The Inimitable Effect of Standing on Productivity

Stand up for a few minutes while you read this article. Come on. Four hundred words won’t kill you.

In fact, it’s sitting that should worry us. In the last century, day-to-day work has demanded increasingly less activity from humans. Workers have been conditioned to accept that spending 8 hours a day—even more if you include that post-work TV binge—is normal, but it’s simply not what the human body was engineered to do.

And it’s taking a toll. Sitting all day, every day over the course of a lifetime can have harrowing effects on posture, fitness and mental health. It can even increase risk of life-altering illnesses like diabetes or heart disease.

But breaking up with sitting might sound difficult. Spending the majority of our days in a sedentary position has become an all but essential part of our culture, so the idea of rebuking it in entirety might feel intimidating or counterintuitive.

So start small. Stand for 15-minute bursts throughout your day, and the change in activity will do a lot more than not kill you. A 2011 study of people who increased their daily non-sitting time by just an hour left participants feeling more energy, more focus and less fatigue across the board.  

The White House concurs with the research, as evidenced by its 2015 budget request for Varidesk standing desks for every employee. It’s no coincidence that federal leaders chose Varidesk, a technology that represents exactly what standing during the workday should: versatility. 

The desktop surface rests atop a traditional workspace and can be adjusted at will to any height, meaning employees of all statures can sit or stand as frequently and for as long as they wish. The government’s decision aimed to elevate employees’ minds as much as it did their bodies.

That decision proved prescient when a May 2016 study from Texas A&M University showed that standing during work isn’t just good for health—it’s good for getting things done.

For half a year, researchers observed differences in productivity between two groups of call center employees. One group used stand-capable desks that allowed them to stand or sit, and one used standard sitting desks. The results at the end of six months showed that those with stand-capable desks were 46 percent more productive than their more sedentary counterparts.

Health benefits aside, standing periodically throughout the workday just makes us better and happier people.

Now, here you stand. You are 400 words closer to a healthier, more productive workday. Why stop now?

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