--- title: Want a Standing Desk? Show This Study to Your Boss description: Desks that can be adjusted for sitting or standing may help workers stand more, improving health and job performance, a new study says. canonical: https://time.com/5420362/standing-desk-health-benefits/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-10T22:30:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:02:30.046Z article:section: Health og:title: Want a Standing Desk? Show This Study to Your Boss og:description: They may help you be better at your job og:url: https://time.com/5420362/standing-desk-health-benefits/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95e0c87989252396/69893c4c8fd2ee6d8a35cd6f/gettyimages-841821570.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6016 og:image:height: 3384 og:image:alt: work desk og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Want a Standing Desk? Show This Study to Your Boss twitter:description: They may help you be better at your job twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95e0c87989252396/69893c4c8fd2ee6d8a35cd6f/gettyimages-841821570.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Want a Standing Desk? Show This Study to Your Boss > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=5a25446b-2b67-44e3-955c-e06d5311c68a&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: How To Build a Standing Desk for Less Than $25 [Watch (HLS stream): How To Build a Standing Desk for Less Than $25](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ziqg1JlE.m3u8) (3:10)  _Published 2014-11-17. Money's Jake Davidson shows how you can improve your health and save money at the same time. Instead of buying a $300 standing desk, you can make one from a $22 purchase at IKEA._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Oct 10, 2018 10:30 PM UTC  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Oct 10, 2018 10:30 PM UTC Standing desks became trendy because of their ability to [cut into your sitting time](http://time.com/4637898/sitting-aging-sedentary/), thereby [improving your health and wellness](http://time.com/5127723/weight-loss-standing-desk/) in the workplace. And a small [new study](http://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k3870) says the benefits don’t stop there: standing desks may actually improve your job performance, too. Office workers who used desks that could be adjusted for sitting or standing reported significant reductions in the amount of time they spent sitting, better health and improved work performance at the end of a year-long trial, compared to employees who sat at their desks as usual. The results were published Wednesday in _the BMJ._ The study involved 146 people who worked in office roles at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust in the U.K. Seventy-six participants were given sit-stand desks and completed training meant to encourage less sitting at work, including an educational seminar, individual coaching sessions and even a smart seat cushion, which reminded people to stand by vibrating. People in the other group didn’t get any coaching and worked at their desks as normal. Everyone’s sitting and standing time was measured by a device worn continuously on the thigh at the start of the study, and again at three, six and 12 months into the trial. At the start of the study, people sat for an average of 9.7 hours each day, including time at home. But over the course of the year, people in the intervention group began sitting much less than people in the control group: After three months, they spent 50 fewer minutes seated each day. That number grew over time. After six months, they sat for 64 fewer minutes than the control group, and after a year, they sat for 82 fewer minutes. Those reductions may translate to real health benefits, the researchers write, [since a recent research review](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29589226) linked sitting more than eight hours per day to a heightened risk of early death and cardiovascular disease. Type 2 diabetes risk also appears to increase the longer you sit each day. The researchers also measured mental health and job performance in the new study. By the end of the trial, they found that people using sit-stand desks were more engaged at work and better at their jobs than their chair-bound peers, with less job-related fatigue, less daily anxiety and higher overall quality of life. They also reported fewer lower back issues than the control group. The research suggests that sit-stand desks, which can be adjusted throughout the day, may be a better option than either static sitting or standing desks. While too much sedentary time is a bad thing, [some research](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00140139.2017.1420825?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=terg20) also suggests that [being on your feet all day](http://time.com/3903429/sitting-exercise/) can take a toll on everything from physical comfort to productivity. The results of the new study will need to be replicated in a larger group of people. But they provide a compelling argument for adjustable desks — at least when employees are motivated enough to use them. ## Transcript Standing desks are great but the problem is they're really expensive. This one cost about $ 300 and they can get as high as 1, 000 or even more. I'm gonna try to build one for $ 22. [ MUSIC ] All right, so we got here is a box from IKEA. And inside we have a shelf, a side table, and some brackets. What we're gonna do is, we're gonna build the side table. And then we're gonna bracket the shelf to the bottom of the side table. And we're gonna put the keyboard on the shelf, and the mouse on the shelf. And the actual computer will go on top of the table. And we're gonna put that all on the desk and turn this normal desk into a standing desk. [ MUSIC ] So as of all Ikea furniture, it's not super hard to assemble, but it does take some time. This is gonna be the desk part that's gonna hold the computer. And then, the tricky part is gonna be when we bracket the shelf onto this to hold the keyboard and the mouse. [ MUSIC ] So, the legs aren't super sturdy, and the table does seem to buck, at least initially when you. When you put the computer on here, but honestly an iMac's gonna be one of the heavier things you would ever put on this table. If you're using a normal monitor and you have a tower next to the computer, it's probably gonna be fine. [ MUSIC ] So now we're gonna try and **** these in. Put the shelf right on top of here. Seems good. I'm a little worried about the keyboard being too high, but it, based on the ergonomics diagram I think I got it right. Otherwise, I can always unscrew and re- screw, ad nauseam. That's the price you pay for paying $ 22. Industry standing desk. So one thing you get with a 300 dollar standing desk is the ability to sit down and stand up. So you can sit down and then when you wanna bring the desk up. It's really easy. Another thing you get is stability. This desk doesn't shake when you type. The desk. $ 22, a little bit of the shaking. I think some of that is gonna be ironed out by tightening the legs and kinda fussing with it. But if you wannabe sure that the monitor is gonna stay stable, your money is ultimately probably worth it. But overall, 22 bucks, can't beat the price. And I'm probably gonna end up spending three hours at most [ MUSIC ] Getting everything perfect, so, as usual it's either you can put some money or spend some time. [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5420362/standing-desk-health-benefits/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5420362/standing-desk-health-benefits/"},"headline":"Want a Standing Desk? 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