This Standing Desk Makes My Work-From-Home Body So Much Happier

Working from home over the past year and a half has truly had its perks. I've saved a ton of money by making all of my own meals and kept myself clear-headed with long daily walks before work and during lunch (when I found the time). But one of the many pitfalls has been sitting at my dining table in a matching chair for 10 hours straight every day.

Without the ergonomic support of an office desk chair—and the breaks I'd take to get up and stroll over to a coworker's desk for a quick chat—my back, neck, shoulders, and backside have been in aching knots for months on end. Fed up with the chronic pain, I turned to Amazon for a solution, where more than 3,200 five-star ratings for the TechOrbits Standing Desk Converter convinced me to give it a try. Two weeks later, I'm so happy I did.

To buy: TechOrbits Standing Desk Converter, $140 (was $176); amazon.com

We know that too much sitting does a number of terrible things to our bodies. A 2017 study published in the Journal of Lifestyle Medicine found that sitting for long periods of time can lead to "exhaustion during the working day, decreased job satisfaction, hypertension, and musculoskeletal disorder symptoms in the shoulders, lower back, thighs, and knees of office workers." In other words, exactly what my body has been dealing with for over a year. It's serious enough that Barry Braun, PhD, the department head of Health and Exercise Science at Colorado State University, previously told Health that he thinks public health recommendations need an update to urge people to spend less time sitting.

Knowing how bad sitting is for my body, especially my back, only made the pain I was experiencing feel like it was doubling down on me—and I was even more eager to get my standing desk up and running. Thankfully, it was easy to put together. The directions were clear, I didn't need any unusual tools, and it was fully set up in about 15 minutes. The design offers two levels: one lower for a keyboard and another higher up for a monitor. Since I'm using a laptop, I was able to fit it on the higher level and rest my forearms on the shelf below, which took a few days for me to get used to. Although it's made from fiberboard wood, the sit-to-stand desk is sturdy enough to hold up to 33 pounds, and I feel confident enough to rest a glass on it, too.

But the best part of my new standing desk is how easily it goes from sitting to standing. With the lift of a lever, it rises with me out of my chair and into a position that better serves my neck and back by allowing me to stretch out while working. I'll admit that it's large for my table, at over 32 inches wide, but the relief I feel every day when I stand makes me look the other way.

Give your own body a break and buy yourself the gift of standing with the TechOrbits Standing Desk Converter while it's still 20% off at Amazon.