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For standing desk owners, how do you manage your sit/stand schedule?

Jess Lee on May 09, 2020

Do you switch between the two often? Spend half the day standing/half the day sitting? Only stand during calls? I want to know!!

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Nick Taylor

My Apple Watch tells me when to stand. All hail the robots!

Terminator robots

Having said that, if I’m in a groove, I tend to sit down for longer periods of time and I ignore the robots.

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Jayme Edwards 🍃💻

I stand 100% of the time I’m coding or in meetings. I make sure to take regular breaks though to hang out with my wife and kids. I also had to do yoga and mobility work (foam rollers and lacrosse balls etc.) to undo 13 years of desk work when I first switched. Never going back!

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Igor Irianto

I spend 80% of my time standing. At first it was not easy, but my pairing partner used to stand virtually 95% of the time so I had to keep up with him. Now it has become a habit and standing is my default coding stance.

For every 50 minutes standing up, I spend 5-10 minutes sitting/walking/stretching/light-workout.

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Jess Lee

I bought mine on craigslist so I don't know what brand it is, but a friend of mine has an autonomous desk and they're happy with it: autonomous.ai/.

I personally think that unless you have shoulder/back issues, no one really needs an automatic one. Cranking the desk up is kind of fun too 😃

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Dana Ottaviani

It depends on my mood and what I'm working on. If I'm having a lot of technical problems, I tend to sit more because my legs tend to get more tired than if I know what I'm doing. I think it's more of a "mind over matter" thing. 🤷

I do try to stand in the morning which is about 4 hours.

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Chad Smith • Edited

I just ordered a sit-stand desk. I plan to be about 50-50 with it. Last time I had one i would usually stand first half of day, and sit the second half.

Though I almost always stand during calls. I don't know why I do, but 5 minutes into a call I go straight to standing.

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Avalander

I switch whenever I get tired of my current position, which is usually every 30-60 minutes. Except when I hurt my knee (happened twice in the past 12 months -.-u), then I spend most of the time sitting.

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Zane Milakovic

I for sure don’t hold a schedule. If I have to run after the kids a lot (while they are home with us), I will setup the standup desk. I also try to do it for two hours a day reguardless. Otherwise as a newbie, I am sitting more.

I will say the Vari Desk has been amazing. They sent us a mat as well, and I thought I would hate it. I think it may be one of my favorite things, and possibly why I didn’t use my standing desk at the office. I want to get one for when I go back to the office.

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Dave

During my last job, several years ago, I did this. At the time, I was a serious runner (half and full marathon). Yet, I was still floored that I could not stand as long as I wanted while working. I was usually good for a half hour before I needed to sit for a bit, or go do another task.

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Jayme Edwards 🍃💻 • Edited

I built two of these diy models I’ve used for at least 5 years.

stuffandymakes.com/blog/2013/04/09...

I use one at home and take the other to clients when I’m onsite (I do consulting in the morning).

The conversations in the elevator when I bring it in are always a fun ice breaker 😉

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John Colagioia (he/him) • Edited

I tend to find it more comfortable to just stand, strange as it sounds. As long as I don't lock my knees and can move around a couple of times an hour, it's not nearly as tiring as it sounds. However, that may partly be because of my build, since I've had colleagues who have tried (some of whom spent years in the military and so were in far better shape than I am) and couldn't stand for much more than a few minutes at a time.

Those cushioned "anti-fatigue" mats are much more useful than they look, by the way, though they're uncomfortably warm in the summer. It also helps a lot to have something to occasionally lean back against, like a wall or a cabinet; I've also heard of (but never seen) "standing chairs," which are apparently something like a bicycle seat on a pipe, which would also take care of the leaning.

On calls, I generally pace. It keeps my legs from getting used to one position and also keeps me from ignoring the call for literally anything else I could be doing at the computer...

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Yechiel Kalmenson

I basically stand most of the time unless my feel get tired so I sit down for a bit until I get restless lol.

But standing is my default.

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Jesse M. Holmes

While I'm correcting these shortened hip flexors, I stand until my lower back hurts, and then I see 10–20 deep air squats and a couch stretch will let me go for longer. The first few weeks the answer was no, but now I find myself sitting less and less.

Also, I find that doing squats on a call is contagious. 😂

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Darryl Young

I stand the whole time when working but, as I work from home, I regularly walk around my apartment and take small breaks to move around. If I take a break for a coffee, for example, I may go and sit on a sofa or something.

When I first got my standing desk a few years ago I read how you should probably split your days between sitting and standing at first but even after the first few hours standing I didn't want to sit. Needless to say, listen to your body and not to general recommendations. While they may mean well, only you know how things feel.

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Hozefa

For me it depends on the task that I am doing. Lot of day gets spent in responding to emails and documenting. For these tasks I usually stand.

For meetings(video calls) I usually sit down. Its not set in stone, but this way I alternate between sitting and standing.

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Jesse M. Holmes

I bought this beast, and I am so happy with my decision.

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Shannon Crabill

I tried to stand for 10-15 mins every hour or two. I didn't have an antifatigue mat and my knees hurt at times, so some days I did sit more than others.

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Nick Taylor

I bought a relatively inexpensive one off Amazon, amazon.ca/gp/product/B0751N2V2Z. At some point I may invest in a better one.

Here’s my full office setup for those interested.

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Cristian Molina

80% to 90% stand. You get used to it pretty fast. I don't have a special chair so I really like prefer it.

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zakwillis

Normally, if I am coding something complicated I sit. Otherwise I stand.

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Dor Shinar

I have around 7 reminders in my calendar every day at the last 10 minutes every hour 😂
Otherwise I'd probably never remember to stand up.

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K
  1. Buy a convertible standing desk
  2. Be to lazy to convert it to standing position
  3. Always sit

D:

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Joe Zack

I've been slacking lately, but I liked standing during all meetings.

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Drew Town

I would stand until I either had a meeting or when someone came to me for a 1-to-1 discussion when I had a standing desk.

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Stephanie Handsteiner

For some reason I'm able to concentrate more when I'm standing, so I only sit down for calls, for the easiest tasks at hand, or when I'm doing code reviews/remote pair programming...

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Etienne Burdet

Pure feeling, I just let my body decide. It's almost unconscious. Sometimes it's 15 minutes standing, sometimes a full morning pass without me noticing…

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Alvaro Montoro • Edited

It depends on the day and the mood. I try to be 50/50, but it normally ends up being more like 60% sitting and 40% standing.

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Japheth Ezekiel

It depends on the task that you are doing doing and how comfortable you are performing the task.