A Sustainable Office For The Planet + My Body
In November 2019, I began using a Limber Desk. “Oh cute standing desk!” said all my friends as they waltzed into my home office. “It’s not a standing desk! It’s a dynamic desk.” My friends probably rolled their eyes, but a year later, and my decision to purchase a Limber Desk continues to be the best work investment I have even spent (I received a discount for writing this blog FYI).
The Limber Desk is designed to enable you to move up and down, side to side, all day, everyday. Created by a frustrated physiotherapist seeing too many people with workplace injuries, the kind that come from sitting slumped over a desk 24/7, I believe the Limber Desk is absolutely a solution to productivity and sustainability in the workplace.
Image by Francisco Photos
After a year’s trial… The top 5 reasons why I love my Limber Desk:
I can move.
I’m an active person and hate the idea of staying still. The Limber Desk allows me to constantly flow up and down from standing to kneeling, plus kneel in all sorts of ways. This also helps my thought patterns and ability to concentrate.
I don’t get sore.
The Limber Desk encourages me to stretch. While I’m thinking, I bend over, stretch my arms up to the ceiling, or do a cheeky calf stretch. With this in mind, I never get stiff or store. Note: our carpet is thin so reusing a foam mat (refer to main image) to stand on has been a great way to protect my heels too.
It looks freaking classy.
The first thing people comment on when they walk into my office, is my desk. It emits a simplistic, Scandinavian vibe, and is the opposite to a hefty loud desk that can swamp a room.
Storage nooks.
My desk is never cluttered, because I can store my notebooks easily in the nooks at the sides. They’re the perfect size for what I need, and encourage me to keep the top of my desk scarce.
The stool.
Ah the stool. My constant companion. Not only do I kneel on it, particularly after lunch (before my 15 minute power nap), but I play with it with my feet while I stand. It’s almost like a fidget spinner; an object that helps me centre my thoughts while I strategise, plan, or get creative. When the stool isn’t in the correct foot space, I find my feet searching for it and panicking when it’s not there.
A year on, and I have forgotten what people mean when they talk about stiffness from being in an office all day. When I find myself out on the road or in co-working situations, I’m reminded just how good I have it, and there’s never a day that I dread walking into my office.
Purchasing a Limber Desk has also encouraged me to assess all the other areas of my work life. I have established structured routines, eating times, stretching habits, and also updated my technology.