The standing desk hung on a door with a window
(hence the reflective surface in the background!)
If you check this blog every now and again, you probably get the picture I’m often on the road working remotely. Over the past few years it’s been fairly continuous and one of the most annoying things I’ve found is the lack of a desk space wherever I am. Location independents might lead you to believe it’s all beaches and views, but most of the time I’ve been cramped up in my room working all hours in all forms of badly-postured positions.
It doesn’t stop while on the road. When in the office, cubicle land or not, I never seem to get the correct fit-out for my height and end up with a sore shoulder and neck, or numb legs if I sit on them to prop myself higher. This combined with viewing an infographic about how bad sitting is for you led me to believe a standing deck was the answer. But how? There’s a few Ikea-hacks available and I’ve seen them in action at my SF-coworking space at StartupHQ. However, these are only good if you know you’re going to be in the one place for a while and if you’ve got an existing desks to put them on!
So, imagine my delight when I heard about a really Kickstarter project (of course!) last week. Billed as the world’s first portable sit and stand desk, The Ninja Standing Desk, has been developed by a smart team based out of TechShop in SF. You can hang it from a door, wall, cubicle or even a car door (although it’s likely not recommended!) and it folds down into about the size of a 15″ MacBook Pro. I had a bit of an IRL demo yesterday at the space and was surprised at the sturdiness of it all. It easily holds a laptop, monitor, keyboard, mouse and a drink cup without moving. Long story short, I’m going to be trialling one over the next few weeks – especially in Bali at Startup Abroad in mid-August.
There’s two weeks left on the Kickstarter and it’s had almost 200 backers so far so head on over and check more out there –> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1886278358/ninja-standing-desk
Kate Kendall 
Here’s another pic of the desk I just set up –> http://instagram.com/p/NvcJYLyqxU/
Interesting idea, though not sure the door is the best place to put a computer. But for temporary standing work portability and price would be the key.
Thankfully I don’t need to be mobile, thus my solution is rather less mobile… http://www.perspicuousasmud.com/2012/04/04/standing-desk
Hey Mark – cheers for the comment. You can also hang it on any wall using dry wall hooks so it could be a longer-term solution. Otherwise closet doors work equally well. The best thing about it is that it’s incredibly adjustable with both shelves – so I’ve found it really comfortable for my height.