Kneeling Desk Experiment: Conclusion

So it’s been about 3 weeks (4?) since I started my kneeling desk experiment. Ultimately, I’ve decided to keep kneeling at my desk. However, as I’ve been kneeling. I’ve started making a few tweaks to fit my work style. After all, this experiment is about improving my health while maintaining my productivity levels. With that in mind, here are a few parting thoughts:

Makeover Monday: Bear Fatalities

For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been slowly studying data science after work and on weekends. I’ve been especially drawn toward the data visualization side of things, not because I’m particularly artistic, but because I’m really drawn to the idea of working with data and then communicating what I find. Although there are a million-and-one things that I still need to learn before I can consider transitioning into a data science role, I thought I’d try my hand at data visualization.

“Kneeling Desk” Update

It’s been a week (8 work days) since I’ve started this “kneeling desk” experiment, and I thought I’d give a quick update. (For the full story, click here.)

First off, my lower back is feeling really good. I noticed the pain had completely disappeared about 5 days into my trial. Mission accomplished. I haven’t given up sitting entirely. Rather, I alternate depending on what I’m doing and how I’m feeling in the moment. Sometimes I kneel with both knees down. Sometimes I half-kneel to the right or left. And sometimes I sit. Ultimately, I think the changing of positions (and ensuing postural awareness) has probably helped with my lower back discomfort as much as the kneeling itself.

However, it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses.

Standing Desk Alternative? An Experiment

It seems like standing desks have become all the rage in the last few years. Initially, there were a bunch of research reviews and articles that came out saying that sitting was killing us and that standing desks were the future. Then there was a wave of articles and research reviews that said that standing desks actually don’t help all that much. (Note: I intentionally chose accessible articles rather than the research reviews and studies.) Finally, it seems that consensus has landed on the idea that it’s being sedentary, not necessarily sitting, that is the problem.

In my own situation, I’ve found that my lower back has been getting really tight lately. Although I’m not certain that it’s the result of excessive amounts of sitting, I thought that switching to a sit-stand desk might be worth looking into. A short conversation with a coworker confirmed that my company will allow me to bring in my own solution, but that they will not buy me a standing desk.

I didn’t really want to drop hundreds of dollars on a desk converter, but I didn’t seem to have much of an option (although I did discover this $22 DIY IKEA option, I needed something that didn’t lock me into standing or sitting). Pondering this predicament, I started to break down the problem into smaller pieces to see if, by solving the smaller pieces, I could unearth a feasible solution to the overall issue (as you do).