I’ve been having a few health problems.

Namely, poor circulation in my legs and unhealthily high blood pressure. I’ve got to lose weight, exercise, and take pills to reduce my blood pressure (similar pills to those Tubby — the cat — takes for his high blood pressure). However, apart from surgical stockings, there’s not a lot I can do for the circulation issues in my lower legs and feet. It seems all those years of sitting down driving a desk have taken their toll on my veins — well the valves in my veins. Sitting is not good. What may help is moving regularly to help the blood circulate in my lower legs. Hindsight being what it is, I realize I should have done something about this years ago, but it was only when I started to suffer from swollen feet and nerve damage (loss of feeling in my feet) that it became apparent there was something nasty going on.

To tackle the problem I’ve bought myself a standing desk. Well, actually an adjustable desk that I can vary the height of from 24″ to 50″ at the touch of a button. I’m also going to invest in a Fitbit to remind me to move around every hour.

• Autonomous Standing Desk.

Autonomous Standing Desk – Unwrapping & Assembly

The desk came very well packaged. Compact, but very heavy. The system is very well designed and engineered. I was impressed that they included extra screws and cable tidies. The instructions were very clear and easy to follow.

Autonomous Standing Desk – Test Drive

The lowest setting I normally use is in line with the top of the filing cabinet (which now has its finished wooden top).

Still to buy and fit:

1. Monitor stand.
2. Cable management.
3. Monitor mounted lighting.

To save on costs I’ve reused my old desktop. I plan to replace that at some point with a purpose built top complete with drawers.   

• Autonomous Standing Desk.

Update: January 2021

It’s still working fine. As I wrote in my first update, I don’t change the height very often, maybe once or twice a year! But I do stand at my desk all day. The biggest problem I have is remembering to step away and get some steps in.

• Do I still recommend it? Yes.
• Would I buy another? Probably. I change the height so infrequently, maybe just a high desk might be a better investment, though being able to tweak the height may well be something that I appreciate over time.
• Do I regret buying it? Not at all.

One day maybe I’ll get round to fitting a nicer desktop with some drawers. One day.

Update: November 2017

The desk is working really well, and I walk 2-3 miles a day despite not leaving the house. I don’t sit at all during the day, and the main reason I change the height of the desk now is to lower it when I’m taking a picture of something on it. I’ve upgraded my monitor stand so that the monitor can go even higher — the original height was giving me some posture problems. Losing weight has not been as successful. I’m only half-way to my target weight of 157lbs, having lost only 11lbs. My plan to lose weight purely by dieting doesn’t seem to be working, so I guess I’ll have to start exercising more.