"Hmm, that is pretty cool", I thought. And in that moment apparently I had made up my mind that [...]]]> I was talking with my friend and blogger Ethan Waldman a couple of days ago and he mentioned that he uses a standing desk to help him stay focused and on task while working.

"Hmm, that is pretty cool", I thought. And in that moment apparently I had made up my mind that I was going to do that, too! I have heard of and seen standing desks before and I have even done a little 'standing work' in days gone by, but I never really explored the possibility of making that a permanent work space solution….until now.

New Trend or Old School? You Decide.

Having spent the majority of my weekly working hours sitting down behind a desk for the past 6+ years I figured it was time to do something to introduce more physical activity into my typical workday. Why not? After all, if a standing workstation is good enough for the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Leonardo da Vinci, Vladimir Nabokov (who?) and Winston Churchill, then by golly, it is good enough for me.

In addition to all those dead people that used them, apparently there are quite a few living people, besides just Ethan, that have ditched the chair and become down-right up-standing individuals. Alex Payne (former Twitter developer), Marco Arment (Instapaper), Dan Benjamin (podcaster), Philip Roth (novelist), Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker editor) and notably Donald Rumsfeld (former U.S. Secretary of Defense).

I expect there are thousands of other such seemingly smart people that use a standing desk so if you know of others worth mentioning (including yourself) then please post a comment and further enlighten us.

Why?

This is always a good one-word question to ask ourselves before undertaking any endeavor that will require a chunk of our precious time. My 'why' for this project was due to my desire to:

1- change things up after all these years and see how well I like it
2- be more focused and less distracted
3- be more active and less lethargic 

10-Minutes of Research

I did some hyper-searching on the topic to determine an ideal height for the surface. I accepted about 1" below my floor-to-elbow height as acceptable. Since I am 5' 6" this worked out to be about 40.5". I then searched standing desks, only to alter my search 60-seconds later to how to build a standing desk.

That led me to several articles, including one on Lifehacker referencing Brandon Keepers' blog post about the standing desk he created for around $40. I really liked the simplistic and inexpensive approach Brandon and his friends have taken with their desks and I was sold. Within a couple of hours of starting the research I had purchased my materials and installed my new standing desk!

I think it only fitting that the very first blog post I wrote from my lovely new desk is the one you are reading now.

How To

Okay, we can finally get to the meat and potatoes (or tofu and curry for fellow veggie lovers) of how I made this bad boy desk in record time and what I consider to be near record cost. 

Step 1: Make a list of the tools and materials you will need

For my project I just needed to buy the desk surface, the brackets, mounting screws and washers. I already had a saw, sandpaper, drill, drill bits, stud-finder and a level

Step 2: Get the list together and find inexpensive materials

I called local furniture outlets, but they didn't have any desk surfaces, at least not ones within my budget. I looked at desks for sale on Craigslist and KSL.com, another local listing site. I considered getting a cheap one and removing the base to get the surface I needed. I didn't see any that looked to be quality enough so I decided to go out for a drive and check-out my local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store location in search of a winner.

These stores accept donations of unwanted building materials, furniture, fixtures and supplies from various remodel and construction projects. The end result is a large (multi-thousand square foot) warehouse with the items available for purchase at thrifty prices. They use the funds for their charity house-building projects as I understand it.

In their door section I found my surface: a 7' x 20" x 1.5" heavy-duty solid piece of wood that was in great condition. It was much heavier than I would have preferred, but I knew it would last my entire lifetime if I wanted to keep it that long.

I bought it for $5, dropped the rear seat of my VW and slid it in through the trunk.

I stopped by The Home Depot and purchased three support brackets, 2 1/2" wood screws for wall mounting, 1" wood screws for 'bracket to desk surface' mounting and some small washers to ensure that the smaller screws would not slip through the openings in the metal brackets when secured.

I spent $29.76 at The Home Depot, but will return one of the brackets as I only ended up using two in my installation.

After the return, my effective material costs for this project were $27.98.

Step 3: Measure Twice, Cut Once (prepare everything)

This step consists of selecting a location for the desk, trimming the desktop with a saw (if needed), finding the studs in the wall and measuring and marking where the initial brackets will be mounted.

By taking the necessary time on this step you will ensure that the project is a success.

I cut my surface down to 6' with a plan to span it across a window in my basement.

Step 4: Install and Inspect

I initially put one screw in the top hole of each bracket and placed the desk surface on top of them. I then used my 4' level to make sure that the surface was flat.

I should mention again here that my target surface height was 40.5". In order to accomplish that, I measured the thickness of the surface and subtracted that from my goal height and came to 38 3/4". That would be where the bracket surface would need to be. I then measured the distance from the bracket surface to the top bracket screw hole and subtracted that from the most recently calculated height to arrive at 37 1/8" for the placement height of my top bracket screws. Your measurements will be based on your height and preferences, of course.

Once I was satisfied that I had in fact secured my top screws into wood studs, and not drywall alone, I temporarily removed my surface and secured the other four screws into the wall through the bracket holes, for a total of six screws securing the brackets to the studs. I returned the desk surface to its proper position and marked the bottom of it through the six remaining bracket holes.

I drilled pilot holes using a drill bit about half the diameter of the screw I would be using. This not only ensured a more easy entry of the screw into the wood, but reduced the possibility of the screw splitting the wood. I had also drilled pilot holes in the studs prior to securing the wall-mounted screws.

I mounted the surface to the two brackets, cleaned up my mess and the job was done!

Will the Real M&M Please Stand Up

I expect my back and feet to get a little bit sore in the coming days as I adjust to the different demands on my body, but I am confident that it will soon be a very comfortable and energizing experience to work while standing and to be more actively engaged, not only in the work that I am doing, but in my surroundings as well. This setup should promote a better state of flow for ideas, creativity, business development and personal productivity.

I will plan to post an update later about how the standing desk is working out for me. I look forward to reading comments from others that have made this switch as well as any tips from the veterans that could help newbies like me learn how to more fully maximize effectiveness and productivity with this type of setup.

:::

Update: April 14, 2012

I now have my little office area setup with my MacBook Pro in clamshell mode, external monitor on a plastic bin, my printer and lamp on the right side of the desk, shelves along the far right wall for my papers and magazines, my awesome bamboo plant, a white board for daily goals and tasking, a carpet to make it a little more comfy on my bare feet and an ocean picture to the left of the desk. I am really liking this new setup so far. I'd like to buy a monitor mount to free up the space below the monitor and so that I don't have to worry about it falling off the desk. I'm researching options on those now.

The lighting was not very good so I had to enhance the photos and they are a little grainy.

:::

Update: April 18, 2012

I bought a monitor mount on eBay for about $35 and I love it! It really helps to free up more space on the desk so I can push my keyboard out of the way if I need to do any reading or writing or whatever.