A standing mat made all the difference

Fedora Friends Off-Topic Fun
#1

Okay, it made very little of the difference, but still! I got a standing desk over the summer to help me not be sitting in my chair for 9-10 hours a day. But my office isn’t carpeted, so I found that it made my feet hurt if I did it for very long. So I finally bought a thick foam mat with little bumps.

Oh goodness, does it delight my feet! Even when I’m sitting, the little bumps are a nice little fidget for my feet. I’m not standing much yet, as I need to work back into it, but it has been a surprising boost.

What have you done in the past year that has made your work experience a little better?

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#2

Okay, now you’ve done it Ben. :slight_smile:

I’ve had a treadmill desk for about six years, but… I’d fallen out of the habit of actually walking very much, mostly using it as standing desk. About a month into the pandemic, I realized that some days I was walking only a few hundred steps total. So, I got myself a new Fitbit and resolved to actually walk.

If you’re doing a standing desk already, I really really recommend this. It’s actually easier than standing for long periods of time. When standing, I tend to want to lean and slouch, and, yeah, feet get tired. With walking, even at 1-2 mph, this doesn’t happen.

Plus, I get automatic exercise, which is a key because of my other pandemic behavior of stress-eating and drinking. (I think this may be the only ADHD-friendly form of exercise… with exercises where I have to do something, it’s not the activity or strain that kills me, it’s the getting bored before getting to ten reps.)

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#3

(I think this may be the only ADHD-friendly form of exercise… with exercises where I have to do something, it’s not the activity or strain that kills me, it’s the getting bored before getting to ten reps.)

I thought I was the only one! This is one reason I love biking. You can always bike to new/different places, and it’s pretty easy to turn on a podcast or something and just have multiple things for your brain to jump to.

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#4

I ran cross-country in high school and I could never bring myself to practice on my own. It’s not so much that the running was hard, but it just wasn’t …interesting. I like bicycling a lot more for that reason.

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#5

+10 here

I love playing sport games (like basketball, football…) but I can not stand jogging as it is really like observing the same environment again and again. Biking works as you at least have a change of landscape, and it is not as monotonic.

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#6

I’m sort of surprised that the floor surface alone would’ve made that much difference, especially in relieving foot pain just from standing. Do you wear shoes when you’re working at the desk, or not? I suppose if not, then it makes sense to me. If yes, then it sounds like you need better shoes!

#7

No, I don’t wear shoes when working. Unless I’m visiting an office or at a conference, of course, which hasn’t happened for a while. :cry:

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#8

I know people who don’t wear shoes even in offices :sweat_smile:

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#9

Instead of a mat, I got these as my “house shoes”:

My kids call them “old man shoes”, but the are so very comfy. It’s like walking around with a mat at all times. I definitely can’t do the standing desk thing with bare feet!

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#10

Yes those are what I have for my walking desk. In black, though. I don’t wear them around the house, though, just at the treadmill. The fabric at the back by the heel is wearing through, though — maybe not quite tight enough of a fit? I didn’t have that problem with the Go Walk 3 pair I had before this one.

#11

I have one of those mats and like it, but I don’t use it all the time. Most of the time I wear my Go Walks. At one time I was lucky enough that my employer provided me with a full size office table that had a built in electric motor powered elevator. The height could be between about 3 ft and 5 ft. I used it to alternate b between sitting and standing. It was even nice to be able to vary the height a little while I was sitting or standing. Arm position seems to matter. That was really great. I think I might go shopping for one. Something else I’ve done to help with general fatigue is that I got myself a Large screen monitor and use large fonts.