Some desks are born great, some desks achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. With my new variable height GeekDesk Max®, it’s all three.

Look – I’m not a lawyer, I run a legal software company. But are our knowledge-based work days so very different?

I work long days in an office. I manage projects that can be unpredictable. I deal with a good deal of stress, have to constantly respond to people and wade through mountains of information. I have to persuade, manage, negotiate, and listen to people. There’s no judges or opposing counsel, I will grant you that. Usually.

After hearing about the benefits of non-sitting desks, including standing desks and treadmill desks, I decided to investigate my options when we furnished our new office space. Standing when you work apparently is much better for you medically. It burns more calories and keeps your back in top shape. It keeps you stimulated and more creative.

So I looked at adjustable-height desks and honed in on the GeekDesk Max model because it has presets, which allow the desk to raise and lower to programmed, specified heights. At $985, I can’t argue that it’s cheap. But it’s not as pricey as a modular workstation, and certainly costs less than a big mahogany executive desk.

I’ve had the desk for a week. Being mechanically limited to changing light bulbs and installing blinds, I enlisted the help of a handyman to assemble it when my GeekDesk finally arrived (the one I wanted was backordered and took about six weeks).

Here’s what I noticed: I fell instantly in love. After the initial novelty of having a desk raise and lower wore off, I settled into a groove, and I actually use the sitting AND standing mode several times a day. Each time I raise the desk by pressing a preset button, it rises slowly and deliberately, recalling, as one Rocket Matter staffer observed, a Frankenstein movie. In fact, I suggest that GeekDesk allow you to optionally purchase a lifeless creature and a couple of metal bars with a little lightning bolt that goes down between them.

When I stand up, I start working and forget that I’m standing, but eventually I fatigue and sit back down. Once I stay seated for a while, I’m itching to get back up. There’s something about standing when the office glaze seeps in that snaps you instantly to attention. You feel a bit more alert. And if you have music on in the background, you start dancing around a little bit. I kid you not.

Now, keep in mind these are just the beginning stages. I have yet to clear a month with my adjustable-height desk. I’ll keep posting what I’m finding, and look for movies and videos of this thing.

RELATED POSTS:

Home Office Productivity Tips

Creating Healthy Habits: 5 Exercises to do While Sitting at Your Desk

Why Lawyers Should Run a Triathlon (or 5k) in 2012