Garrett St. John

I built a topper this weekend to convert my sitting desk into a standing desk and it turned out to be really easy.

I’ve been interested in the idea of a standing desk since talking to Emily Smith and Charlie Pratt several months ago, both touting the improved level of energy and productivity they feel by standing. Having recently bought new desks at Bold, I just wasn’t ready to commit full-time to something I didn’t know how much I would like.

Enter the desk topper. For $30 in supplies and a few hours of work, this is the perfect solution. If I love it, it stays. If I hate it, it goes.

Day One has gone pretty well. I’ve got some tiredness in my feet and lower back, but nothing unbearable. I do feel a bit like I’m towering over everything around me, but at 6′ 5″ that’s not an entirely new feeling. Drowsiness is non-existant and all-in-all it’s been a productive day of work.

I plan to add a mounting bracket to secure the base of the iMac. It freaks me out too much having it nearly two feet off of the main desk.

I’ll check back in at the end of this week for an update on how it feels, any noticeable complications and/or unexpected upsides, and my decision on a plan for Week 2.

UPDATE: After a week of using the standing desk topper I’m still on board with it. There was definitely some fatigue through the week, but I think that had a lot to do with adjusting muscle groups. I notice I am a lot more alert and attribute that to the general fact that I’m standing and would collapse otherwise. I did notice that my legs and back became tired more quickly the day after a thorough night of volleyball the previous day. I expect that to become less of an issue as well in the days and weeks to follow. So far, so good!