Build The Best Standing Desk For Your Office.

When I first started working in retail many years ago, our job demanded we stand eight hours a day — Bloomingdales, Koenig's, Caldors, The Video Station, Waldenbooks — they all had us standing and walking around the store. And I never complained. Then I got into the 'big time' and for the the next 15-20 years, worked in corporate at a desk. When I started coaching, I built a huge desk out of birch plywood — it was beautiful — but I still sat for most of the day.

Lately, I've been reading about the healthy aspects of standing desks and learned about all the attributes of standing: better posture, more active, easy to reach items, etc. In addition, I tend to walk around while I coach because I feel it adds to the experience and allows me to think and communicate more clearly.

Unfortunately, standing desks are EXPENSIVE! They run into the thousands. I then ran into the Ikea Hackers site, where they take ordinary Ikea furniture and modify it into different designs. So I modified a few designs and came up with the standing desk you see at the top of the page. How did I do it? Here are the 'ingredients':

What were the results? 

1. It was a LOT cheaper to build than to buy. In addition, it's all wood and steel. It looks great.
2. It was super-simple to construct. Just a drill, my 13-year-old son, and about 2 hours.
3. I now have more room on my desk. I'm more organized and I keep the desktop clean.
4. I feel better. Standing all day at first hurt a bit, but now I would NEVER go back.
5. I no longer have to switch from standing-to sitting-to standing when coaching clients.

As you can tell from the finished desk image, I've also added a few drawers ($20 each) to the Kallax Bookshelf. I might even add more!

If you are interested in building a standing desk, drop me a line (richgee@richgee.com) or call - 203-500-2421. Would love to answer any questions you might have.

I have become a standing desk evangelist!

All images are from IKEA promoting their products. I love IKEA, their store, their service and all that they do. Check them out.

3 Tips To Take Better Notes [Infographic]

Do you want to take better notes and be able to remember the important tasks you usually forget?

This graphic can help point you in the right direction. Just try one tip and you'll see better notes, better recognition, and better performance. You will remember the things you usually forget.

NOTE: Here's the template I use (listed under Format).

**to save, right click on the image and choose “save image as”**

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