Tried and Tested: The Altizen Standing Desk

Whether you’re working from home or live at the office, the benefits of a standing desk are many, mama. Here’s one local company that wants you to move!

You might have heard me sing the praises of working from home before – and I do really love it – but naturally there are some downsides. One is finding an appropriate workspace: I’ve worked at the dining room table (can get sticky), on the couch (not so great for my back), even – no joke – in the bathroom on one occasion when I had to hide from an overzealous toddler.

Admittedly I do have a desk, but it’s generally covered with papers and folders and I find myself feeling itchy and claustrophobic when I try to sit at it. All of this is to say, when the co-founders of new homegrown brand Altizen asked me to try out their brand new standing desk, I leapt at the opportunity.

Why use a standing desk?

Extensive recent research has shown that sitting for long periods of time is really unhealthy (some headlines even proclaim it “deadly”!). Sitting for too long (as most people tend to do at a desk) has been linked to all sorts of negative conditions, including obesity, high blood pressure, and abnormal cholesterol levels. Simply standing up – whether to do some work, or get up every so often for a drink of water or quick power walk – can offset these negative effects by burning more calories, and has been shown to increase energy.

Yet take a look around, and you don’t see too many standing desks in Singapore – rather the trend seems to be cubicles or long work tables with stations built for maximum portability.

“The desk is the focal point of our work,” Altizen explains on its website. “It’s where ideas are born, decisions are made, and most of our day is spent. We sought to create a desk that would support us in our busy day, and serve the greater purpose of keeping us focused, motivated and healthy.”

Co-founders Yuying Deng and Andrew McDonnell are INSEAD alums who got the idea for a more flexible workstation when they’d both just become parents. This led to more than a year of research & development, followed by a successful crowdfunding campaign, and another year of tweaks and improvements leading up to Altizen’s official launch earlier this month.

How it works

More than just a desk, the Altizen is a smart motorized workstation that gives any regular desk or large surface the ability to become a healthy standing one. What’s more, it engages, tracks and coaches the user with sensors and a mobile phone app – think of it like a Fitbit for your laptop! Ideally you want to work standing up for at least 50% of your workday – would you meet that standard right now, mama? I find it so amazing that the Altizen actually reminds you when it’s time to move!

The Altizen has other cool features, too: you can raise the work surface (where your laptop or monitor would be) so it’s exactly at your standing eye height, and the Altizen will remember your height preferences. You can also lower the work surface down for sitting spells. It’s all mechanized and motorized to go quickly into place, and puts both your keyboard and screen into ergonomically correct positions for maximum comfort.

Set-up was surprisingly quick (maybe about 15 minutes), and everything about the design is intuitive and straightforward. I really enjoyed my week of working-while-standing. At the very least, the Altizen is a great reminder of how important it is to get off our butts, mama!

The Altizen standing desk starts from $1,349, with a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re unhappy with the product.

Altizen, Tel: (+65) 6871 8885, www.sg.altizen.com