
Things I've quit doing at my desk - mijustin
http://justinjackson.ca/i-quit-my-desk/
======
jaysonelliot
I would add "Eating" to the list.

I eat at my desk all the time, and I really need to stop. When I eat at my
desk, I'm generally eating things that aren't that healthy to begin with,
snacking unnecessarily, and/or eating too quickly, and doing it in some
misguided notion that I'm able to work and eat at the same time. I'm not
_actually_ productive at times like that, it just lets me deal with some
illogical guilt I feel when I get up to go eat at a table with other people,
or out by myself in the park near the office.

When I get up and go to lunch instead of eating at my desk, I'm taking a real
break, I'm socializing, or taking time to think.

I gotta stop eating at my desk.

~~~
politician
Often when I think I'm hungry, I'm actually thirsty. A glass of warmed water
(surprisingly) quashes the need to snack. Cold water is no good. Does anyone
know why that is?

~~~
dimitar
Not sure why is that, but I think it temporarily fills your stomach and makes
it 'relax'. In my experience the same meal if hot makes me feel much more
full.

I've heard that fast food joints intentionally try to serve the coldest
possible drinks to make patrons feel they are hungry for another burger.

~~~
Evbn
The fraction of visits that involve seconds is vanishingly small.

------
bajsejohannes
> Nobody does their best thinking sitting at their desk. When you reflect on
> your biggest “Ah-Ha!” moments, how many of them occurred while you were
> staring at a screen?

My biggest ah-ha moments are seldom staring at a screen*, but quite often it's
at my desk with a paper and pen.

(The big exception is when doing profiling; the highest ah-ha-per-second ratio
of all activities)

~~~
weej
Agreed - that or a white board.

A lot of times it helps to get out of the office if you hit a rut/wall.

Just getting in a new environment and re-approaching the problem with a fresh
perspective makes all the difference.

I like to take long walks with my dogs and try to let my mind wander. Usually,
I'll end up thinking about work or a personal issue that requires a solution
to be addressed.

~~~
iNate2000
+1 to white-boards

------
jakejake
I knew before I clicked that there was going to be something about a standing
desk. I feel a subtle smugness coming from the standing desk crew that irks me
a little.

But, as far as procrastinating I have definitely been slipping lately and need
to lay off facebook, reddit, and (gulp) HN as well. Wait... what am I still
doing here..!

~~~
mijustin
Ha ha. I only mention it because it's really worked for me. There are other
strategies that could work well: one is to sit for only 30 minutes at a time,
and then get up and go for a quick walk. The challenge for developers is that
they often need 2 hours of uninterrupted time to focus.

~~~
Evbn
I tried a standing desk, and got horrible blood flow pains on my arms when
typing.

------
eckyptang
I quit _working_ at my desk.

It's uncomfortable (despite considerable investment), takes a lot of space,
has terrible lighting, is too hot or too cold and is eerily quiet. It's quite
depressing really.

I tend to sit in the garden when it's not raining - good lighting, relaxing
ambient noise and great air (which is really important). Plus you can get up
and walk around regularly and focus on stuff that isn't right in front of you.

The only downside is bird crap and my neighbours think I'm insane.

~~~
mijustin
This is great! I think we need to keep exploring new models for how people get
their best work done. This guy built a desk in a tree:
[http://variationsonnormal.com/2011/09/15/tree-branch-work-
de...](http://variationsonnormal.com/2011/09/15/tree-branch-work-desk/)

~~~
eckyptang
That's fantastic - thanks for posting this.

I used to camp in my local woodland as teenager, sometimes 80+ days a year.
Perhaps I should go and work there as well (seeing as there's a massive great
big 3G mast in the middle of my local woods now).

------
_delirium
#1 (thinking elsewhere, especially while taking a walk) is definitely true for
me, but it does require being in a setting where you're allowed to leave the
office for a few hours in the middle of the day to go for a walk in a nearby
park. In academia or at your own startup, probably not a problem, but many
companies aren't very accommodating of people leaving the office for hours at
a time.

~~~
mhw
I find that too - much of my best thinking in the past has come to me during
the walk to the office or back home again. I once took to carrying a dictation
machine so I could capture these thoughts because I used to find that the
process of arriving at the office, making a coffee, booting up and logging on
used to distract me and I'd forget what I'd thought of while walking.

My theory about thinking and walking is that it gets the blood flowing round
the brain more than just sitting at a desk does. I think that was the thinking
behind having table tennis tables in offices as well, to get the blood moving
around. There's also something about the action of walking that seems to let
the mind wander off as well though...

~~~
TillE
I suspect it's a mental context switch more than anything physiological.

For example, I'm pretty bad at creative tasks when at a keyboard (this was
also true in pre-internet times, so it's not a matter of distractions), but
sit me down with a pencil and paper and the juices start to flow. It just
creates a different state of mind.

~~~
icebraining
For me, often just looking out of the window (we have a nice view on our
office) helps a lot.

------
praptak
Ad procrastinating: I remember someone (Paul Graham?) reporting that he
configured a separate machine for procrastination-inducing activities so as to
avoid the "just quickly check my feed while this is compiling" syndrome.

~~~
philwelch
It was Paul Graham. He later noted that it didn't really work.

~~~
tocomment
Where did he say it didnt work? It seems like a great idea.

~~~
vikas5678
The "Note" on top. PG says: "The strategy described at the end of this essay
didn't work. It would work for a while, and then I'd gradually find myself
using the Internet on my work computer. I'm trying other strategies now, but I
think this time I'll wait till I'm sure they work before writing about them."

~~~
s_henry_paulson
I developed this method independently, and I've gotten it to work (more or
less).

The trick is that you need to make it more difficult to access your "time
wasting" sites on your work station.

I do this by adding entries into my hosts file and redirecting certain sites
to 0.0.0.0, this way I need to use another machine when I want to browse these
sites.

This helps maintain the separation, and keeps you from mindlessly entering in
your favorite urls in a browser while at your desk.

------
AYBABTME
We should declare our desks sacred, and define a set of rituals to perform at
those desks, to calm the Gods of Creativity and ask their forgiveness for all
those sins we committed in their temple - the Desks.

------
hkmurakami
The "writing hut" part reminded me how Wallace Stegner's house / writing hut
will be torn down in order to build a multi-million dollar monstrosity of a
mansion [1]. :(

[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Stegner>

edit: apparently the writing hut will be preserved, though inaccessible to the
public

[2][http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Stegner-s-studio-won-
t-b...](http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Stegner-s-studio-won-t-be-open-to-
public-3824687.php#photo-3379476)

------
Tooluka
And switch laptop for desktop computer. Reason is - you shouldn't do work at
social station, at rest station and at sleep station. You should only work at
work station.

~~~
philwelch
I think it's handy to have both, actually. Use the laptop for email and the
like, and reserve the desktop for real work.

------
rbellio
I like the ideas put forth in the article, thanks for the write-up. For me,
it's really sometimes just finding what works best for the situation I'm in.
I've found that sometimes the solitude of a library study desk can be the best
place to get work done. At other times, sitting in a busy area (a cafe, a
park, even public transit) can be invigorating and creates enough background
as to allow me to focus more. The recliner in my living room has seen more
than its fair share of use while sitting at my laptop typing away.

There are times when my mind races and I can't focus. I turn the lights off,
close the shades and the only light and thereby focus becomes the monitor.

I look at this article and others that offer advice on finding that working
place for yourself, or that motivation to ignore distractions and I see them
more as tools than as rules. A man with a well supplied toolbox is more likely
to find the one he needs when the time comes.

------
jseliger
_Sitting: for the past 18 months I’ve been using a standing desk. I’ve
realized that the best part isn’t that I’m standing all day; it’s that I’m not
sitting._

I actually got a GeekDesk a while ago, and I think it's a better solution: I
wouldn't want to sit _or_ stand all the time.

~~~
mijustin
Yup, I'm the same way. I use a barstool for sitting and leaning. I probably
stand 50%-75% of my day. I also try to get away from my desk more often.

------
electic
I would also add "drinking" to this list. It's never good to drink anything at
your desk.

~~~
karamazov
I disagree - I keep a 24 pack of bottle water by my desk, which helps me stay
hydrated. I also have a few cups of tea per day, which I find pleasant and not
distracting.

(Unless you mean alcohol, in which case I don't disagree, but it doesn't sound
like you do.)

------
ChuckMcM
I disagree about the socializing part, in part because so much of our
socializing is driven through the same mechanism we might otherwise do work
at. Perhaps Justin might have two desks, one that is the
communication/socializing desk and one that is the execution/work desk.

Of course a number of people would love to do that where the TV ends up the
display for your socializing function.

~~~
ville
I think it is good to clearly separate working and socializing activities.
Working in an open work space where anyone can socialize with you at any time
can be very distracting for work that requires you to focus. In my opinion
having a private office and separate watercooler/coffee/socializing space
would be ideal.

That said, having that separate desk to indicate that you're working on
something that is not so susceptible to distraction might be enough.

------
bkanber
I wrote an article very similar to this a few months ago. I make a similar
argument: we need defined workspaces, and when we're there we shouldn't do
anything but work.

[http://burakkanber.com/blog/staying-productive-while-
working...](http://burakkanber.com/blog/staying-productive-while-working-from-
home-or-why-we-need-workspaces/)

~~~
mijustin
Loved your post! I especially identify with "not actually working from your
home while you’re working from home." I too found that working from a coffee
shop on my remote working days was way better than being in the basement at my
house. The coffee shop was nice, because it still allowed me to work outside
of the office (without the distractions of the office).

------
darkxanthos
I've been experimenting with getting away from my desk at home more often and
taking breaks to play games and such. I use RescueTime to track what I end up
doing and how much I end up working and if anything my productivity has only
increased.

It's not a perfect measurement but it helps me to realize its not at all
expensive to unchain myself from my desk.

~~~
mijustin
Exactly. I think we need to experiment and see where we're actually
productive.

Too many times we "lie" to ourselves, and think that if we're at our desk,
we're working (and being productive).

------
RyanMcGreal
> Even better, I’ve felt more freedom to _just walk away_ when I’m faced with
> a problem and need to do some thinking

I don't have a standing desk, but this is possibly my biggest incentive to
consider getting one: if you're already standing, there's a lot less inertia
to keep you from _just walking away_ from your desk.

------
brador
Best thing I ever did was move away from the desk unless working. Get a tablet
for web browsing and keep your desk for work. I'd guess it's added 10 years
minimum to my expected lifespan.

------
skibrah
I couldn't agree more regarding using a standing desk. The ability to stretch
and move around makes working for long periods of time much more productive.

------
xiaoma
That desk seriously needs a nice 27" monitor before it can be a proper
"workstation".

~~~
mijustin
I had a large external monitor, but I haven't set it up in my new office yet.
I'm actually enjoying the limitation of the smaller screen: ensures I'm only
working on 1 thing at a time.

------
poblano
Has anyone else switched to a standing desk setup? Do you like it?

~~~
cstejerean
Yep. I first switched to a standing desk at work, and later got one for home
as well (built from IKEA parts). I've found that I'm a lot more productive
with a standing desk, mostly because I procrastinate less.

Adjusting to working while standing is difficult. Adjustable desks that can go
up and down, especially at the push of a button, only make it harder to
actually get used to it. You'll get tired quickly from standing, switch to
sitting, and then forget to stand back up (because sitting is a habit, whereas
standing is not yet).

I've built a standing desk that does not adjust. When I get tired of standing
I'll grab my laptop and go to the couch for a bit, and then get back to
standing. This might not work for every setup, but it's great for me.

~~~
warp
My solution for when I get tired of standing is to sit on a bar stool. I have
an Ikea Sebastian bar stool which is the perfect height to sit at my standing
desk. It is uncomfortable enough that I switch back to standing after a while.

------
ybrs
imho; if he's talking about the desk in the picture, its positioned wrong, he
needs to stare a wall all the time he is behind the desk.

------
thechut
You don't use a mouse?

~~~
mijustin
Are you referring to the photo on my post? The photo is a little bit of a lie:
I'd just moved into this office, and my desk is not normally that minimalist.
;)

I do use a mouse. And normally my laptop is elevated on a box, with a keyboard
in front. I also have a external monitor that's normally beside it.

~~~
thechut
Yes, I was referring to the photo. Glad to hear I'm not crazy for still using
a regular old keyboard and mouse.

------
nodata
I call BS. Nobody has a desk that looks like that.

~~~
mijustin
You're right; the photo in the post is a bit of a lie. I had just moved in,
and I snapped a photo while everything was nice and clean.

Here's what it looks like now: <http://bit.ly/S8o7Ju>

