Writing Might Not Kill Us After All

Back in 2013, I reported that sitting (hence writing) might be killing us. According to a recent meta-analysis, it’s too soon to jeer at your coworkers who haven’t jumped on the standing or treadmill desk trend.

Dr. Jos Verbeek from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health told NPR, “What we actually found is that most of it is, very much, just fashionable and not proven good for your health.”

The study reports that standing desks were beneficial during the first year of use, but positive effects declined over time. Granted, this was a very small study. Researchers hope larger studies will determine not only the impact of standing desks, but of other potential changes.

Dr. Verbeek recognizes the largest problem: disinterest over time. “Changing behavior is very difficult,” Verbeek said in the NPR interview. He’s got my number there. I bought a standing desk in 2014, used it intermittently for about a year, then tired of it and sold it to a friend.

Instead of standing desks, Dr. Verbeek suggests placing the printer in a corridor that’s further away from your desk or make the one bathroom five flights of stairs up, and restrict use of elevators to people with accessibility needs.

I wonder how popular Dr. Verbeek is at his office!

Writing is Killing Us

Writing is Killing Us

“Go into cubeland in a tightly controlled corporate environment and you immediately sense that there is a malaise about being tied behind a computer screen seated all day. The soul of the nation is sapped, and now it’s time for the soul of the nation to rise.” – Dr. James Levine, Mayo Clinic

Writing is killing us. Well, writing itself isn’t killing us, but sitting at our desks all day hunched in front of our computers moving nothing but our fingers might be. According to one New York Times article, “Excessive sitting . . . is a lethal activity.” USA Today reported, “. . . people in sedentary occupations are at the highest risk of early death.” And How-To Geek put together a scary, statistic-filled infographic on the risks of so much sitting.

What’s a writer to do? Most of you have read (especially if you scroll to the bottom of my monthly newsletter and scan the “Paranoid Ex-Lawyer’s Release”) about my somewhat successful attempt to turn from couch potato into athlete. Unfortunately, the New York Times article cited above explains, “Exercise is not a perfect antidote for sitting.” The article continues, “Being sedentary for nine hours a day at the office is bad for your health whether you go home and watch television afterward or hit the gym. It is bad whether you are morbidly obese or marathon-runner thin.” Sigh. And here I thought running a marathon was the answer.

The New York Times article suggests the treadmill desk. To use this device, a worker walks very slowly on a low-noise treadmill while working at the desk specially designed to fit on the machine. I don’t have one, yet, but it’s on my wish list. There’s also the standing desk which has been used by the likes of Hemingway, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Dickens. Everything old is new again! Given the space requirements and the price, I’m more likely to purchase a standing desk.

For now, though, I’ve simply instituted the “posture reset” policy. Every half hour, I get up, circle my arms over my head, touch my toes, and walk a big circle through the house or coffeeshop. I set the timer on my phone to beep (or vibrate if I’m in a public place) every 30 minutes alerting me it’s time to move. Will this ensure longevity? I don’t know, but it’s got to be better than sitting completely still for long periods.

How do you minimize the amount you sit? I’d love to hear your experiences.

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