I’m sitting here surrounded by chocolate.
No, honestly, I am.
All the chocolate left over from Christmas seems to have found its way to me. It’s like one of those slow motion videos where tiny iron filings gently creep towards a magnet until they form a great seething mass. I am the magnet and the chocolate leftovers are the great seething mass.
Oh, and it’s not only chocolate … there is a suspicious amount of cheesy corn balls amassed from Tesco during the festive period. And let’s not even mention the Doritos, Pringles and Twiglets stashed away in the kitchen dresser. What’s left of them.
Since returning to work after the holiday season I have had to seriously look at my working arrangements. Coffee on tap and the chocolate monster have done nothing for my waistline, even if it has made freelance life more enjoyable. Combine this with sitting all day in front of the computer and at the moment I’m probably as about unhealthy as I have ever been.
Now I’m not on a health kick, and I haven’t made a resolution to start exercising like a mad thing, but I’ve decided to be more conscious about how I’m working.
And here’s how I’m doing it:
What I have done is take one of my computer desks, you know, the bog-standard ones you get with a slidey-out shelf for your keyboard, and add something to get my laptop up to the correct height for standing. Do not mock – it’s an old, very sturdy, laptop box that is creating the height. Hey, it’s working, so until I get something more permanent it’s a very cheap, straightforward way of trying out this working while standing up malarkey.
Don’t get me wrong though … there are as many studies to say that standing up while working makes no difference or can actually give you muscle problems, as there are studies that tell you it’s good for you. I alternate standing with sitting, but it’s all about getting me moving. Believe me, sitting down for hours on end while you work is not good for you.
Instead of automatically reaching for the coffee I’ve been getting back into tea. Yes, I know there’s caffeine in tea, but for some reason I don’t tend to drink as much of it. I’ve also been trying to drink those caffeine-free herbal concoctions. Why oh why do they put hibiscus in everything? I have found some nice Tea Piglets or whatever they are, but honestly, coffee is my thing.
So you can see, I’m not going mad with the whole health thing, just making three small changes to my working day.
And how has it worked so far?
I’m enjoying standing at my desk, but haven’t been doing it long enough to see if it has any benefits. Or if I’ll get bored with the novelty of it all. However it makes a nice change from being sat down all day.
Changing my working habits seems to be keeping me more alert, whether it’s the longer breaks or the change of focus is yet to be seen.
Cutting down on coffee … pure torture.
Sometimes reading your blog posts gives me the impression that we’re living parallel lives. 🙂 I haven’t yet figured out how to work standing up, but I’ll join you in drinking less coffee and in taking more frequent breaks. Here’s wishing you a very happy, healthy, and successful year ahead!
Oh goodness…for your sake I hope not! 😉 (but, yaaay, I’ve only had four cups of coffee today)
Wishing you a successful, happy and healthy year too. It’s going to be a good one … hopefully.
Four cups is likely enough. I like the idea of just changing,say, two or three little things at a time. I have to work on the chocolate…;)
If I don’t change things slowly I get fed up and give in. Mind you… today I’m standing here with coffee and chocolate. But it IS Monday 😉
True. Monday requires special dispensation. I also find that breathing consciously helps.
Does inhaling chocolate not count? 😉
Not sure about that, but laughter is good for relaxing into new ways of being. 🙂 assuming you don’t have coffee in your mouth at the same time. I wisely put my coffee cup down before reading your response. 😉
🙂
If you do decide to keep up this standing malarkey (only kidding; I’m a ‘stander’) then I recommend getting a squishy mat to stand on (like this: http://uk.varidesk.com/varidesk-the-mat). Technically called an anti-fatigue mat, and it does just that.
oooh thanks Margaret, I’ll check that out. So far, so good 🙂