It's been almost two weeks since moving my desk to waist high. The first few days were the hardest, but it was also a very hard week at school. Since I stand nearly all day, I was unsure what standing in the evenings would be like. Standing has become more of a habit. I do still have the stool out for an occasional perch. I've got some shoes that are easier to stand in than others. Huge surprise there. ;P  I think I've been more productive, but that's a bit subjective as every day's workload is different. I do know I've been sleeping better. So, I think I'll keep it up. I may have to look for a bigger work space though. I had to get the ironing board out and put it beside my smaller work area to sort papers from which I was gathering info for a paper. When I was finished though, the papers went in the recycling bin and the ironing board went back in the closet. That may actually be a real solution. I've also got plenty of room on my desktop now for sorti...

Today my legs felt like they'd gotten a workout yesterday, so I came home today and stood again. I got Tuesday - Friday's lessons written, all standing. Tomorrow, I won't be home until very late, but I'll try to stand as much as possible where I am. A funny side note was that I noticed today how much the kids want to sit. They don't mind standing to play at recess for the most part, but if I ask them to stand for any length of time (like for the pledge ;) ) they start tugging at their chairs like the period of time is endless.

I have been reading a lot lately about how much healthier it is to stand while you work. As a teacher, most of my day has been spent standing, but when I get home (especially due to grad school), I'm a slave to my computer and desk and consequently the desk chair. Working on projects, papers, research, etc. means way to much sitting and I've noticed pains in places that I don't normally get them - like my lower back and hips. So, I pretty much cleaned off my desk (left my netbook because it gets moved everywhere anyway) and moved my main laptop and the second screen to a higher surface. The workspace is much smaller which will also take some getting used to, but this doesn't have to be a permanent fix - just long enough to see what I think about it. A couple of the articles I read said that the first week was the hardest.That does seem reasonable. Articles are easy enough to find, but here is a NY Times piece that is a nice summary.