| Nah. Give me a standing desk that I can lower all the way down to a squat. Scratch that: just give me a wooden box to squat on. Where will I put that box, though? I don’t know… (Warning: rant incoming) It’s interesting that this “sitting is [literally] the new smoking” study-shows movement has shown how limited ergonomic tools are. Maybe some ergonomic tools are just a grift to paper over the inherent defiencies of office work.[1] Think about it: 1. People get health problems from working in an office 2. Ergo company steps in to let the managers buy ergonomic equipment 3. Ergo company makes a pretty penny 4. The company behind the office just have to spend a little more money on office equipment rather than rethink the whole structure of their work environment. (Does it work? Well, the important thing is that they made an effort) 5. Win-win So anyway. How come the bodies of (one of) the smartest species on Earth are so fragile that it can’t deal with full-time thinking-work?[2] And how can we ever make up for it when we are contractually obligated to do keyboard-clacking/mouse-clicking/meeting-sitting for eight hours a day? 1. Better remember to look at a far-away object every twenty minutes in order to combat screen/reading-induced myopia 2. Try to (as often as possible) vary your positions without interrupting your own concentration on your task (how?) 3. Better remember to schedule some movement ritual in order to not be the new “smoker” 4. Better try to not look like a try-hard idiot as you do all your anti-sedentary/anti-myopia exercises in the middle of your open office which even has (for insult-to-injury) glass walls separating it from the common hallway 5. Honestly, even with all the fidgeting and practicing the-best-positions-is-the-next-one at work, you will have to dedicate a lot of time off-work for that old school rigorous exercise (remember the eighties when that was all it took? Supposedly) One problem might be that companies are stupid (see: open office). But it seems more fundamental than that. How are you even supposed to do knowledge work without committing sins of sedentary? 1. Maybe a small treadmill? Could work for reading tasks or meetings. But what about your gait when you are typing and using the mouse? I’ve heard that that gets awkward 2. Memorize the codebase and apply changes in your mind while you go for an outdoor hike? What kind of outdoorsy savant could pull that off? [1] Key word “some”. I know that some people swear by certain ergo alternatives. [2] I know, I know. There is no “why” to evolution. We just evolved in a completely different environment. Still makes me upset though. |
For anti-myopia, lots of natural light from big windows could help, giving you things to look at. For my own poorly lit space, I added bright lights that try to match the sun's visible spectrum. Though, who am I to say, one of my eyes has been getting blurry in the periphery lately...
A workplace that is flexible enough and not militantly busy allows you to take breaks during the day to go on walks. I work from home and do this at least once a day during the workday. It does take time I could be filling out tickets, but I find it revitalizes me, clears my head, helps me process emotions enough that it's absolutely worth it from a productivity perspective.
But part of what you're saying is that perspective is inherently antithetical to the type of rhythm that values movement. It would be naive to think that the point where well-being is at it's peak is also the point where maximal value is created for the company. I don't know how to get to the point where we value the one over the other, as a society. Ideally we don't have targeted solutions, but the kind of environment where the behaviors we want just "fall out" naturally... Having a real say in the type and manner of work and working environment would go a long way.
Structuring cities with better public transit would help cut down the sitting commute. At my prior job, I had maybe 40 minutes of walking there and back (+20 on the train), this was built in to my schedule, no special effort required. If I had a car I would have had much less daily exercise. (And I recognize we do not live in the kind of society where everyone has that time to spare, and that's a damn shame.)
I've also been thinking about hobbies that just involve more exercise. (Have personally found exercise for it's own sake hard to sustain.) How do I design my daily environment such that being active is the path of least resistance? (Maybe walking to the grocery store, and getting fewer things so I go more often. Maybe having my standing desk be easy to use.)
The answer might be just having less work, and more time to do things on your own. More breaks, more discretionary time, fewer hours worked. Remote work is good for this, valuing work done over butts-in-seats time.