You’re familiar with notifications on your iPhone. But a signal from your desk that it’s time to get up? More and more sit-stand desks are being linked to an app, which turns out to be no unnecessary luxury.
You usually only notice that you have been sitting still for too long at the end of the day. A stiff neck, a nagging lower back and the feeling that you haven’t moved from your place all day. You are certainly not alone in this.
Almost half don’t know
New research from Van Garderen Kantoormeubelen shows that almost half do not know how often you have to alternate sitting and standing: 49 percent have no idea about it. And knowledge is also no guarantee. Of the people who do know the rule of thumb, a large number do not apply it in practice. “Almost everyone knows that sitting still for long periods of time is unhealthy,” says Bart Massa of Van Garderen Kantoormeubelen. “The knowledge about how to break through this is still often lacking.”
The rule of thumb itself is simple: change positions about every half hour. The difficult part is remembering. When you’re in an email, a spreadsheet or a piece of code, half an hour flies by.
An agency that gives you a heads up
That’s where the app comes into play. A sit-stand desk with appsuch as the Ergowork Pro from the Van Garderen Office Furniture range, can be connected to your iPhone via Bluetooth. You can adjust the height of your desk from the app, and the app will let you know if you have not stood enough during the day.
The difference with a regular timer or reminder is that the notification comes from the device in question. Your desk knows how long it has been in the sitting position. Clicking away and continuing to work feels a little less non-binding.
This is how you prepare your Apple setup for sitting and standing
A desk that goes up is only half the story. Your setup must be correct in both modes. With these tips you can work just as comfortably standing as sitting:
- Do not place your MacBook flat on the tray. Use a laptop stand with a separate keyboard and trackpad, so that the top edge of your screen is at eye level.
- Do you work with a separate monitor? Place it on a monitor arm. Then the distance to your eyes remains the same when your desk is raised.
- Save your sitting and standing height. The Ergowork Pro remembers 8 heights, so changing takes just one push of a button.
- Use Focus modes wisely. Put your desk’s app in your work Focus among the allowed apps so that that reminder is not filtered out.
- Call standing. With AirPods in, you can get up for every phone call or take a walk. That also counts as variety.
- Give your cables some slack. A cable that is too short when the desk rises will pull your MacBook off the top. Take plenty of length and bundle it neatly in a cable duct or cable trunk, so that everything moves smoothly.
Your seat also counts
If you alternate properly, you will still be sitting for a large part of the day. Then make sure you are sitting properly: feet flat on the floor, forearms relaxed on the tray and a chair that supports your lower back. A good sit-stand desk and a good chair reinforce each other.
Let your workplace do the work
The most important conclusion from the research: the less exercise depends on willpower, the greater the chance that people will actually do it. An agency that gives you a signal yourself fits exactly into that list. All you have to do is respond to it.