While I have owned a standing desk for probably about two years, I’ve only been using it for a little over one year. In the midst of the post-COVID-19 era of businesses moving to remote work and consolidating office space, the company I work for followed suit and started selling unused equipment to employees. This is how I got my hands on a severely discounted sit-stand desk, monitor stands, and a comfy office chair sometime in the summer or fall of 2022. At the time, however, there was no space for it in my little apartment — it wasn’t until after I moved in the fall of 2023 that I could finally set it up and use all of its glorious space! There was just one problem though.
Emphasis On The “Sit,” Not Standing
I only ever really sit during work. While I do have a sit-stand desk, that can easily go up and down as I please, I only really ever sit. This is partially due to comfort — I don’t really want to stand up for long periods of time, and I have my own routine sitting at my desk — but also because my desk was wobbly when I attempted to raise it. For over a year of using the desk regularly, I just kept it sitting and that was that.
But recently I’ve been trying to increase my movement each week, from getting a pedometer to accurately track my steps (I don’t trust my Apple Watch since it’s on my wrist and I type all day) to trying to get 5,000 steps a day (10,000 is a bit unrealistic right now). I even asked for a walking pad for Christmas and so far it’s been great for getting steps in when it’s too dark or cold to go outside. So far I’ve only used it on the weekends (not during work) while listening to audiobooks and my YouTube Watch Later playlist, but it really would be better for my overall health and fitness if I could find a way to use it during work (sitting for eight hours a day every week probably isn’t the greatest thing for my body). So I decided I was going to try to use more of the “standing” feature than the “sit” feature.
My Self-Led IT Adventure a.k.a Wasting An Entire Saturday
A personal goal I made at the start of February was trying to work more on my desk and setting it up the way I want — and this includes trying to get my desk to be stable and usable when in the raised position. Basically, when I first put together the desk in October 2023, I set it up with a focus on the sitting position since that was likely how I was going to use it; the motor to raise it worked fine, but in the raised position it was very unstable and wobbly. Naturally I put that on the back burner thinking “Eh, it’ll be fine,” which has led to me not using the standing feature for over a year. Yikes.
So today (Saturday, at the time of writing this), I decided I was going to try to rearrange my desk after learning I’m getting a company-issued laptop on Monday. I wanted to tackle a little of the cleaning/disinfecting and try to figure out how this new laptop is going to fit into my setup. This started with me taking everything off the desk, wiping it down, and then seeing if I could fix the stability issue.
I don’t know how long I spent working on that desk; at least a few hours — maybe three or four? I’m not entirely sure, but I unscrewed and rescrewed bolts so many times; moved the desk on it’s side and upside down trying to figure out the issue; found a solution only to have it not work; tried to figure out why only one side of the desk raised all of a sudden; consulted Google for how to reset a standing desk; and even asked my IT-knowledgeable boyfriend for advice. This process was long enough it required both a lunch and coffee break.
Well, I finally got it to work. After tinkering with that desk for several hours, I am 100% certain the only reason why the desk was wobbly in the first place was because I didn’t tighten a few bolts enough. I literally had a few screws loose and that was the issue the entire time. It took me moving the desk several times and taking apart and putting together the legs several times to figure that out. Just tightened a few bolts and now it works great. Big Yikes.
My Office Redesign Plans
I’ve been slowly working on making my office desk unique to me. It started about six months ago with me building my own PC, named Lucy, and getting ideas on how I wanted to set up my own battlestation. I love Lucy — I love her so much and I think she is so beautiful. But similar to me preparing to get my own work-specific laptop, I am really wanting to reorganize my desk and set it up in a way that is best useful for me. I also want to be able to use my office for dual purposes: the laptop for work, but Lucy for personal things; both resting atop my now-dual-purpose sit-stand desk. I want to get to a point, like I mentioned above, where I can use my walking pad while at work or while doing other things — it’s a process and I’ve just completed the first step. Next is going to be figuring out my new work setup and possibly getting a docking station.
Coming Soon: My Finished Battlestation
Updates should be coming soon RE: my battlestation. This week I should have a new work computer and I should be able to figure out if I need/can get a docking station; after that, we can get to more of the fun stuff! Stay tuned for more updates!
