ€

8 hours πŸ€” don't tell anyone, I'm usually hyperfocussing and forget to do basic life stuff like eat or blink