Too much of sitting? Height-adjustable desks may help out!

Sitting at work all day long? Sooner or later you probably have to get up to stimulate your body circulation or to avoid a hurting back. What has been treated like a law of nature is now part of a greater discussion: Is constant sitting at work good for you?

Sitting is the new smoking?

The more insights science gained about daily sitting at work, the more unpopular it got over the last years. According to Dr. Eric Söhngen, a medical professional, sitting is the new smoking. In an interview with BeatYesterday he finds even more drastic words: In contrast to smoking, sitting endangers all organic systems to the same extent. Long term consequences are not only back pain but also decreased degree of performance due to a slower blood circle. That’s alarming! Not only for the IT sector where professional programmers have to solve very complex issues every day, but also for every employee who has to do a lot of mental work.

That’s a lot of damage. But what is the solution?

So, what can we do about the risks of too much sitting at work? Removing desks from office entirely to promote employee’s health wouldn’t take the cake. So, what about a hybrid solution that combines agile working while standing and working in the office chair? To be exact: With a height-adjustable desk, employees can decide for themselves if they want to do some creative work while standing or if they want to sit down for focus sessions that require a lot of concentration.

How’s work using a height-adjustable desk?

We at JAM decided to give desks a try that can be raised and lowered automatically.

Daniel is a technical project manager in the TreeSize development team and uses his height-adjustable desk on regular bases. We asked him about his experiences: “To be quite frank, it’s not bad and comfy to sit down at work. On the other hand, sometimes I can feel my back when I sat crooked over the day.”

Daniel has already experienced the benefits of deciding for himself whether he wants to work while sitting or standing in previous companies. He appreciates adjusting his posture flexibly over the day and he also likes sitting down every so often: “As long as I can decide for myself, I would take sitting and standing alike. I usually rotate several times a day - just in between or when switching tasks. An online meeting while standing up feels different from 'chilling' in a chair. And working in detail on a technical problem invites you to sink down.”

Our Tip: Prevent problems before they occur

Here at JAM, Daniel is a convinced user of height-adjustable desks. Depending on what work there is to do, he decides for himself whether he wants to do the work while standing or sitting down. But no matter how it's done: We think it’s important to prevent health risks for our employees proactively – and that’s before the backache says hello.