Arise Students of Law! Standing Desks Now Available in the Law Library!

Sometimes it’s 11:00pm and against your better judgment you’ve caved and bought one of those Starbucks Doubleshots from the vending machine. Now you’re too buzzed to sit down and study. What are you to do? How are you supposed to actually sit down when it feels like someone’s jammed jumper cables into your brain?

Have no fear! The law library has anticipated the need, whatever the reason, to study while not sitting down.

The solution? Two standing desks on either side of the windows in the Sherwood H. Smith, Jr. Reading Room. No longer must you trudge your way to another library for the luxury of remaining upright while you convince yourself Pennoyer v. Neff will make sense if you just read it one more time.

Fortunately, our standing desks can be used even when “Sound of Silence” isn’t playing faintly in the background. We know sitting for long stretches of time isn’t super great for you , although the exact contribution to health isn’t exactlyclear. Some negative effects that have been linked to prolonged sitting, and generally habitual inactivity, include: increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, obesity, and others.

Standing while you work is a small change you can do to try and alleviate those negative effects. Now switching from sitting to standing probably won’t increase your calorie expenditure enough to really bring in those abs for pool season but it can help in other ways. For example, sitting can tighten up and stiffen the hip flexors which may contribute to muscle and joint pain in the lower extremities. By standing more, the hip flexors aren’t in such a constantly shortened state.

If you do want to try out our standing desks, easing into it slowly may be the best idea. Standing constantly has its own side effects and issues, as anyone who has worked retail will be sure to inform you, especially if you are switching from only sitting to only standing. Start slowly and switch it up. The key is to find your balance between moving, sitting, and standing.

Also important is correct positioning with standing desks. The Mayo Clinic has a nifty infographic that quickly details what that might look like:

For more detail, you can visit the website here.

We are always open to feedback, so let us know any you have!