"Blogger Tips" Archive

For the past few years I have suffered from severe back spasms and I’m finally getting serious about fighting them. They can be debilitating and I refuse to let it get me down. In addition to working on my core strength, I’ve decided to start standing up to work. Obviously, as a blogger, I spend a lot of time sitting at the computer and it’s really not good for your body.

I started researching stand up desks a while back and everything I saw was too expensive and didn’t fit my needs. I did find some stuff on Walmart’s web site that might work but before I ordered anything I ended up figuring out a system with a piece of  $20 “furniture” from Ikea of all places that I already owned. 

Just so you know, Ikea hacker has a few posts detailing how you can jury rig your own standup desk and that was also an option I considered. Just go to the site and search “stand up” and you’ll find quite a few options like this one. But thankfully, using this ended up working for me. I’m 5’4 so it’s obviously not a solution for the whole entire world. But the point is to think creatively unless you have $500 or so to throw in the air. 

Along with the Lerberg from Ikea I also use a Contour roller mouse and a Goldtouch Ergonomic keyboard to prevent carpal tunnel.  I have a blue snowball mic, a logitech web cam, a macbook pro, D-link USB hub, and Wacom graphic tablet for when I’m feeling creative. 

So far, I feel more energized when I’m working and dare I say…important? I’ve talked about my ADD diagnosis before and it’s something that I still struggle with. Standing up seems to keep me more focused and more productive. But even when I’m messing around on the web, like watching my fav you tube channels, I still stand up. 

The best tips I’ve seen for transitioning to standing up to work are:

• Don’t force yourself to do a whole day at once…work your way up to it
• Walk away from the desk every hour just as you should when you sit down to work
• Try working barefoot or in running shoes. I alternate between being barefoot, wearing my Nike frees, and my Nike comfort flip flops. No, Nike did not sponsor this post…I wish they would though! 
• Keep your core muscles engaged as much as possible, don’t allow your body to flop or be sloppy. Keep your abs tucked, squeeze the glutes etc. 
• Move around as much as you want. I sometimes bend my knees and squat a little, I twerk, I fidget, I dance, I do the yoga tree pose…whatever I feel. 

I love finding tools that make mundane tasks easier. One of things I needed to do was to find a way to get all my blog posts into a list. That way, I could have them at the ready for editors who ask for samples. Additionally, it’s good to have your blog posts listed out so that you can link back to yourself-a great way to keep traffic. 

For a while I was trying to copy and paste posts but I fell off from doing that rather quickly. No surprise there. But then @digitalmiss started praising the site If This Than That (on twitter) and I saved her tweet to instapaper (one of my favorite ways to save sleuthing for later!) and then researched it. Using IFTTT, you can make “recipes” that tell apps and web tools you use how to communicate with one another. Think: rules in email. “If I get an email from Joe send it to trash.”

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