I love my home office chair — deeply. It feels like sitting in a hug.
Before 2020, I would only see it a few hours a day. The rest of the time, I’d work in co-working spaces and coffee shops, which I walk to. It kept me active.
The pandemic changed that — my chair became part of my body. I coded there, I had meetings there, I ate my meals there, I happy hour’d with friends there, and I watched Netflix there. I rocked my whiny kids there. I did everything in that chair, and my body started to feel it.
We all know thatexercise plays an important rolein our mental and physical well-being. As a car-less city-dweller, losing the ability to walk around and leave my tiny apartment when the world started to shut down weighed heavily on my mental and physical health. And, as a mom who now had more than one full-time job, I just didn’t have time to dedicate to exercise.
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[Read:We spent a workday on a treadmill desk so you didn’t have to]
So I bought a treadmill for under my standing desk. I knew I needed something to get me moving, and I needed to be able to do it while momming, working, or hanging out with friends on Zoom. I needed to get my butt out of that comfy chair and get moving.
It worked! I love this treadmill like one of my children, and I think you should buy one. Here’s why, and a few tips I have for setting up your own treadmill desk. Feel free to march in place while you read.
The benefits of a treadmill desk
So, why have a treadmill at my desk? I have a few reasons.
There are more benefits, I’m sure, but wow do these ones stand out to me. It’s been life-changing.
When should you walk?
I don’t walk all day — I’m picky about it. Some tasks are better with walking, some aren’t. Here’s what works for me.
This is going to vary for you, obviously, but the important thing is not to do it all day — you’ll get tired (and tired of it). I like to use it for less focus-necessary tasks: when it’s time to focus on coding for a while, I go back to my comfy chair. This might be different for you — maybe the treadmill will get you into focus mode, for example. You’ll have to define your own lines.
Tips for your new treadmill desk
When your treadmill arrives, and you start using it, there will be an adjustment period — there sure was for me. Here are some things I learned.
It goes like… ??♀️pic.twitter.com/QOOmzmvrbH
— Stacie Taylor ⚡️ (@the_real_stacie)February 6, 2021
I honestly love my treadmill desk — it makes every workday better. I hope you get one and also love it.
This article by Stacie Taylor was originally published on theZapier blogand is republished here with permission. You can read the original articlehere.
Story byStacie Taylor
Stacie is a frontend engineer at Zapier and co-founder of The Collab Lab. She loves building pretty things for the web, mentoring early-care(show all)Stacie is a frontend engineer at Zapier and co-founder of The Collab Lab. She loves building pretty things for the web, mentoring early-career engineers, and coffee shops.
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