I stand for no less than 120 minutes a day. How do I know this so precisely? An app on my computer tells me so.

I recently got a standing desk at work to alleviate almost-constant sitting at my desk. (“Standing desk” is almost a misnomer; it’s more like a sitting/standing desk. I’ll tell you why shortly.)
A slew of studies have shown sitting for an extended period of time (hours) is bad for your health. Whether you’re sitting at your desk at work or in front of TV or tablet, all that sitting puts undue stress and strain on joints and the inactivity turns your organs and abdominal muscles into a sloppy mess. They call sitting all day the new smoking.

That app on my laptop nudges me every 45 minutes, telling me I need to stand for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes of standing, it reminds me to sit down. The standing desk that sits atop my regular desk can be adjusted up and down in seconds.

As a parts professional, you might benefit from such an arrangement. Every time I visit a parts store or warehouse, I see the same thing: A counterpro who normally stands all day on concrete is taking a breather in a chair because his or her back is killing them. Or I see a counterpro whose joints are so compressed from standing that they require surgery. Several surgeries, in fact. Show of hands: How many of you know colleagues who wear orthotic shoes? Yeah, I thought so.

If you work at a warehouse call center, you’re probably sitting 8 to 10 hours a day. You may have noticed your waistline expanding. Sitting for an extended period of time slows your metabolism, puts your body into a kind of sleep mode, just like a computer. The solution to all that is to alter how you’re working.

But standing all day isn’t any better than sitting all day. So that’s why standing desks move up and down. A standing desk can be bought for a few hundred dollars, which in my book, is a pittance compared to a lifetime of joint agony, orthotic shoes and spinal surgery.