My 'work' is done from my laptop. It's been that way for my entire adult life (currently 31), with the exception of a few years doing work in the field when I first started a home service business. Even then I would work laaaate night from my laptop.
And that laptop was commonly placed on a common desk or my lap. Either way it was horrible posture for hours on end hunched over the lap top.
By the age of 25, I had started developing major pain in my elbows. Some days it hurt to even even bend my elbow enough to bring food to my mouth. That's when I went to a doctor. The diagnosis was cubical tunnel syndrome, likely from all the poor posture computer use.
Surgery was an option, but I'm not a big fan of surgery, rather I prefer to actually address the source and I set out create a more ergonomical workspace.
These days, as more people work from home, more people will run into issues like mine... maybe that's you if you found your way here.
/\ well that's a video I made after writing. Watch it or read on below!
Here's the Ergonomic work space I created with the Autonomous Desk.
The Autonomous Desk
The desk is fundamentally very simple. There are two legs that attach to a the top piece. The legs are made of steel and relatively heavily. One of the legs has a motor on it. The top section is some type of particle board wood with a nice finish.
On the underside of the desk is the control switch with 6 heights you set to. I only use 2... one for sitting and the other for standing.
I've seen someone online complaining about the desk not being stable after 37". Practically speaking -- I say bullshit. It does have a little movement to it if you try to get a little sway out of it but under normal use it is not a problem.
How often do I move the desk up and down?
I change the height of this thing quite a bit. Probably about once an hour. So during the course of a work day it is going up and own 7 - 10 times. Now 4+ years into it, the motor and controls seem fine.
How do I hide the wires on my Autonomous Desk?
Ah let me show you!
The first step in hiding all the wires was to mount a power strip on the underside of the desk. It was easily done with 2 simple screws. From there the cables were all wrapped or folded up then tighten with zips. Finally I used command clips to a fix everything to the underside of the desk.
There's a 100 miles of wires under the desk, but it is hidden.
My add-ons to the desk.
No matter which height the desk is at, without some add-ons, you'll still have an ergonomic problem when using a lap top on a standing desk as the keyboard and monitor will never be at the right height. So to fix it, you still need some add-ons. Namely, adjustable monitor arms and monitors.
Adjustable monitor arms can be picked up on Amazon for about $60. Monitors will probably run about $130 each. Then there are the HDMI cables to link everything ups... so budget for about $400 to get my set up as pictured.
How has the desk helped me?
In short it has improved my ergonomics radically.
The elbow pain I described early in the article; fixed.
It also keeps my posture up right preventing that hunched over look so many people are running around with.
If you work at your desk, get a standing one. Regardless of whether or not it is the autonomous desk or not, it'll be a vital improvement.