Working in a traditional office setting makes it incredibly difficult to follow advice to be more active and spend a reduced amount of time sitting down. This means that the introduction of desks with adjustable height so that they can be used whether the worker is sitting or standing, could have a big impact on working culture.
The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 applies to workers who use DSE such as PCs, laptops, smartphones and tablets on a daily basis for an hour or more in order to carry out their role.
‘Breaking up long spells of DSE work helps prevent fatigue, eye strain, upper limb problems and backache.’ – gov.uk
A sit and stand desk means you can vary your working position throughout the day, ensuring you’re not slouched in one position putting pressure on the same joints throughout your entire work day.
A study of 146 NHS office workers found that providing adjustable desks allowing them to sit or stand led to their daily standing time being reduced by more than an hour, after 12 months.
Those who took part in the study also reported better job performance, less time taken off sick and reduced anxiety.
There are also a number of other benefits to standing desk
Reduced obesity risk
James Levine, who is a leading researcher in the field of standing desks conducted a study involving office workers. They added 1000 calories per day to their diets, and were asked not to change any exercise habits. Some of these study subjects gained weight, and others didn’t. Levine and his team then used sensors to track what the subjects who did not put on weight might be doing differently, and discovered that they sat much less during the day than other workers. (source)
Improved posture
The simple act of standing up ensures better posture, eliminating slouching or hunching whilst typing. (Especially if you’re adhering to the DSE health and safety guidelines which suggest your eyeline should be level with the top of your screen. Also, by slowly building up the amount of time you spend standing at your desk you’ll be improving your core strength without realising, which means your overall posture will improve.
Standing can improve confidence
You may have heard of power posing, which is the idea that by adopting confident poses you can inspire yourself to be confident? Well there’s some science behind it! Standing helps release endorphins and improves oxygen flow to the brain, which helps you deal with tasks you might not be enthralled by (such as certain phone calls or dealing with a dilemma) much more effectively!
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If you’re interested in taking a look at some standing desks yourself, have a look at Yo-Yo Desk. Everyone’s different, so they have multiple solutions to suit different ways of working and have supplied desks to the U.S Airforce, Goldman Sachs, the BBC, Toshba, and Dreamworks, to name just a few.
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