When I transitioned to my current position and work at home a couple years ago, Varidesk and similar were out of my price range - company provides equipment and connectivity, but not furniture. As I’m not terribly tall, I found a relatively inexpensive drafting table on Amazon that can be adjusted to a flat surface, and adjusts height enough to be an appropriate mouse/keyboard height for me while standing. Coupled that with a tall “wobble stool” and a footstool I already had, and made a reasonable solution to moving between standing/sitting/leaning throughout the day - I never have to stop and adjust the desk, I just move myself. Added two of those wood over-the-sink shelves from a dollar-type store to hold the monitors and laptop at proper height. The combo works for me, and has been especially good since I bruised my tailbone last month (I advise never doing that).
Also got a trackball about a year ago, and it helped a lot. I went from having to wear a wrist brace just to get through the day to being mostly okay. I do find the trackball a little frustrating when doing detail work like complex charting and setting up dashboards, but I think learning/using more keyboard shortcut may help.
I use keyboard shortcuts as much as possible - the majority of my day is spent in spreadsheets, so in particular end+arrow, ctrl+home, shift+end+arrow, and alt+tab are lifesavers.
2 years ago our office equipped everyone with Varidesks like the one in the link above. Some like it, some don’t. I WANT to love it but the work I would do standing up requires documents in front of me and there’s simply not enough “table” top space. It’s a bummer really. So yep, I move around a lot during the workday and immediately after I change into sneakers and walk 3 1/2 miles. It makes a difference for my back, my hips and my neck.
I have a Versa Desk which is an adjustable stand up desk. I love it. What’s funny is that after using it, my sciatic nerve began giving me trouble. I now have a standing pad and stretch, take walks every hour. I also have one of those rubber ball chairs and wrist pads and no improvement yet. Basically, I am going to be hanging from the ceiling soon if it doesn’t improve @-)
Make sure elbows are not bent more than 90 degrees by lowering keyboard. Wrists need to be neutral (straight) not bent down or back. That is what the wrist brace can help accomplish. Take frequent breaks taking all joints through their full range of motion including rotating firearms, palms toward the ceiling.
Quick update! Wrist brace helping, if a bit annoying. Moving mouse to left hand helping, giving right side a break.
Trying to get used to using more keyboard shortcuts.
Waiting for new desk to arrive (adjustable height). Until then, I used milk crates, scrap lumber, and other objects from around the house & rigged a standing desk using the ergonomic measurements for my height.
I’m moving around a lot more with the standing. Sometimes, I’ll grab the laptop and move to the kitchen or living room. I’m taking breaks instead of plowing through non-stop. Trying to get the repetition out of the repetitive stress injury!
Shoulder is still sore but less vocal.
Seeing the PCP Monday.
Thanks again everyone for breaking my paralysis re: what to do.
Your comments and suggestions are much appreciated.
I have found yoga to be very helpful for my sitting-too-much back pain issues. Also, over the years various yoga teachers have offered some great suggestions for techniques that can be done in chair or while standing in addition to regular yoga practice — so there basically are some fairly simple stretches you can do during your work day which will help eliminate the pain. There are some good yoga techniques to address the wrist pain as well-- again, stretches that you can do any time.