When did you last look at desk design? Desks play a silent but important role in every office, as they are closely related to people’s health and productivity in the workplace. For example, an ergonomically designed, height adjustable standing desk reduces neck and shoulder stress for both taller and shorter than average office workers, helping them to work productively for longer periods of time. If you have not paid much attention to the desk in your own home office, or your company office, take a moment to go through the latest in desk design.
The Modern Standing Desk
Standing desks are better for your health, as sitting for long periods of time in front of a computer, or anywhere else for that matter, can lead to a series of health deteriorating effects such as:
- Reduced lifespan
- Chronic lower back, shoulder and neck pain
- Poor blood circulation
- Lethargy and weight gain
Although standing desks on their own are not a novel idea, how some manufacturers have transformed the idea of a simple standing desk into something that’s aesthetic, healthy, and productive at the same time, is truly deserving of special attention.
Before the handy little cranks came in, the old standing desks were either fixed or had to be manually adjusted from a standing to a sitting height and vice versa, through pushing and pulling. On the other hand, electric height adjustable standing desks are completely motorised. This means that alternating between standing and sitting positions is effortless, making it particularly easy to maintain a perfect balance between health and work, without sacrificing on either.
Manual Height Adjustable Desk Design
The manual standing desk is the original, older brother of the electric height adjustable standing desks, so why is it on this list? Well, innovations have been made in this department too, helping everyone across all budgets hit a balance between sitting and standing sessions at work or home. Unlike how it used to be earlier, modern height adjustable standing desks from reputed manufacturers come with a smooth crank, in case they are not motorised.
Adjusting desk height still requires a bit of manual work on the user’s part but depending on who you buy your office furniture from, operating that crank to hoist the desk up or down can feel almost effortless. Instead of just putting stoppers at a few specific points, the latest adjustable desks with manual controls come with multiple ridges/stopping points, so that you can practice comparatively granular control over your desk adjustments.
Electric Height Adjustable Desk
Electric height adjustable standing desks are one of the latest innovations in this field. All height adjustment functions are taken care of by one or two (depending on the size and weight of a particular desk) electrical motors, so that you can concentrate on your work, rather than wasting time on adjusting the desk manually.
There are various different makes of electric height adjustable standing desks available, including from brands such as Flexispot and FRISKA. The classic standing desk from Flexispot is available allows you to work in a standing position and adjust the desk to several different heights, so you can get the perfect position for your needs.
In terms of the standing desk design from FRISKA, you can find adjustable desks here, which are designed specifically with the comfort and health of the users in mind first. These Swedish-made, height adjustable standing desks have a motorised system which responds with surprising speed and silence each time the user needs to adjust the desk’s height.
How to Utilise the Latest Desk Design Height Adjustable Standing Desks for Improving Your Work Life
Most of us are looking at more sitting time than ever before, be it for work or otherwise. Motorised height adjustable standing desks help us switch easily in between standing and sitting positions, which reduces to a great degree, the harmful effects of sitting all the time.
Additionally, it is also recommended to make the following habits a part of your daily work life at home:
- Try to maintain a standing: sitting ratio of at least 6:4, and preferably, 7:3; for every hour that you work. Ensure that you are standing in between 36 – 42 minutes
- Put the sitting session after the standing session and at the end of an hour, take a 5 – 10 minutes’ walking break
- While sitting, don’t let your neck or lower back settle without movement for too long
The Importance of Balancing Health and Work
Covid-19 continues to ravage the UK and the entire world, so chances are that people will need to pay special attention towards improving their home office setup for the foreseeable future. This, of course, includes ensuring stable internet connectivity, buying a backup laptop, and for creative professionals, maybe even investing in a decent desktop with a widescreen monitor. However, in most home offices, the desk will be the first thing you need to upgrade to ensure healthy productivity.
After all, from the laptops and monitors, to your keyboards and mice; they are all going to be laid out on that desk. Until and unless the desk is spacious enough to hold all that, while being adjustable enough to let you work comfortably for hours without getting a cramped neck and back, the setup can be called makeshift at best. Height adjustable standing desks that allow you to shift from sitting to standing positions at will are going to prove crucial in making the whole idea of working from home physically sustainable. You can even get some, such as this Cycle Desk Bike from Flexispot that combine exercise with working!
Long-term work sessions, while sitting on fixed desks and badly designed chairs can lead to the development of permanent lower back, neck, elbow and shoulder injuries. Setting aside productivity for a while, this directly and indirectly affects our long term physical and mental wellbeing. Chronic pain has been linked to depression and job dissatisfaction, so you might actually be surprised by the positive changes available to you when you try out height adjustable standing desks for the first time.
Discover how Fresh Design blogger Sara Walker got on when she tried out a standing desk. Or discover some great ideas on how to improve your productivity
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