How to Start a Two-Bit Operation: Small Business Tips

In an effort to find efficient ways to work, I came across the standing desk.  Basically, instead of sitting at your desk, you stand.  

Benefits

• Better posture: I’ve found that you can’t really slouch when you’re standing.  Sometimes I’ll end up putting my elbows on the table while reading something, but that’s the exception rather than the norm.  With a normal desk (or even a stability ball), it’s to way to easy to get into comfortable positions that aren’t that ergonomically great for you.
• More alertness: It’s pretty hard to fall asleep standing.  I’ve done it before (and also fallen asleep mid-sentence), but it doesn’t happen too often  Since my body’s in a much more active position, I don’t get comfortable enough to get sleepy.  Always a good thing while working.
• Breaks from the computer: While working, there’s never a time when I’m constantly typing or reading, there is, on occasion, some thinking that happens.  What’s great about standing is that it’s easy to just go walk around while thinking since you’re already on your feet.  Or if I’m tired, I’ll just go sit down on the couch and think.  Much nicer than staring at the monitor all the time.
• Burn more calories!:  Standing and walking more just burns more calories.  This computer life is a pretty sedentary and unhealthy one - might as well get some extra calorie burning in while you’re working.  Others have tried walking while working (treadmill under the desk), but that seems like overkill at this point.  However, I will sometimes play some upbeat music and dance in place while working

Getting Started
Before you commit to a standing desk, give it a try first.  Find a counter or a bookshelf where you can place your computer and/or monitor in a way that your arms are bent at 45 degrees and your monitor is roughly at eye height. Try it for a few hours a day for a week and see how it goes.  In the beginning, there was definitely an adjustment period for my legs and feet.  My mother-in-law bought me a soft standing pad from a Korean supermarket (I think it was around $10 bucks) that really helps ease the pressure of standing on the floor - and, yes, the pad is pink with a cartoon dog on it.

I’ve been pretty happy with the Utby desk from Ikea (choose “brown/black” from color, and 47 1/4″ from size).  It’s meant for the kitchen so there’s no drawers, but the crossbars make it very sturdy and also make nice foot rests.  Oh, and I’ve got a barstool behind for those moments of weakness and I just really want to sit while working.  Usually, when I’m reading things online. 

If you want to know more, read about them on wikipedia and on the 37signals blog.  Lots of the ones advertised as “standing” or “standup” desks are pretty expensive, so I’d recommend just looking around for simpler desk/tables/bars that happen to be tall.  If you’re handy, you can also try building your own.

Happy standing!
Justin

I had the opportunity to be interviewed on The Hot Iron by Mike Maddaloni of Dunkirk Systems.  Give it a read to see what we’ve been up to and how we work as a small, virtual company.  Thanks again, Mike!

Justin

We had some issues during a wordpress upgrade a couple months ago that was causing commenting to break, along with a bunch of other odd issues.  Wordpress is now upgraded and I installed a new look for the blog to change things up a bit.  Let me know if you see anything wonky!

Justin

After I moved to Los Angeles about a month ago, John came down and we hit up a few of the networking events here.  Quick thoughts:

• Twiistup 4: $50 ticket.  Some free appetizers.  No free alcohol (in fact, pricey Viceroy Santa Monica prices).  Sponsors that paid alot for bungalows, but still no free admission or drinks.  We ended up going across the street to Cha Cha Chicken to eat dinner since the appetizers were sorta slow.  For the amount of money we spent on the ticket, food and drinks, I think it would have been cheaper to fly to Chicago for the next Tech Cocktail (which I might do).  The coolest thing was the free iPhone etching from Etchstar.
• Digital Drinks LA: This was at Sky Bar in Hollywood, which is apparently a pretty exclusive bar on the hill overlooking LA.  $10 ticket.  Nothing included.  Hotel only has valet parking.  Drinks were priced at $18 a shot!!  Loud club music.  Very little lighting.  

Has it really been 6 months since the last blog post?

It starts small with denial

At first it was just a few days and a few weeks.  We were busy working on a new website and with a consulting gig.  Productive and paying work trumps all (not that we don’t appreciate the few bucks a month we make on the text link ads ).  

And then it starts snowballing with rationalization

A month or so went by and then it was the holidays - Thanksgiving, a trip to Hawaii, a ski trip, Christmas.  No one browses the web or reads our blog on vacation anyways, right?  With all those holidays, we have work to catch up on!  

And more rationalization… 

Plus, aren’t there all these articles talking about how there’s too much information on the Internet?  Maybe it’s better if we just took a break - it’s like conserving energy.  There were some business opportunities that required our attention anyways. 

Until you almost forget about it

“We have a blog?” After a number of months, old routines are broken and new ones are created - new ones that have no idea that a blog ever existed.  And so months went on where we followed the new routine working on some new things, but there was always something lurking in the back of my head.  

“Am I forgetting something? I feel like something’s missing.”

“Oh yeah, we have a blog!”

Recognition is only the 1st step to recovery

Even after that realization, a couple more months went by.  There were things I wanted to blog, but for some reason I just couldn’t muster the time or energy to do it.  There’s always something else to do - something to work one, something to read, something to watch, or someone to see.  The more time went by, the harder it got - it was the feeling of embarrassment that we’d let it go so long…you know that feeling when you can’t look someone straight in the eye.

There’s never a good time for anything - so just start

My to do list isn’t lacking - there are definitely things I should probably be working on, but there’s always stuff to work on.  If there’s one thing we learned from entrepreneurship, it’s that there’s never a good time for anything.  There’s always a reason to delay, but you have to just do it or it’ll never get done.  So here I am, blogging away trying to get over the hump.  Hopefully, things can get back to normal after this inaugural post of 2008…in May.

Reaffirming why

As I’m blogging, I’m also remembering why we started blogging in the first place. If you take a look at our about page, here’s what we initially wrote:

• To document what we’ve learned for the benefit of others who may be interested in starting a small business and so that we have records of our experience.
• To internalize what we are learning more effectively. They say that the best way to learn something is to learn it well enough to teach others.
• To update all our fans on our progress.

I think I’ll add one more now:

• To connect with other entrepreneurs.  Blogging is a great way to meet other like-minded people and I feel like not blogging has left me feeling disconnected from the community.

It’s been easy to just work on our stuff and keep our heads down, but in a virtual work environment sometimes you just need an outlet to the rest of the world.  I feel better already (even though I do feel like I’m talking to myself).

Moving on

Now let’s get back to the regularly scheduled programming.  I’ve always had a problem with procrastination since I was young, so maybe all these little lessons will finally teach me a lesson.  I hope the procrastination bug doesn’t bite you too.  If it does, just don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Justin