This is my desk. Actually, I have several desks. There’s a built-in one in the kitchen–it’s mostly a repository for the detritus of everyday life. The pretty one in the library is just for decoration. I get annoyed if anyone tries to use it, because I’m afraid it’ll get scratched. I admire it often. Lee has an office upstairs, and I have a table in that room, but that’s where my sewing machine lives, so on the rare occasion that I take my computer in there to try and write, I get distracted and wind up making pillowcases to procrastinate.
The desk pictured above is in a corner of the dining room, right in front of a window. It’s where I do most of my writing if I’m at home. You’ll notice there’s no chair.
This is the other desk I use with some frequency:
I guess technically it has a chair, since it’s an exercise bike. I like to read there.
When I was the editor of my high school yearbook, I used to do most of my copywriting in the school library. I’d set up my papers and layout on one of those long tables (yes, this was in the pre-computer dark ages), and I’d pace the length of the library while I composed sentences in my head. Nowadays, when I’m stumped by a plot point in my novel, I go for a walk. Apparently I just think better when I’m moving.
I just like to think of myself as trendy.
Research is increasingly showing that sitting in a chair all day can be deadly. Okay, maybe I wasn’t thinking of the health benefits of pacing when I was 17, but I certainly am now.
That issue of Nutrition Action that I mentioned yesterday also had a piece titled “Sitting Can Kill You.” In a nutshell, the article said that if you spend a majority of your waking hours sitting, your risk of diabetes and heart disease–and death from those problems–goes way up. It makes sense, if you think about it: our Neanderthal ancestors who survived and reproduced weren’t sitting on their butts–they were out running from predators and hunting down dinner. We’re biologically programmed to keep moving.
A couple of particularly succinct and powerful quotes got my attention:
“We’ve now shown for the first time that sitting is directly related to mortality.”
“Occasional bouts of exercise can’t undo the harm from extended periods of sitting.”
I knew I was onto something.
The desk-like thingies you see in these photos are from a company called Airdesk. We have two, which get moved all over the house. Lee likes to use the tall one (the one I like to keep in the dining room) at the treadmill, so we may eventually need to get another one. The more I read about the hazards of sitting, the happier I am to keep standing.
(If you’re not ready to invest in an airdesk, or if you work in an office where such unconventional arrangements would be frowned upon, perhaps you could replace your chair with an exercise ball. Not only does it keep you wiggling a tiny bit all the time, but it is fundamentally so uncomfortable you’ll just be compelled to get up and move around more.)