The concept of “knowledge work” or “creative work” — any work involving turning thoughts and ideas into value — generally brings to mind an image of a person sitting at a desk or a table, likely in an office.
When the pandemic forced a shift to “work from home” for those people who had the privilege of working “desk” jobs or other “knowledge work” jobs, many “knowledge workers” set up some version of a “home office” that attempted to replicate their office set-ups.
It’s common to think that any type of “desk” work happens at a desk in an office, in whatever variations we might have for “desk” and “office.”
The desk might be a standing desk or lap desk. It might be table in your kitchen, in a conference room, in a local coffee shop, or the local library. The office might be a private office with a door, or a cubicle in an open-floor plan office.
Most people consider this the “normal” set-up for doing work.
Similarly, we have an expectation that kids should sit still in a classroom to learn.
Anyone who doesn’t fit this paradigm of “sitting still” or “butt in chair” to work or learn is branded as “not normal” or having a disorder, like ADHD.
I am one of those people.
What Work Looks Like for Me
The way I work is not always conventional. It doesn’t always look like I’m doing work.
I need to move around. A lot.
When I get stuck while working on a project, I want to move vigorously in my body to move the stuck energy through me. That might mean shaking or dancing or jumping on a bike or rower for a few minutes.
When I feel a dip in my confidence or I’m struggling to learn or implement something, I want to boost my confidence by doing something difficult, like lifting a heavy weight.
When I do sit, I often prefer to sit on the floor, or on a low stool close to the ground.
I need space to move freely.
What’s “Reasonable”?
It may not surprise you that I often do my best work in the gym. The gym gives me space and proximity to the things I need to re-energize when my energy wanes.
People tell me it’s not “normal” to sit on the floor or move around while I work. They tell me I spend an “unreasonable” amount of time in the gym.
I’m tired of it.
Nobody gets told they spend an “unreasonable” amount of time in the office. Some days, the gym functions as my office.
I’m tired of being judged. I’m tired of cringing every time I hear someone tell a child (or me) to stop fidgeting, to look them in the eye, to stop moving around.
I’m tired of hearing that I’m the one who is “not normal” because I need to move around a lot as I work.
I’m tired of being told to put my “butt in chair.”
The Desk Paradigm is New… and Outdated
It’s worth noting that tables and desks are relatively recent inventions. For thousands of years of human history before the invention of desks and chairs, human beings sat on the floor.
In some places in the world, they still do.
It’s only our Western culture of “knowledge work” that places such a high value on sitting at a desk.
When we’re not working, most of our time is spent eating, driving (or riding), and sleeping.
All of this is sedentary.
The Paradigm of Desk Work is Killing Us
In this paradigm, exercise and movement is something we aim to “fit in” as a break from our work and other sedentary activities.
And then we wonder why, with all the medical advancements in the past century, health is getting worse. We may have eradicated some of the bigger diseases of the last century, but we have more cancer, more heart disease, more stress-related diseases and illnesses.
By some accounts, 80% of visits to emergency rooms are stress-related. Most diseases people have today are said to be caused by stress. But that is reductionist and an over-simplification.
Not all stress is bad for you.
Putting the body under stress, with proper recovery, is essential to build strength.
The stress that kills us and causes diseases is stress we have allowed to take root in the body. It’s chronic and embedded.
Because we don’t move enough to move through it and move it out.
We have it backwards.
The human body was designed to move.
We move through life.
We don’t sit or ride through life.
Movement is the first principle.
In this paradigm, moving your body shouldn’t be the thing you do as the break working or other sedentary activities.
Stillness should be the thing you do as a break from movement.
I have noticed that days on which I move more — whether it’s formal exercise or just walking around — feel better. I am happiest on days when I can get in 2–3 different types of workouts.
I have also noticed I am more effective in my work when I work in a short burst of 30–45 minutes that is preceded by and followed by movement.
When I sit still for too long I notice I end up
- feeling stuck
- having lower frustration tolerance
- getting angry more easily
- devolving into negative thought spirals more easily
When I have space to move freely and work in positions that feel nourishing to me — whether that means sitting on the floor, laying on a foam roller, sitting on yoga blocks or a medicine ball at a low table, or walking around while on calls — I feel better in my body, I feel more confident in my work, and more aligned with my mission and purpose.
Diversity and Inclusion Includes Working Styles
For thousands of years our ancestors sat on the floor, and yet I’m the one who “isn’t normal,” because I like to work on the floor or get up and move around vigorously in the middle of a work session?
Nope.
I’m so done with the judgments about how much I exercise and my working styles and sitting on the floor.
Just because many people work in the new “standard” way doesn’t mean that way works for everyone.
What’s “not normal” is sitting for hours at a time.
If we are going to build true diversity in our culture, employers and schools must find ways to accommodate all styles of working and learning.
“Butt in chair” simply doesn’t work for everyone.
Too much of it isn’t healthy for anyone.
The human body is designed to move.
Let’s normalize giving people the space they need to do their best work.
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