11 Tips for Choosing the Best Sit Desk
Introduction To My 11 Tips For Choosing The Best Sit Desk
Sitting behind the desk is the regular form of working in an office environment. Many people worldwide spend notable hours of their life sitting behind a desk and doing paper or computer work. People with the experience of working in an office environment are familiar with the pains and problems that resulted from spending hours behind a desk.
Office-related strains are prevalent. They can be an injured back from a poorly designed chair, stiff neck from crouching over a laptop, or an injured wrist because of constant clicking and typing. If people consider a researched guide while planning for their office equipment and supplies, such as getting the right desk, a suitable office chair, proper lighting, suitable colours and so on, they will not hurt when working. A suitable desk for your office helps you work much smoother, while an unsuitable desk can make you miserable.
When it is time to purchase a desk, you need to think about your work style, office or workspace, desk surface, etc. These are just some examples you need to consider when shopping. The right desk can help you accomplish work tasks in a comfortable, productive, and ergonomic manner.
In the following article, we discussed 11 crucial items to consider while shopping to provide you with the most comprehensive guide in choosing the best sit desk.
1) Ergonomics
Getting the right desk is not simply about a flat surface to support your computer. When selecting a desk trying not to overlook the importance of ergonomic and comfortable. Remember that you are going to be using it for several years.
Normally, desks are 30 inches in height, which is fine for ordinary people, but not everyone. To check if a desk fits, you try it in person, take a chair similar to yours, and sit behind the desk. See if you have enough room for your legs and check the desk’s height. To measure the desk’s height, bend your arms at 90-degree angles, and your hands should rest on the desk comfortably.
It would be best to be sure that your chair fits under the desk and you will not sit several feet away from your keyboard. Take your chair’s height and width into account to prevent any surprises.
Where to place your screen is the last one. Avoid buying too deep desks. It would help if you placed your monitor an arm’s length away; you will waste the space behind the monitor in a deep desk. Besides that, it will take more space in your office.
2) Desk Height
Desk level is crucial. You put your shoulder and arm muscles at risk of overworking by working on a too-high desk. Contracted shoulder muscles can cause pain in muscles and upper back problems, which destroy your posture. Working on a too-high desk forces you to extend your neck to see the monitor and puts strain on your neck. Continuous extension exposes pain and tension at the back of your head or the top of your spine.
On the other side, a too low desk will force other muscle groups to overwork. Shallow desks push the users to hunch up or slump on their workstations. This will hurt the shoulder, neck, upper back, and arm muscles.
3) Desk Shape
You can find various kinds of desks around, such as the corner desk, U-shaped desk, L-shaped desk, or a classic rectangular one. There are advantages and disadvantages in choosing every one of those desks. More than your work style and space, there are other considerations like adaptable in case you want to move to a different place or room. Here you can find some desk layout consideration:
- An armoire, for instance, is perfect for working in open spaces or a bedroom as you can close up the desk when you are done. However, these types of decks do not give you plenty of surface space.
- U-shaped desks provide you with different work zones and allow you to spread out while keeping everything in reach. However, they need lots of space.
- L-shaped desks have many of the advantages of U-shaped counterparts but occupying less space. However, based on the shape of your desk, you might have to stick to just one placement in your office.
- A corner desk will save space and adapt in different room layouts, although you will sit against a corner, usually with your back to the door.
- Straight desks are versatile for placement against a wall or in the center of your office room. They are also the most common desks. However, straight desks do not give you the most surface space.
Whatever desk shape you like to choose, be sure to measure the dimension of the available space and the desk's dimension. This way, you will be sure that your desk will fit your room properly and will not obstruct your free movement in your room.
4) Storage and Working Surface
Every desk is not necessarily functional. Some desks are very stylish but do not have adequate storage and organization. Some desks are on the opposite.
Think about what kind of desk you wish to have. How many drawers do you need for your supplies? How much surface space to accommodate your screen and other stuff. Do you use multiple screens? Are you much of a messy desk person or much of a neat person?
We suggest you select a desk with the flattest space available according to its size. Other features to take care of or look at are as follows:
- A pull-out surface. This changes a rectangular desk into an L-shaped desk just temporarily.
- Computer compartment. Some people have welcomed this feature because it can hide the desktop tower but keep in mind that the compartment can cause airflow problems.
- Channels or holes for cables and cords.
- Hutch. Built-in hutches provide you with plenty of storage, but as they are attached to the desk, you do not have more than one choice to place them, and you are stuck with the hutch.
- Drawer placement. Where you like to place them, on the right or left?
5) Desk Surface
Laminate: the most popular variety
Laminate is a plastic finish covered with a wood core, durable, affordable, and endures more than a veneer or pure wood. It is also available in a wide variety of patterns and colours. We recommend you search for a desk with a thick, high-pressure laminate that endures everyday use and misuse.
Metal or Steel: the most durable variety
Metal or steel desks have a fair price and are suitable for use in high traffic areas or long time heavy use. However, desks made of metal or steel are not the most professional ones in terms of appearance. To find the better quality of such desks it would be better to check and feel its overall weight.
Wood or Veneer: the most elegant variety
A veneer is a thin layer of wood that is attached by glue to a base with low quality. Wood and veneer desks are more eyes catching than other types of desks, in general, although they are very pricey and considerably more delicate; they scratch and incise more easily and are not appropriate for rough or heavy use.
6) Quality and Durability
- To check the quality of a desk, look into the quality of the drawers. Metal suspension rollers are the strongest ones. Drawers are supposed to open and close easily while carrying accessories and stuff, possibly in considerable weight. Ideally, you want the drawers to fully slide out and enable you to use the whole space easily.
- Wood drawers assembled by interlocking construction or dovetail have high quality as this assembling is stronger than applying just staples or glue. In steel or metal desks, try to attend to the closed drawers. If there is a gap where the drawer meets the desk, the desk is not assembled properly.
- Check the corners and edges of a desk. Be careful of any worn spot.
- The materials that desks are made with are also crucial. Desks are generally made from wood or metal. There are also laminate and veneer finish. Although laminate is very popular as it is durable and has a fair price, considers shopping for a thick, high-pressure laminate. Cheap laminate desks are not worth the money or trouble.
- Metal or steel desks are highly durable. Examine the overall quality of the desk and check its weight.
- Wood and veneer are attractive desks and are suitable for light tasks as these are scratching easily.
- You will get a perspective of a particular desk quality, durability, and life expectancy by the desk warranty. The time range of warranties normally starts from one year to a lifetime warranty.
7) Identify Just How You Want to Utilize Your Desk
Generally, computer work
Get a desk or design a workstation specifically for computer work. Using a desktop computer, make sure the desk gives you adequate space or a compartment to hold the CPU underneath. Look for a desk with built-in wiring holes or channels for electrical connections. This gives you a safe way to keep cords out of the way.
Generally Paperwork
Get a desk or design a workstation that will have ample surface space and enables you to accommodate your spreadsheets, piles of papers, or bulky books. For paperwork purposes, you also need shelving in your desk or overhead cabinet space.
A Mix of paperwork, computer work, and meetings
An L-shaped desk provides you with adequate space for both work and meetings. If you can afford the price and have enough space, a U-shaped desk can give you more space and create an elegant presentation for guests and clients.
For a homework desk
If you want to hide work clutter in your home, it is better to get a computer armoire. If your work desk requires sharing space in another room like a bedroom or living room, an L-shaped desk can be a good solution and fits well.
Tight on space
Select a mobile computer cart or compact computer desk.
8) The DIY Approach
Consider building your desk! The advantage of this way is that you can make it customized as well as save some money. To do it yourself well, you need to be at least a little handy. Either you can build it by yourself or design your desk and get someone else to build it.
9) Office Décor
If you do not plan to buy all new furniture for your office, make sure to get a desk that matches the rest of the furniture. Avoid mixing wood finishes because it looks pieced together rather than a polished professional style that you would prefer. Pick either classic or modern colours and styles that coordinate with other items in your office.
10) Budget
You can find various desks with very different prices, but keep in mind that there is a direct relationship between price and quality. Avoid purchasing the cheapest desk since it will not likely withstand the rigours of everyday use.
11) Desk Size
Consider buying a desk that can accommodate your computer while allowing you to place the other accessories that you may need multiple times a day and remaining enough space for work. Think of the space you need for work and the space you have in your office at the same time.
Get a large enough desk that gives you the surface space you need, but avoid choosing a huge desk that takes up too much space in your room. Massive desks occupy the room and there will not remain enough space for visitor chairs or other items and furniture.
Conclusion
By reading this article now, you get a helpful idea about choosing the best sit desk for your office. There are various crucial items that you should consider when buying or making a desk. Your desk plays an important role in your productivity and also your health, so make sure to use guides while deciding on the right desk.
>>>Please click here to read what Wikipedia says about sitting desks<<<
I trust you enjoyed this article on 11 ways for choosing the best sit desk. Please stay tuned for more articles to come. Take care!
JeannetteZ
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