If you’re taking suggestions for things to test, personally my (unquantified) single most successful productivity intervention yet has been putting a treadmill under my desk, and then stacking a box on the table to raise my laptop to elbow height.
My productivity per hour and general willpower to work is unchanged, but I’m now able to be on the computer for much longer hours at a stretch because I don’t have to deal with the postural pain of sitting too long, and I no longer have to fight off my natural tendency to fidget and avoid being still. (I just switch from walking or standing to sitting or lying down as I get tired, with no interruption in work flow).
Perhaps more notable is the I think not unreasonable expectation that the additional 1.5-3.5 hours of walking per day it will ultimately increase my total number of productive years and decrease my sick days. That’s not so easy to test on myself, but the benefits of walking are pretty well established. (Though of course the primary motivator there is not productivity, really)
I’ve also noticed improvements in baseline mood immediately after a long “walk”, improving general physical stamina over time (e.g. I can walk farther without discomfort, I don’t get as easily tired if I take on a task which requires being on my feet all day) and better lower body mobility and flexibility at the gym (e.g. lower and better form with squats).
Conflict of interest: it may end up being convenient for me if the CE office ends up getting a treadmill desk :P
Thank you for the suggestion. I’m always open for ideas on productivity improvements, especially if they directly affect charity entrepreneurs ;)
We generated a list of 100 ideas and prioritized them based on things like expected effect on the general population, on me and Joey, ease of testing, etc. As far as I remember, rotating positions from sitting on an office chair to standing to sit on a ball or laying on a couch are more strongly recommended than any single one of those. I think testing all of the tools you can use to be physically active would be an interesting separate experiment in itself. Have you ever tried a mini-stepper? How did you find the effects of a treadmill compared to a mini-stepper?
I haven’t tried a mini-stepper! Next time I’m at the gym I’ll check if they have one I can try. Even if it does not work as well, it would certainly be a lot cheaper and more portable.
Untested Speculation: People using steppers/bikes etc. might stop exerting conscious attention to move once they get sufficiently absorbed in their work. A special property of treadmills is that if you stop, you’ll be carried backwards and away from your keyboard—this trains you out of stopping pretty instantly. Steppers/bikes/etc wouldn’t automatically have this property—though perhaps one could mimic the training by adding a “don’t stop!” signalling noise or something. Ultimately I think it’s probably important that the movement not require much conscious attention.
If you’re taking suggestions for things to test, personally my (unquantified) single most successful productivity intervention yet has been putting a treadmill under my desk, and then stacking a box on the table to raise my laptop to elbow height.
My productivity per hour and general willpower to work is unchanged, but I’m now able to be on the computer for much longer hours at a stretch because I don’t have to deal with the postural pain of sitting too long, and I no longer have to fight off my natural tendency to fidget and avoid being still. (I just switch from walking or standing to sitting or lying down as I get tired, with no interruption in work flow).
Perhaps more notable is the I think not unreasonable expectation that the additional 1.5-3.5 hours of walking per day it will ultimately increase my total number of productive years and decrease my sick days. That’s not so easy to test on myself, but the benefits of walking are pretty well established. (Though of course the primary motivator there is not productivity, really)
I’ve also noticed improvements in baseline mood immediately after a long “walk”, improving general physical stamina over time (e.g. I can walk farther without discomfort, I don’t get as easily tired if I take on a task which requires being on my feet all day) and better lower body mobility and flexibility at the gym (e.g. lower and better form with squats).
Conflict of interest: it may end up being convenient for me if the CE office ends up getting a treadmill desk :P
Thank you for the suggestion. I’m always open for ideas on productivity improvements, especially if they directly affect charity entrepreneurs ;)
We generated a list of 100 ideas and prioritized them based on things like expected effect on the general population, on me and Joey, ease of testing, etc. As far as I remember, rotating positions from sitting on an office chair to standing to sit on a ball or laying on a couch are more strongly recommended than any single one of those. I think testing all of the tools you can use to be physically active would be an interesting separate experiment in itself. Have you ever tried a mini-stepper? How did you find the effects of a treadmill compared to a mini-stepper?
I haven’t tried a mini-stepper! Next time I’m at the gym I’ll check if they have one I can try. Even if it does not work as well, it would certainly be a lot cheaper and more portable.
Untested Speculation: People using steppers/bikes etc. might stop exerting conscious attention to move once they get sufficiently absorbed in their work. A special property of treadmills is that if you stop, you’ll be carried backwards and away from your keyboard—this trains you out of stopping pretty instantly. Steppers/bikes/etc wouldn’t automatically have this property—though perhaps one could mimic the training by adding a “don’t stop!” signalling noise or something. Ultimately I think it’s probably important that the movement not require much conscious attention.