Spyros Maniatopoulos
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My first week at a $22 standing desk

5/2/2014

 
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I always wanted to try a standing desk. But they are so expensive! 
Update: I published a thorough review of my standing desk experience on Medium:
To stand, or not to stand …
So I settled for the DIY version. I did not build the original $22 standing desk however. Why? Because there is no IKEA anywhere near Ithaca, NY!

Instead, this is how I went about it:
  • Side table from TARGET (bought when I first moved to the US)
  • Shelf board and two shelf brackets from Lowes (thanks Ben)
  • The screws were included with the brackets

I also had to buy a keyboard and mouse. I picked the Logitech Wave Combo for ergonomic reasons, despite being a big fan of Apple products. Finally, I added a few plants in order to make the overall desk look more appealing.
Before I continue, let me show you what the ultimate goal of my setup is, in terms of ergonomics:
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The eyes should fall on the upper 1/3 of the screen. The elbow should be at about 90 degrees (or slightly more; definitely not less).
To achieve that goal, I added two more elements:
  • Computer monitor, which I borrowed from Ben; thanks! Not only did this bring the screen higher, but it also gave me a larger screen size. In my dreams, I would be using Apple's Thunderbolt display. I'll be upgrading to something in between next year.
  • Comfort mat from Amazon. My feet never get tired now!
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I don't like how there's a bunch of cables and dongles hanging around, but the end-product still looks pretty good and is very functional.
As you can tell, I am really enjoying the setup. Enough to write about it!

There are some obvious physical benefits: improved posture, no lower back pain, no neck pain, etc. However, I'm discovering a bunch of unexpected, psychological benefits! 

I'll elaborate on both kinds of benefits in a future blog post. As I want to use the standing desk for a sufficient amount of time, and also do some research, before I express a definitive opinion.
If you want to know more, here's some further reading:
  • A standing desk for $22
  • Do Your Back a Favor, Get a Standing Desk
  • My Year at a Standing Desk and Why I'll Never Go Back
~ Spyros
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    Me!
    Hi there 🙂
    My name is Spyros. 
    I'm from Greece and I live in San Francisco, CA. I work as a Staff Software Engineer at Cruise. Previously, I was a Lead Robotics Engineer at Mayfield Robotics and before that the Lead Robotics Software Engineer at Maidbot. I also used to be a PhD student at Cornell University.
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