A common cited problem of health is too much sitting. We are designed to move, and respond well to variable postures and opportunities to move. A Dutch architectural group (Rietveld 2016) postulated that people sit in schools, offices, cars, waiting rooms, theatres etc, because they are designed with sitting in mind. They set about designing spaces that would encourage healthier behaviours; promote more standing, variable postures, but also not be too comfortable, so that a person would probably choose to shift from one posture (e.g. standing), to another (say lying) after a short period of time.
Basically, they reimagined an office space without chairs or desks. They developed an art installation that contained lots of different spaces that could be stood in, lay on or sat in whilst reading or working.. After much evolution of the idea (playing with how to make surfaces and spaces useful for purpose -e.g. support of a laptop, book or coffee cup), this manefested as ‘The end of sitting’ art installation which you see in the photo below.
Interestingly, another group of researchers (Withagen and Caljouw 2016) conducted a study on productivity within this ‘end of sitting’ space compared to a standard office environment. The took two groups and gave them 40 minutes to create a presentation either in the variable space or a standard office space. In both locations people spent 60% of their time reading and 40% on computer work.
Predictably, people in the office environment sat close to 100% of the time and moved very little. Those in the variable environment 60% standing, 20% leaning 20% squatting or lying down. Not only did they work from postures that were not just sitting, they continuously changed their posture. 44% worked in two different postures, 17% three postures and 22% four postures (totalling 83% that worked from more than one posture during the time). Tall people tended to choose higher platforms and shorter people lower ones. Importantly, there was no difference in the ability of the study participants to concentrate in either space, or how satisfied they were with the presentations they completed in the time. However, those in the ‘end of sitting’ environment reported that it felt like this better supported their overall wellbeing than a traditional office space, and they felt more energised even though it made their legs feel more fatigued.
Obviously, the title is a little contrite given offices as they are… However, we do now commonly have access to standing desks, and a culture of encouraging movement and posture breaks within the work place. If you do have access to a standing desk, using it intermittently throughout the day can be a great way to reduce long stretches static sitting. Try to do ‘walking meetings’ or phone calls and perhaps see your office environment as a place to fidget, move and to change postures throughout the day.
References:
Rietveld, E. (2016). Situating the embodied mind in a landscape of standing affordances for living without chairs: Mterializing a philosophical world view. Sports Medicine, 46(7), 927-932.
Withagen, R., & van Wermeskerken, M. (2010). The role of afordances in the evolutionary process reconsidered: A niche perspective. Theory & Psychology, 20(4), 489-510.
