Nobody can say for sure who the inventor of the first standing desk was, from Leonardo Da Vinci in Europe to Sir Thomas Jefferson in the Americas. That's a period between the 1400s to the 1700s, around 300 years, showing that standing desks have been around for a very long time.
In the modern world, sitting for long hours to work and the rise of carpal tunnel syndrome have been worsening working conditions for workers. Standing desks are some of the ergonomic improvements that have aided workers' productivity in recent times.
Sitting close to six, seven, or eight hours has proven to be unhelpful to human health, as some studies have even shown that long periods of sitting can be just as harmful to human health as obesity. Thus, this article will open you to the importance of adjustable desks and what the future holds for them in the modern workplace.
What Is a Height Adjustable Standing Desk
Similar to its name, a standing desk is the type of desk that allows you to carry on with your work while maintaining a standing position.
Due to the worrisome effects of long-term sitting, standing desks provide an option to switch between positions, continue working, and have a positive impact on your health. The standing desks are longer than normal desks allowing users to work in a full standing position.
Adjustable standing desks are modified for height-specific ranges. They can be increased or decreased in height based on the physical stature of the user. Height adjustable desks are either electrical or manual and made of wood.
How Did Standing Desks Come to Life
The historical inspection of the birthing of standing desks has very little obscurity. In truth, no one can say for certain who invented the standing desk, where it was made, or the first person to use it. However, it is not a modern conception.
The need to continue productivity while maintaining a standing position can be traced as far back as six hundred years ago when Leonardo Da Vinci was a European figure. He is one of the known earliest users of the standing desk.
It was on a standing desk that it is speculated that he drew his famed masterpiece, "The Mona Lisa."
Away from Europe, Sir Thomas Jefferson, the former president of the United States, was also a known user of the standing desk. This was in the 1700s, almost three hundred years away from our time.
Sir Ernest Hemingway, in his memoirs, was recorded to have made use of standing desks as well as many more important figures in history, even Sir Winston Churchill.
The Early Standing Desks
The earlier types of standing desks were made to accommodate a standing position. They were wooden or manual, as the electrical versions are a more modern invention.
Unlike the modern standing desks, the older desks were not height adjustable. They had to be specifically made to certain measurements that couldn't be altered to comfort varying physical stature.
Their non-electrical state also suggests they weren't as modified as the modern types. Meaning they didn't have charging ports, cables, and the likes.
How Did Adjustable Standing Desks Find Their Way to Offices
The traditional office desk can only be used in a sitting position. Its height is not adjustable and will require you to slouch if you choose to stand. All these hamper productivity and health. Long hours of sitting in some studies and research have proven to worsen heart conditions and obesity and even put workers at risk of diabetes. This is without considering the strain and ache that is inflicted upon the body for sitting for long hours.
Due to improved ergonomics in the computer age, adjustable standing desks are a proffered solution to deal with workers' discomfort that results from long sitting hours. Adjustable desks, either electrical or manual, can be set to the preferred height measurements that the workers want to use.
Prioritising workers' comfort is among the important causes of revolutionising the workplace from the conventional office desk to height adjustable ones.
Height adjustable desks in modern offices have increasingly become the electrical type. Asides from helping to correct posture and improve health, they provide technical advantages like ports to charge, electric motors for adjustment, and even screen-sharing options.
Why Are Standing Desks Important for the Future
Standing desks provide an improved ergonomic function in the modern world. As our corporate world has evolved and requires improved practices that focus on not just profit making but also employee welfare, health risks take precedence.
Standing desks are becoming more common in workplaces as workers' health has become a priority. As replacements to conventional office desks, these standing desks are versatile and meet other needs.
Adjustable standing desks can help workers combat fatigue, improve body strain and aches, lessen health risks like diabetes and heart disease that are caused by long sitting hours, and make their focus and productivity better, among other advantages.
It should not be surprising that in time, these desks will be in nearly every office around the world.
