While sitting for an extended period, you often tend to slouch, and slouching can lead to miserable pain in your back and neck. This can also lead to repetitive Carpal tunnel syndrome and strain in every.
Humans are humans; we are not designed to sit in a particular position for long periods. Sitting long puts extra effort into your body, exacerbating fatigue and body pain, and is the unhealthiest body position.
Hence, evolving from a traditional setup to an ergonomic standing setup is a better option. Let's explore the advantages of standing desks and why they are essential for the modern home office.
Sitting All Day & Its Consequences
Within a professional lifestyle and the necessity to work, unfortunately, the job requires you to spend extensive time sitting and working on a computer. Spending more hours than usual on a chair has become the new normal, especially when working remotely.
Sitting long has various health concerns other than back pain. Health risks range from gaining weight to anxiety, depression, risk of cancer, risk of cardiovascular disease, risk of diabetes, varicose veins, and whatnot.
Hidden Health Risks
Sitting long in the same position, especially in a slouching position, has many health hazards that you often overlook. There is a high chance of developing chronic diseases and severe health concerns like
- When sitting for long periods, your legs and buttocks atrophy
- Without movement, you might gain weight.
- Your hips and back are seized.
- Sitting long can give you anxiety and depression
- Sitting all day increases your risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease
- Sitting increases the risk of varicose vein
Decreased Productivity
Studies suggest that people sitting for the most part of the time while working reported lower job satisfaction and higher fatigue. Fatigue is directly or indirectly associated with productivity. Sitting for long hours, your muscles contract for a long duration, causing more sedentary.
No proper blood circulation and oxygen delivery to the brain leads to lower mental awareness. As a result, you will experience difficulties maintaining your work and completing tasks efficiently.
Poor Posture
Have you ever noticed that you sit straight when you start your work, but gradually, within an hour or two, you slouch?
This is because sitting in one position makes you feel lazy and dizzy, and you become comfortable while sitting. This becomes a habit over time, and your body starts positioning in that position, making your posture look poor and unconfident.
Standing Desks & Their Benefits
You do not need to panic knowing that you are harming your body; the solution to this is simple! Stand and move more. You just need to find a way to stand more and move more while working. But wait, How would you do so? You might not know the existence of Standing Desks, but this is your answer: a standing desk! Standing desks are your regular desks but have extra height, allowing you to work while standing. It has an ordinarily adjustable feature that will enable you to adjust according to your preference, which is excellent for home office employees.
Standing desks negate the harmful effects of sitting too long. With standing desks, you can sit for a while, then stand and work and sit, helping you balance both standing and sitting. Let's look at some benefits of incorporating standing desks in your work life:
Weight management
Standing desks can help you manage calorie deficit by reducing your sedentary behavior. When you work while sitting, your body has no movement, but when you keep standing and moving, your body becomes active and reduces sedentary and fatigue.
The more you move or stand than sit, the more you signal your body to be active and restrict fat accumulation. When you use a standing desk, you naturally get inclined towards moving throughout the day.
A study has shown that using a standing desk leads to a significant increase in energy that ultimately promotes weight management and better metabolic health.
Enhanced Productivity
One of the best things about incorporating a standing desk setup into your work, even if it is a home office, is that it drastically improves your productivity. The logic behind this is that you feel less sluggish and more energetic when you keep moving your body.
With better blood circulation and oxygen flow to your brain, Standing desk enhances your task performance, keeping your body active and mind focused. Studies show how workers are becoming more productive because of flexible working setups.
Increased energy levels
People are more productive and efficient when they are more aware and focused, which enables them to tackle tasks more clearly and effectively. A standing desk can increase your energy levels as you are not sitting in a single position for long.
Standing desks promote better blood circulation, leading to increased energy levels. It also helps you combat midday slump and sustain energy levels throughout the day.
Improved posture
Sitting for long hours can also stress your back, shoulders, and neck, leading to bad posture and muscle pain. Standing desks promotes healthy spinal position and alignment.
People who stand up straight are less likely to develop bad posture. Maintaining good posture is crucial for avoiding neck and back pain and lowering the possibility of developing long-term spinal health issues.
Standing desk setup helps you improve your posture and spine alignment and lowers the chances of back strain and neck pain.
Why Standing Desks Are Ideal for Home Offices?
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Flexibility and Customization
Standing desks are flexible and customizable to meet your preferences and your setting. With the adjustable height feature, you can effortlessly switch between sitting and standing positions throughout the day, encouraging mobility and decreasing sedentary behavior.
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Enhanced Work-Ready Atmosphere
Standing desks in your home office give you an optimized workspace that improves productivity and focus. You can set up boundaries between your personal and professional lives and quickly shift into "work mode" by setting up a standing desk in a particular location for work-related tasks.
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Improved Long-Term Health
As already discussed, the adverse effect of sitting long on health, to address this only standing desks are becoming relevant. Investing in a standing desk is like considering your health priority and investing in your well-being. With proper utilization of a standing desk, you prevent many health hazards.
Tips for Transitioning to a Standing Desk
Now that you are encouraged to get a standing desk and have also understood the benefits of using standing desks in your work setup, you must be wondering how to use a standing desk. Let me help you!
To use a standing desk, follow these tips to know how to use a standing desk more efficiently as suggested by experts to enhance the efficiency of your standing desk setup:
- Set it to a comfortable height
- Don't stand all-day
- Add small movements while standing
- Take regular breaks
- Gradually increase the duration of standing
- Invest in comfortable footwear
- Invest in ergonomic accessories
- Switch between sitting and standing every 30 min
Conclusion
Sitting for long hours has many disadvantages for your health and work efficiency. The best solution you can ever come across is a standing desk setup. Whether you have an office setup or are working from home, having a perfect setup that doesn't affect your health and productivity is essential. As remote work is much more prone to sedentary, a standing desk is a vital tool to boost your productivity.