Standing desks, better described as sit-stand desks, are as popular with homeworkers as they are with office workers. Variety is the spice of life they say, and even if your job is more on the mundane than the magnificently exciting side, you can add variety to your working day by changing your postures to sometimes sit and sometimes stand at your desk. Your health and wellbeing will thank you!
But when working from home, we often have limited space. Our work desk has to compete for space with our boyfriend’s vinyl collection and an overflowing wardrobe of clothes we really meant to offload to Vinted.
Let me show you two good solutions for small standing desks for home:
My first recommendation is brand new and shiny onto the ergonomic office equipment market.
1. KOJI Electric Sit-Stand Desk
The name ‘KOJI’ for this sit-stand desk derives from the Japanese name 'Koji' meaning ‘little one’. It is indeed compact. The KOJI desk is all about saving floor space in your home, while still giving you plenty of room for your computer and bits and pieces. Its measurements are 100 cm in width and 60 cm in depth – and this is smaller than many rival standing desks.
‘How can a desk be electric’ you ask? It raises up and down at the touch of an electric button to help you move all your work stuff from sitting height up to standing height, and down again a short while later. The lift of the KOJI electric sit-stand desk is smooth, quiet, easy and quick – trust me, I’ve tried it out.
By the way, there’s a webinar showing you all sorts of good kit for working from home in the Posturite video library:
Ergonomic product specialist Vikki Greer will demo in the above video the best office chairs, desks, keyboards, mice and laptop stands for comfortable remote working.
If you fancy the prospect of an electric sit-stand desk at home, but prefer a larger desk surface than the KOJI provides, I’d recommend the JOSHO Homeworker Electric Sit-Stand Desk. It’s a very similar price, but is slightly larger at 120 cm width and 70 cm depth. This desk has two legs whereas note that the KOJI is a one-legged desk design – which also helps your room look less cluttered and more streamlined.
2. Opløft Sit-Stand Platform
My second recommendation for a smaller sit-stand desk is not in fact a desk at all!
It’s a platform that goes on top of your existing desk or table.
Handy! The Opløft is a bestselling invention in the world of ergonomics. A review of the Opløft from John said:
“Brilliant, it is a discrete piece of kit on my desk top, that I can use at any time to move position from sitting to standing. The Oploft feels robust and of good quality. I have a 24 inch monitor on mine and it’s no problem at all to lift. I’m very happy with this after two weeks of use.”
Muriellie’s feedback confirms the Opløft’s ease of use:
“Excellent sit-stand platform. It is sturdy and well constructed, but very easy to lift / lower. The working area is a good size so it fits my laptop and items (notebooks etc) around it. I use it all the time.”
The ‘desk’ surface of an Opløft measures 68 cm width and 60 cm depth. This is plenty big enough for a monitor or a laptop, a mouse, a keyboard, and a cuppa.
This sit-stand platform is only 3 cm in thickness when flat, so you can slide it away beside a chest of drawers or under a sofa if you like to pack your work things away after a day of remote working at home. You can move it around your home if you fancy a bit of a change of scenery.
Ergonomic Product Specialist and DSE Assessor Vikki Greer (pictured below left) sees sit-stand platforms as a good option so you can stand for a period of time to work, and then sit for a period of time to work, without having to replace all of the furniture.
In the ‘Homeworker good kit show and tell’ webinar which I mentioned earlier, Vikki also shows you the innovative Standfriend which is another really good option if you’re after a compact ‘standing desk’, because it's so space saving. From the front to the back, is only 40 cm. Find out why people love it at 4 minutes 48 in the video.
She says “If you like the idea of a platform which raises and lowers electronically, then you could choose a DeskRite 100E Sit-Stand Platform. You can pop your screens on here with a monitor arm as well.” The desk surface area of this DeskRite model is 88 cm width and 41.5 cm depth.
What is the recommended amount of time to stand at a standing desk?
Generally out of every hour, you might like to stand for 20 to 30 minutes in one go, if you’re comfortable with that. It’s best not to stand for more than that in one go, but a total of 40 minutes per hour is generally fine.
Remember to change and spend some of your hour sitting – Posturite calls it a sit-stand desk for a reason! There are options to help you to stand more comfortably to work, such as an Anti-Fatigue Wellness Mat.
Comfort and health – don’t compromise
So as you can see, smaller homeworking spaces can boast clever and helpful ergonomic kit too. If ‘an Englishman's home is his castle’, don’t compromise your comfort and health in the castle, wherever it is in the world.