Friday, January 18, 2013

Why You Haven't Heard From Me All Week


I decided to rearrange my desk in order to stand when I work.

Now, instead of taking five-minute breaks to walk around between each hour at the computer, I have to sit down — and let me tell you, that is easier said than done when you constantly see something that needs to be done, or put away.

What it means is that after five hours of standing throughout the day, I've had enough. Standing at the sink to wash dishes or at the counter to chop vegetables for supper becomes a whole different ordeal; now I move the cutting board to the kitchen table. Getting out for a half-hour walk down the road is less of a pleasure. And so on.

Actually it's not half bad. You just have to figure out how to accommodate your complaining legs and the soles of your feet. Longer breaks between each hour of standing means my working day stretches out, but on the bright side: I'm not sitting on my ass all day. This has been my first week doing this and, because the setup isn't easily adjustable between sitting and standing, I just went whole hog and stood the whole time.

Aside from my encyclopedia work, which I do on the iMac you see above, I've started doing 10 hours/week of social media work for an online newspaper. That, I can do from Scott's laptop, so I've taken to sitting at the kitchen table with it between my hours at the iMac. It gives my limbs a rest.

What it all means is that personal reading and writing on the iMac is the last thing I feel like doing at the end of the day. My body is tired by suppertime. But I'm going to keep it up for a while and decide whether the arrangement will be permanent. I think it will. Then I need to shop for a new desk.

(No, I'm not lefthanded. But I mouse with my left hand to relieve pressure on a knot that often appears at my right shoulder when working.)