Group rationality diary, 11/28/12

cata

This is the public group instrumental rationality diary for the week of November 27th. It's a place to record and chat about it if you have done, or are actively doing, things like:

Established a useful new habit
Obtained new evidence that made you change your mind about some belief
Decided to behave in a different way in some set of situations
Optimized some part of a common routine or cached behavior
Consciously changed your emotions or affect with respect to something
Consciously pursued new valuable information about something that could make a big difference in your life
Learned something new about your beliefs, behavior, or life that surprised you
Tried doing any of the above and failed

Or anything else interesting which you want to share, so that other people can think about it, and perhaps be inspired to take action themselves. Try to include enough details so that everyone can use each other's experiences to learn about what tends to work out, and what doesn't tend to work out.

Thanks to everyone who contributes!

Previous diary; archive of prior diaries.

(Sorry for being a day late on this one, life is really full of things lately!)

This is the public group instrumental rationality diary for the week of November 27th. It's a place to record and chat about it if you have done, or are actively doing, things like:

Established a useful new habit
Obtained new evidence that made you change your mind about some belief
Decided to behave in a different way in some set of situations
Optimized some part of a common routine or cached behavior
Consciously changed your emotions or affect with respect to something
Consciously pursued new valuable information about something that could make a big difference in your life
Learned something new about your beliefs, behavior, or life that surprised you
Tried doing any of the above and failed

Thanks to everyone who contributes!

Previous diary; archive of prior diaries.

(Sorry for being a day late on this one, life is really full of things lately!)

For 9 days now I have set up my computer as a makeshift standing desk, using a pair of $10 Ikea coffee tables on top of my actual desk, and two $3 rubber mats and some cardboard to stand on. I have an appallingly sedentary lifestyle and often catch myself sitting at my desk with a terrible slumped posture, so I'm hoping to catch back problems before they occur, and also exert a bit more energy just day-to-day.

Each day my feet take a little longer to begin hurting, but they still hurt a lot by bed time. I have to take a few breaks to the couch to watch TV through the day to get by. I am planning to set up something more serious so I can put a stool at the desk and sit down from time to time without disrupting my usual activities (at the moment I don't own a stool, and there's nowhere for my legs to fit under the desk in any case).

Currently the only things preventing me from taking the desk down right now and just waiting until I have sorted a better solution are 1) my feet don't start to hurt until the end of the day, when I usually can't be bothered rearranging everything, and 2) I'm worried that without the driving force of aching feet every day I won't feel compelled to go through with arranging a better solution.

I posted in the Nov 1-15 open thread about my initial experiences with a standing desk (initially improvised, then I bought a proper one) to replace my old crappy desk. I try to alternate between standing and sitting when I get tired, and I plan to get a stool for the same reasons you stated. Even at work where I sit all day, I get up and walk semi-regularly (I'd estimate every 60-90 minutes) if only to refill my water or use the bathroom.

0Risto_Saarelma14y

I moved apartments last month and didn't bring over a proper desk. I alternate between an armchair with a laptop on an Ikea Dave table and standing next to cheap standing shelf with the monitor on one shelf and the keyboard on another. I've been mostly sitting in the armchair since I tend to use my home setup when I'm tired after work. I sometimes work in the armchair and then stand up to watch TV, since TV watching doesn't take up mental energy like working does, and extra mental energy is useful for sticking with the standing pose.

8Manfred14y

If it's specifically your muscles getting sore (rather than e.g. plantar fasciitis or bad circulation), you could take some creatine, which slows down you getting sore fairly dramatically.