Why would we repost an article that seems to suggest that all office ergonomics is a load of bollocks ? Well we think this article in the Sydney Morning Herald makes some important points. Most important one is that many of the tools you can buy to make your office more ergonomic are only of any use if they facilitate movement in the office. Consider the mouse braces designed to hold your wrist in a static position. They are sold as a support device. Or chairs that support yo

This story from the Guardian demonstrates how easily bad science becomes the basis for huge movements especially (dare we say it) in the field of health and well being. Read it yourself but the gist of it is there is no scientific basis at all for the "10000 steps a day movement" and for the sale of millions of wearable devices to support this idea. Of course, this doesn't mean that the millions of people who have jumped on this trend haven't benefited from walking a lot. I g

Rightly or wrongly we think we are qualified to comment on the general state of office environments in New Zealand. Our main qualification is the fact that we find ourselves installing desks and locker systems into lots of different office environments. We get to experience the environment first hand. So it may surprise you to hear what our impression is of what needs to be fixed first to make these office spaces habitable. (It's NOT new desks). The biggest problem is the air

No seriously - what does it mean that " too much time spent sitting increased the risk of dying" when we are all going to anyway.... How can you increase a risk when it's 100% certain ?

Ok they are slightly more pricey but check out these hastily taken snaps of birch ply tops before they went out the door to a happy home....

This article reviews different standing desk options for the home as opposed to office. It contains some good points but overlooks one important factor: Regardless of whether you are working from home or an office you are NOT going to go from sitting all day to standing all day.... Absolutely all the science tells us that the benefit comes from alternating between the two and a fixed standing desk is not going to do it for you if you want these benefits. Read the article your

You already are one...

Not all of our desks go to the corporate machine..... We got this pic from a customer who set up her desk at Waitarere beach to do her thesis while looking out over the breakers. A large number of our desks go to homes like these. People who work from home but who also know that their work environment will directly impact on their productivity. Our desks pack up nicely into the car when you want to go back to the city as well...

Is it time for a rethink about sitting ? Peter certainly does and here's the results .....

The discussion on the merits or otherwise of hot-desking seems to get more and more polarised. If you are after an overview of the pros-and cons - this article in the Conversation contains a lot of useful links. One thing is for sure....More and more organisations will be taking advantage of the cost savings that hot desking provides so the discussion probably should be around how to do it best rather than whether to do it at all ? I think that Gavin Moodie hits the nail on t

An interesting video backgrounder to the concept of open offices. It surprised me in that I didn't know how long they went back and I didn't know that Frank Lloyd Wright was such a dull old boy ???

Ok so the idea that you can start using a standing desk and the weight will drop off you is simply not going to happen. I know that the NZ Herald needs another "weight loss" article every other day but if you buy a standing desk believing this is going to happen - you are going to be disappointed. A standing desk is a "gateway" to mobility at work. If you use it to get more mobile and active at work then you can conceivably lose weight and most importantly enjoy your time at

We are constantly trying to move the discussion about "standing at work" to "moving at work.". It seems that every time standing desks hit the mainstream media the piece is about the harm you can do standing all day. And our response is - "of course"...The answer is NOT to go from sitting all day to standing all day - it is about creating movement in your workday. It is about changing position regularly. When you think of a stand sit desk - you think about the two positions b

This may depress you.....find out whether your job is , in fact, a bullshit job ???

Heaps of new office based workouts have been added to this wonderful wonderful wonderful web site. Have I told you how wonderful this web site is ???

Let's get nerdy for a bit ? When does wiring under desks become PEW ( prescribed electrical work) and subject to all the compliance and sign-offs that comes with it. Here is a reasonably non-technical discussion of the issues and the conclusion seems to be that as long as you keep to pre-assembled insulated plugs and boards you can rely on the manufacturers compliance to standards and you won't need electricians. Once you start creating your own wiring solution (using 20 amp

Staying on an electrical theme for a bit - we often get asked whether it is OK to daisy chain power boards from one desk to another ? We got advice on this and this is the conclusion (in simple terms). Virtually all standard NZ power boards are 10 amp boards WITH surge protection. This is important because it means if the current being drawn exceeds 10 amps - the surge protection will trip and you will have to reset it with fewer devices on it. So there is in-built safety the