[HN Gopher] Sitting and standing at work (2015)
___________________________________________________________________
Sitting and standing at work (2015)
Author : yamrzou
Score : 77 points
Date : 2022-07-17 19:59 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (ergo.human.cornell.edu)
(TXT) w3m dump (ergo.human.cornell.edu)
| cosmotic wrote:
| What does downward tilting mean?
| yakak wrote:
| I think it means the top row is at a lower height than the
| spacebar, i.e. your arms are angled downward?
| galleywest200 wrote:
| I assume something like this
| https://i.imgur.com/wiNgg41_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&...
| jefftk wrote:
| That is definitely not good wrist posture, FYI. You want your
| wrist to be straight when typing.
| cosmotic wrote:
| Why is this the case? I would have thought the opposite.
| jefftk wrote:
| When your wrists are bent there's less room for internal
| movement.
|
| The same site has some illustrations showing how the
| think keyboard trays should be oriented, and they have
| straight wrists: https://ergo.human.cornell.edu/AHTutoria
| ls/typingposture.htm.... (I don't like the page that
| much, since it doesn't show what I think is the best
| option: a flat keyboard with elbows at 90 and wrists
| straight, which you can achieve either with a
| sufficiently low desk, which I do, or a flat keyboard
| tray under a higher desk.)
| bee_rider wrote:
| I'm not Cornell of course, do don't take my word for it,
| but a tented keyboard feels 1000% more comfortable for me
| than this negative incline setup. Maybe I have to re-work
| my elbow angle.
| MauranKilom wrote:
| Having your hands "tilting upwards" is very unnatural,
| and using your fingers a lot in that pose can/will
| quickly lead to wrist pain. Remember, most muscles
| controlling your fingers are in your lower arm, and the
| tendons that allow you to close your hand (or type) go
| straight through where your wrist and palm meet, which is
| exactly the part that is unusually flexed in that
| position.
|
| Disclaimer: Not a doctor, just summarizing my experience
| and what I've read.
| abledon wrote:
| so glad research like this is getting traction, some workplaces I
| was at, there was a stigma for programmers who kept leaving their
| desks to move around (PDD or Panopticon Driven Development)
| SilkRoadie wrote:
| Anecdotally, I have had a sit-stand desk for 6 months. I sit for
| tasks which require typing and stand for the majority of calls I
| participate in. I average about 2 hours of calls a day.
|
| Before getting the desk I would get stiff in the day from over-
| sitting. Since getting the desk that is been corrected. When
| standing I find I am more expressive in calls and feel I fidget
| less while listening. I should note I sometimes catch myself with
| the desk at a weird height and I have taken on a gollum pose
| crouched on my chair.
|
| I think I would agree that the level of computing work is
| slightly impaired while standing. I am not sure the reasoning. I
| feel my posture is good and it is comfortable to do. Perhaps
| cognitively this is not a task I have enough practice doing while
| standing.
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| +1 on standing for meetings/calls. I've found it helps me be
| more alert and pay more attention, and the change of posture
| prevents getting sore from sitting on my ass all day.
| roflc0ptic wrote:
| Product that would be really useful here is a sit stand desk that
| you can schedule: there's just no way I'm realistically gonna
| context switch every 20 and 10 minutes to adjust my desk height;
| if it just happened and I had to intervene to stop it, I'd
| probably let it happen
| ambrose2 wrote:
| I stand for meetings, that's a forcing function that prompts me
| to switch.
| potatochup wrote:
| The last sit-stand desk I had at work used LIN to talk between
| the interface and the motor. We built a little injection board
| to program this in for us. If you don't mind hacking the
| interface, it would be easier to solder something directly onto
| the microswitches and control that from an Arduino or whatever.
| s0rce wrote:
| Isn't the proposal not to move your desk but to just get up and
| walk around? They specifically say simply standing isn't
| sufficient and the ergonomics of the standing desk isn't good
| anyways.
| altvali wrote:
| I doubt I can be productive at programming if I have to be
| interrupted every 20, 8 and 2 minutes to adjust my stance. Every
| time I tried that I failed. Should I keep trying?
| roflyear wrote:
| Hmmm. I think it depends. Personally I just drink so much water
| I have to pee like every 30m. I think during this time I should
| take an extra five minutes and stand up!
| [deleted]
| pengaru wrote:
| I prefer sitting on the floor, it keeps me repositioning
| regularly.
|
| Except my current laptop, an X230, has the power coming out the
| rear. It physically presses the plug against with the floor when
| I have it tilted back partially resting on my shins/ankles while
| sitting cross-legged. The X61s was way better in this regard with
| its side mounted power jack. I should probably just upgrade to an
| AMD X13 already.
| dayvid wrote:
| Do you get neck issues, though? Looking down at a laptop isn't
| a great position for your head. I usually use a laptop stand to
| keep my eye level with the screen.
|
| Also, having a laptop spend hours directly on your lap may not
| be good for your reproductive organs. Not sure on this one,
| though.
| pengaru wrote:
| No neck issues AFAIK, it's not like I stay in one position
| for too long.
|
| The configuration I end up using the most is with the laptop
| sitting flat on the floor, one foot resting planted next to
| the laptop, chin resting on that leg's knee. That side's arm
| snakes under that knee toward the keys. The other leg is
| tucked in like cross-legged, other arm's elbow barely
| touching that leg's calf, straight to the keys. This setup
| puts my chest against the thigh of the upright leg with the
| chin on it. It's a super relaxed configuration, and I'll just
| alternate which knee is up vs. tucked in periodically.
| gavmor wrote:
| Any modern conversation of workplace ergonomics is incomplete
| without mention of biomechanist Katy Bowman, whose "Move Your
| DNA"[0] is an indispensable read for anyone maintaining a
| physical body.
|
| As best I can interpret it, her ultimate conclusion is to _hold
| no position for too long_ , and _introduce novel movement into
| every activity_ (rather than, specifically, relegating "healthy"
| movement to an "exercise" period, while otherwise indulging in
| "unhealthy" movement for large blocks of time).
|
| Combined with further research elsewhere -- such as studies cited
| in Annie Murphy Paul's "Extended Mind"[1] and those on
| alleviating ADHD symptoms through movement[2] -- it's possible
| that the ideal workplace is an unrecognizably dynamic one where
| even the most cerebral workers spring from treadmill to
| trampoline, to napping cot, to promenade. For just a taste of
| such dynamicity, here's a fast-forwarded hour of Katy Bowman
| fidgeting her way through the workday.[3]
|
| Edit: I want to address something specific in the linked article.
| The claim that "Standing puts greater strain on the circulatory
| system and on the legs and feet."
|
| I am absolutely certain that this is true, but it doesn't
| diminish the value of a standing desk. One principle I've
| absorbed from Bowman's writing is that _all rest is strain_ ,
| which is to say that to rest one limb one must rest _on_ another,
| straining it. (Who hasn 't woken up with a "crick in the neck" or
| another sign of slept-on strain?) The trick, then, is to rotate
| strain throughout all the various limbs of the body. Not only
| have all our limbs have evolved to handle certain loads, they've
| evolved to _expect_ and dare-I-say _crave_ certain loads in order
| to keep functioning. So, yes, "standing puts greater strain on
| the circulatory system and on the legs and feet," but a degree of
| strain is essentially therapeutic.
|
| 0. https://www.nutritiousmovement.com/product/move-your-dna-
| res...
|
| 1. https://anniemurphypaul.com/books/the-extended-mind/
|
| 2. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-
| way/201...
|
| 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEpEAdCWnw8
| rubicon33 wrote:
| If you find it difficult to stand for long period of time (as I
| did, after purchasing a standing desk) then I implore you to
| consider getting an under desk treadmill. I went from spending
| 15-30 minutes a DAY standing, to 4+ hours walking.
|
| Doesn't that make it hard to type, you ask? Well, the posted
| article does mention this:
|
| > Treadmill, bicycle and elliptical workstations have been tested
| and typically shown to decrease computer work performance (typing
| and mousing slows down and significantly more mistakes are made).
|
| But personally, I got used to it quickly and found that my
| performance on the computer did not decrease at all for
| programming related tasks, where ultra fine mouse movements are
| not necessary. If I were trying to play Call of Duty or
| something, then surely I would not walk.
|
| The one time where I do find sitting to be ideal is when I really
| need to focus very intently on a task. For example, if it's an
| entirely new problem domain where I need to read a lot and focus
| at my maximum attention, then I need to be seated quietly, in a
| dim room, for a long period of time.
| theonething wrote:
| Would you mind sharing which treadmill you use/recommend?
| rubicon33 wrote:
| https://www.treadly.co/
|
| This is what I use. But, I would encourage you to do some
| quick searching on Amazon. There are some much cheaper
| options that may do all you need. Technically the treadly
| treadmill is for working out / running. It's HUGE attractive
| feature for me was that I could store it under my bed when
| company comes over and I need the office to look tidy.
|
| Also worth mentioning that I have the treadly model 1
| (they're on v2.0) and I've had to send it in twice for
| repair. It's now out of warranty, and if it fails again I
| will be screwed. Hence why I've done a quick Amazon search
| myself and seen that indeed there are some interesting
| options since my purchase a few years ago.
| civilized wrote:
| I guess that settles it - the Pomodoro is the correct work
| pattern. It's the only one that works in these breaks every half
| hour.
| j45 wrote:
| I've had standing desk for a while and still no routine. I just
| alternate pretty regularly for what feels good.
|
| If I'm feeling a little restless, I stand. If I'm a little tired,
| I sit.
|
| There are some great, thin $3-400 treadmills that are light that
| can be used for walking as well for those interested.
| jefftk wrote:
| Their main argument against sit-stand desks is that people don't
| actually stand much: " _In our field studies of sit-stand
| workstations we have found little evidence of dramatic widespread
| benefits and users only stand for very short-periods (15 minutes
| or less total per day). Other studies have found that the use of
| sit-stand stations rapidly declines so that after 1 month a
| majority of people are sitting all the time, so compliance can be
| problematic._ "
|
| While that's a consideration if the question is "should we
| install these desks everywhere", if you already use a sit-stand
| desk and know you spend substantial time in both positions (as I
| do) that's not a reason to switch to full-time sitting.
| analog31 wrote:
| I switch to standing when my back and neck hurt, and switch back
| to sitting when my feet hurt. The standing desk isn't a
| continuous necessity, but an outlet for occasional periods of
| back and neck pain.
| neilv wrote:
| Standing alone isn't as good as movement, but I do all my
| meetings that way.
|
| When you're on cam, people can tell by movement that you're not
| sitting, but so far I'm not aware that's a downside.
|
| For standing with laptop, when I had a proper desk, I'd use an
| egg crate-style container (with felt protector glued on) atop it,
| and be able to switch stand/sit within seconds.
|
| Now I use my laptop atop a height-adjustable "lectern" on
| casters, and wheel it around to wherever I want to be, for light,
| etc. When not standing, I just carry laptop to a comfortable
| chair or other place I want to slouch with bad posture.
| https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079MH6BCL/
| feral wrote:
| Not entirely the same, but since the pandemic and WFH, I've
| started doing a lot of my 1:1s while walking, voice only. I'd be
| really interested to know if anyone else has started doing this?
|
| Typically, both people walk, using good Bluetooth headphones.
|
| I was finding the combination of staring at the screen while
| coding, and then also during meetings, to be very straining.
|
| Something about having to focus intently on the screen during a
| 1:1 was particularly tiring. Maybe because it's socially rude to
| look away while the other person is talking, so you end up really
| staring at the screen?
|
| Now, instead, during a walking meeting, I exercise and get to
| look into the distance.
|
| The most surprising thing for me was the ability to have
| technical conversations like this. I expected we'd really suffer
| without a whiteboard. Sometimes this is true, but I find we can
| have a lot of very technical conversations with voice only, and
| actually it's often easier than with video chat - because with
| voice only, I can focus more on the technical issues being
| discussed.
|
| Finally, there are some days where I have a couple of hours
| walking meetings scattered throughout the day, and this is a lot
| of extra movement, which has to be good.
|
| I wish there were more employers experimenting with different
| communication modalities like this; I feel the pandemic for all
| it's costs, has shown there are some great opportunities for
| other ways of working which have been underexplored.
| DangitBobby wrote:
| A big drawback to this of course is that it's very difficult to
| take notes or jot something down while walking around.
| urthor wrote:
| "The West Wing"
| doktorhladnjak wrote:
| I've tried this a few times with another coworker. I don't
| know. It just didn't quite work for either of us. The
| connection didn't seem as stable. There's more noise even if
| neither of us was walking in a particularly noisy place. Voice
| only without video changes the dynamic. It's not possible to
| write down notes or look something up relevant to the
| conversation.
|
| When we're in the same physical location, we do walking 1:1s
| and they work great. I'm not quite sure what exactly is
| different about them over Zoom or the phone.
| bobthepanda wrote:
| Probably body language. We are able to subconsciously read
| and give many clues, which helps fill in for the other
| missing stuff.
| neilv wrote:
| I'm a big believer in walking, but not been doing meetings that
| way. It's great that works for you, and I'll just mention some
| thoughts for other people to consider as they experiment with
| it.
|
| My current startup hasn't had good luck with WHF and cross-site
| meetings using smartphones when someone is outdoors. Even just
| within the US, when someone is on their smartphone, MS Teams
| (mandated) or their network connectivity means their audio
| often gets choppy, they don't seem to be as engaged, etc. It's
| not as reliable audio as, say, a landline conference call from
| decades ago.
|
| I think the missing whiteboard or shared screen would also be a
| problem in practice for me. The last 1:1 that I was in, Fri,
| for example, I did an impromptu screenshare of a visual that
| was important to what we were discussing, and that's very
| common.
|
| Also, in that same example meeting, I took notes, and then
| afterwards updated a few Jira Tasks based the new information.
| My memory is fine, and I probably didn't need the notes that
| time, but I don't always know at the start of a meeting whether
| I'll need to take notes, nor how big the notes will be, nor
| whether the notes will be useful, nor whether it'll be worth
| spending time after distilling useful info into
| Jira/docs/comms, or just (I do this sometimes) copy&pasting the
| semi-useful raw notes directly into a Jira comment and moving
| on.
| nonrandomstring wrote:
| > since the pandemic and WFH, I've started doing a lot of my
| 1:1s while walking, voice only. I'd be really interested to
| know if anyone else has started doing this?
|
| Yes, +1 for this.
|
| The pandemic made me unfit and put on weight. When I teach I
| pace about, gesticulate, use the whiteboard lots and generally
| burn a ton of calories. I really missed that. Desk-based admin
| or videoconf meetings are down my can-do list now. Trying to
| reserve chair time for coding.
|
| I see other comments on "how do you take notes or send
| messages?" Mobile speech-to-text and text-to-speech are on my
| radar, but far from perfect results. I enjoyed the thread last
| week on throat mics and bone conduction headphones, possibly
| very useful tech to use for walking and working.
| kubik369 wrote:
| Maybe this will help you (and maybe I will just sound like a
| jerk _shrugs_ ), but the pandemic didn't make you unfit and
| put on weight, you and your diet did. I have been struggling
| with this for the last few years and while pacing about (or
| any movement really) certainly helps, you can veeery easily
| outeat whatever you burned; our bodies are freakishly
| efficient. I would recommend trying to take a look at whether
| your diet changed while working from home and if not, trying
| to change it up so that it corresponds to your current
| activity levels.
|
| ... or if you don't care, then don't, it would have just
| helped me if someone pointed this out to me earlier in my
| life, so I try to do it for other people.
| coding123 wrote:
| Not myself but our tech VP does this all the time.
|
| It's kinda funny when he runs into neighbors or sees a weird
| reptile (he's in Florida)
| SoftTalker wrote:
| Sort of. I just use a still photo of myself rather than live
| video. Nothing is really gained by the other party seing my
| lips move. I don't have to worry about whether I've shaved, or
| my hair is mussed up, or if I'm dressed in work attire, or if
| I'm looking at the screen. It's much easier to focus on the
| content of the call without all those distractions.
| Swizec wrote:
| > I'd be really interested to know if anyone else has started
| doing this?
|
| We used to do this at the office and it was great. For private
| meetings between 2 people, go for a walk!
|
| It has worked great for mastermind calls also.
|
| But now at a new job that's fully wfh it somehow didn't stick.
| I tried a few times but I'm asked to participate too actively
| and people get frustrated with background noise because they
| aren't using headphones at home. Laptop speakers are just not
| high quality enough to make it work even with voice isolation.
|
| Plus I have too many back-to-backs nowadays and walking outside
| creates too much overhead. Kept missing things.
| SoftTalker wrote:
| I did the "walking 1:1 meetings" at a former job. Hated it.
| Useless for any topic where you might want to take or refer
| to notes, or other reference material, which IMO is basically
| a given for any meeting worth having.
| [deleted]
| 13of40 wrote:
| I actually do this quite a bit, and I've found that getting a
| kit of USB-C-chargeable devices (phone, headset, and laptop)
| plus a battery pack and an effectively unlimited tethered 5G
| data plan means I can work from anywhere I please. The down
| side of it is I find myself in these epic places staring down
| three hours of back-to-back meetings when I just want to lean
| back and look at a tree.
| FrojoS wrote:
| Same here. Back to the 80s! I was born in the mid 80s but I
| once heard that the economy of the 80s was basically "people
| talking to other people on the phone."
| j45 wrote:
| I do something similar and log into most meetings from multiple
| devices for meeting flexibility (and stability).
|
| 1) Laptop undocked / docked to monitors. For watching, screen
| share and often webcam. Sometimes take screenshots and notes if
| needed.
|
| 2) I tried an iPad Mini 5 after a recommendation and don't know
| how I lived without one for calls.
|
| - It has become my primary meeting communication device.
|
| - It provides most stable Zoom/Teams experience I've ever had -
| and the load doesn't impact my work machine.
|
| - This device is all about maximising weight and size/volume.
| Small enough to carry, throw it in a sling for a walk and be
| able to pull it out if needed. great to carry a meeting or a
| call with me and be more useful than a phone.. Going for a
| walk, stretching out your legs, visiting the kitchen, and yes,
| sometimes even transferring the call to your car for audio
| while driving is smooth and generally seamless.
|
| - I more easily see things on the meeting, interact, run a
| whiteboard, and contribute at a moment's notice if needed.
| Don't have to explain that I'm dialling by phone in or why.
| Being able to kick over to a whiteboard to doodle is handy
| compared to a powerpoint to get ideas across anyways.
|
| - In Person - I almost always take the mini to meetings. The
| mini is not as distracting as a laptop keyboard or typing on a
| phone. Easy to bring up something to share and hand it over
| too.
|
| - Great battery life, everything stays fast and doesn't need
| rebooting.
|
| - I have muted nearly every notification on the iPad and it
| makes it even better to only work for me and not fight for my
| attention.
|
| - Bluetooth works great, and the speaker/microphones are very
| decent.
|
| Bluetooth Headphones:
|
| - One tricky part of bluetooth headsets is noise cancelling
| might only be for what you hear, but te other party doesn't get
| noise cancelling from your mic and hear all your background.
|
| - Currently I mostly use two pairs of Jabra 85t's that I
| alternate and charge since they only last 5h each. Only caveat
| of these is you can't use both the right earbud independently
| and not the left. Very decent noise cancelling for outdoors and
| indoors. I avoided the AirPods or others because I wasn't sure
| how good their noise cancelling was for the speaker (me) on a
| call.
|
| - My interest is in that noise cancel on the mic for the other
| party. I'd love to hear what's working for you as there seem to
| be too many to keep up with. Heard good thigns about the Jabra
| 75e as well primarily for meetings and voice.
| moomoo11 wrote:
| How do you take notes or otherwise record key points or
| concerns when you're walking? Or are you physically close to
| your computer?
|
| I've had managers who would do stuff like this, not in front of
| a computer. As you might imagine the experience working with
| them was not great and led me to change managers because they'd
| never recall what we talked about because they were distracted.
| rustybelt wrote:
| I can't take detailed notes but will punch key ideas and
| follow ups into my phone.
| stakkur wrote:
| I have a sit/stand adjustable desk. Here's what I do:
|
| 1. Stand for first ~1 hour of the day.
|
| 2. Depending on how I feel, alternate sitting/standing about
| every hour or so until lunch.
|
| 3. After lunchtime, stand for ~30-60 minutes.
|
| 4. Repeat step 2 until end of day.
|
| I also walk for ~30 minutes/day in the mid-morning. When I return
| from that, I sit.
|
| I also take eye breaks and try to use a pomodoro method (25 min
| working, 5 min. looking away/etc).
|
| The key to feeling good seems to be variety, as the article
| implies. I can't ever go back to a sitting-only desk arrangement.
| jstx1 wrote:
| Since I'm using one desk for work and personal use, I stand
| during working hours and sit down the rest of the time. There's
| something psychologically satisfying about splitting it that
| way.
| padolsey wrote:
| WFH is wonderful because you can go from sitting in lotus to
| standing with a gentle sway to lying down to barefoot yoga all
| without raising any eyebrows. Eg. I love lying on my belly with a
| pillow propping up my chest and my laptop in front of me. No way
| to reasonably do that at 99% of offices.
| convolvatron wrote:
| I used to do that quite a bit, but I developed thoracic outlet
| syndrome (nerve compression) and some other odd shoulder
| problems.
|
| now I have a gantry with a monitor that slides over my bed and
| can lie on my back with a kinesis keyboard at lap level and go
| for hours without any discomfort.
| roflyear wrote:
| That's great! But I never understood how people can be
| productive on a laptop. I feel like having such a small screen
| reduces your productivity drastically. I would be very
| unproductive on a laptop.
| vavooom wrote:
| "The bottom line: Sit to do computer work. Sit using a height-
| adjustable, downward titling keyboard tray for the best work
| posture, then every 20 minutes stand for 8 minutes AND MOVE for 2
| minutes. "
|
| Pretty sensible that movement is key to solution. Long on-camera
| remote meetings always bug me and I tend to take a few minutes to
| walk around or pace if I can go camera off.
| dayvid wrote:
| The ultimate state is Wolfram walking around in the woods with a
| laptop harness:
| https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-prod...
| AlphaWeaver wrote:
| I've tried one of these, and it's difficult to type and walk at
| the same time. I love walking, sometimes walking for multiple
| hours on the weekends, but I wasn't able to make the "walking
| workstation" work.
| bee_rider wrote:
| Seems like a bit of bulky setup.
|
| Kinda hoping in the next decade or so we'll get good enough
| augmented reality that we'll be able to walk around in the
| woods with a floating terminal. Maybe a chorded keyer for
| input.
| JadeNB wrote:
| > Kinda hoping in the next decade or so we'll get good enough
| augmented reality that we'll be able to walk around in the
| woods with a floating terminal. Maybe a chorded keyer for
| input.
|
| Wolfram has also had that hope, according to the linked
| article:
|
| > I'd actually been thinking about walking and working for a
| long time. Twenty years ago I imagined doing it with an
| augmented reality display and a one-handed (chorded)
| keyboard. But the technology didn't arrive, and I wasn't even
| sure the ergonomics would work out (would it make me motion
| sick, for example?).
| bee_rider wrote:
| Oops, I should have read it -- I just scrolled and looked
| at the pictures, haha.
| dang wrote:
| Related:
|
| _Cornell Ergonomics Web finds standing desks present their own
| issues_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2995194 - Sept
| 2011 (108 comments)
| coding123 wrote:
| Been WFH for many years. I typically can't sit for more than 2
| hours. I need to get around and stretch, even lie down on the bed
| so my back feels better.
| merrvk wrote:
| I barely stand still for more than a few minutes when using a
| standing desk. Especially on long calls, I will move about far
| more than when sitting. Though after reading this, I'm asking
| myself should I be sitting more?
| hellodanylo wrote:
| I have been working on an iOS/MacOS app that reminds me to stand
| up and/or take breaks at certain intervals. It's using the
| iPhone's camera and local computer vision to collect ground
| truth.
|
| Drop me an email at "hello at danylo dot me", if you would like
| to beta test with me.
| ozim wrote:
| So standing desks are snake oil of our times.
| beebmam wrote:
| But sit-stand desks are not.
| InvaderFizz wrote:
| They do wonders for me. Any chair I sit in mostly upright for
| more than a few minutes will start to cause me pain in my lower
| back. (Herniated L4-L5)
|
| Alternatively, a standing desk where I have tons of movement
| and am constantly moving my feet and legs, I can stand at all
| day long. I'm sure it's distracting when I'm on camera, I'm
| constantly swaying from side to side.
| bgribble wrote:
| I've been a full-time developer since about 1993. I switched to
| 100% standing at work in 2014 sort of on a whim. Before that, I
| had a significant episode of back pain (enough to leave me
| unable to function normally) about once a year. Since then,
| never once.
|
| I'm sure it's complicated and I know correlation is not
| causality. But my personal belief is that standing is a huge
| benefit for my back's health as a programmer.
| jstx1 wrote:
| Not really, you're just trading off one set of problems for
| another if you work in one position all the time. Given that
| most modern standing desks are adjustable, it's pretty
| convenient to have more options.
| pessimizer wrote:
| Less the snake oil of our times than a trendy fad from 10 years
| ago that managed to accumulate a few fanatics, and consequently
| get a few furniture businesses and research scientists funded
| who would supply steady press releases to a lazy media that
| tired of it after a few years.
| tzs wrote:
| More a reflection of people having trouble with nonbinary
| thinking.
|
| Research shows that sitting all day is not good...and many
| people take that as meaning they should not sit at all. They
| think their only choices are sitting all day or standing all
| day.
|
| You can see a similar thing with diets. Someone reads that
| lowering carbs might have some benefits so they try to change
| their diet from one that has 60% of its calories from carbs to
| one that has 10% or less. In reality they are likely to get
| many of the low carb benefits if they cut from 60% to 30-40%,
| and 40% is a heck of a lot easier to do than 10% (and so also
| something one is more likely to stick with long term and so
| actually have a chance to see benefits).
|
| Look at discussions here on HN about climate change, health and
| safety regulation, crime prevention, privacy regulation,
| transgender issues, and no doubt many others and you'll find a
| lot of people overlooking the possibility that anything other
| than the most extreme opposite approaches might be viable.
| baal80spam wrote:
| I wonder how does age affect these recommendations, if at all.
| The older I am, the more (or less?) should I stand? Does it even
| matter?
| least wrote:
| My main takeaway from ergonomics is that it's not so much that
| there is a purely better way about doing things, but that you
| need to change things up and do it somewhat frequently. You can
| have two different parts of your body that want the exact
| opposite thing.
|
| For example, arm rests can be beneficial in helping someone
| with carpal tunnel issues, but at the same time, it can be
| detrimental to the ulnar nerve. Standing and sitting both have
| their own upsides and downsides. Your actions are probably more
| akin to rotating the tires on your car. It doesn't stop the
| wear from happening, but it does so more evenly and you'll get
| more mileage out of them by doing so.
| d33k4y wrote:
| I should be dead by now. (I'm not dead yet!)
| adfjalkfja wrote:
| WFH I get up and move around a lot more often. In the office I'd
| just feel like a distraction, glued to the chair with a guilty
| feeling
| scrapcode wrote:
| Has anyone had any luck with a long range headset or Bluetooth
| extenders?
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