A simple and quick way to make a makeshift standing desk on the road is to lift the chair up onto the desk, and then set your laptop on the chair. This usually puts my laptop at a comfortable working height, but you can adjust it by placing books underneath your computer. (If you’re in a hotel room, it will probably have a thick phone book that’s great for this job.) It’s not a particularly attractive solution, but it works pretty much anywhere, and it’s quick to take down when you’re ready to leave.

If you’d like to make a standing desk at home, check out our previous posts “How to Build a Standing Desk” and “How I Made a Standing Workstation For $19.99.”

Share your travel tips in the comments.

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I visited a chiropractor because I have chronic hip and lower back pain that is often aggravated by intense workouts. I’ve talked to doctors about it, but never really got any good suggestions as to how to change whatever behaviors are causing the pain. This time was different, since I was able to find a chiropractor with a sports medicine background who took the time to help me find the root cause of the problem and start to work towards a solution to get rid of the pain, instead of just managing the pain.

My pain stems from this fact: humans evolved to spend our time wandering the jungles in search of food, not sitting behind desks. As a result of spending most of the day sitting, the muscles in the front of my hips are tight and short, which pulls on the muscles in my lower back and on the back of my hips. In other words, severe pain in the back of my hips and my lower back. He gave me some additional exercises to do, but if I ever want to get better, I need to spend less time sitting.

Spending less time sitting on my butt means that I need to make a change: I either have to find a new career that involves more standing and walking, or I need to change the way that I work at the computer. As a wimpy computer geek, I’m not well-suited to most of those other professions, and I really love what I do, so I decided to find a way to stand and work.

I have a small office with no space for a second desk, otherwise the instructions in “How to Build a Standing Desk” would have been perfect. I started doing some research on standing desks on wheels, when a friend suggested a podium-style desk that sits on top of your regular desk. These allow you to add height to your desk when you want to work standing up, but easily remove them when you want to sit. Most of them are essentially wooden boxes in various shapes and sizes for $200 – $300 each. That isn’t much to spend on a solution that might drastically reduce my pain; however, I’m a creative gal, and I knew that I could come up with something at a much lower cost.

Let’s get right into how I came up with my standing workstation.

Step 1: Find the Right Working Height

To find the right height for my podium, I built a prototype out of materials that I had lying around the house combined with some silicone shelf liners to prevent slipping. I started with a small kitchen rack, which was way too short. I sat it on top of a Star Wars monopoly game, which felt like a good solution. I used it for about 15 minutes before realizing that it was still too low. I kept bending slightly forward and tilting my head and arms down to type and read the screen.

I added a couple of old textbooks, again with the no-slip liner in between, to get it to a comfortable height. I worked at this height long enough to decide that I had it about right. Spend as much time as you need in this step adjusting the height to find the solution that works for you.

Step 2: Wander the Store

I took my handy measuring tape to the store with me, and I wandered the shelving aisles until I found a shelving unit that would hold my computer at the right height. I wanted something big enough for my laptop, and light enough to easily move off of the desk to sit down and work. I’m a fan of simple set-ups, so I don’t use an external keyboard, mouse or monitor, but you might want a little more surface area and something a little sturdier to hold all of those extras.

Step 3: Set Up and Reduce Slippage

Most ordinary, light shelving units are not designed for computer use. You don’t want the whole unit slipping across your desk, and you don’t want your computer sliding off of the top. Again, I used my handy no-slip silicone shelf paper to keep everything from sliding. I glued little bits of the no-slip liner to the bottom feet of the shelf, and I placed a strip of the liner between the top of the shelf and my computer.

Step 4: Get Used To Standing and Working

I’m still working on this step. I’m accustomed to sitting on my butt, and my feet and legs have been a little tired after standing. Right now, I’m doing a fair amount of alternating between sitting and standing to give my body time to adjust. I’m also having a hard time shifting my mental processes to realize that standing time is still time that I should be concentrating, not time for wandering around the house. However, I managed to write this entire post while standing at my new workstation, so I think I’m starting to get the hang of it.

OK, my standing workstation isn’t going to win any design awards, but it’s functional. I can stand and work while still keeping my desk intact for those times when I’m doing activities that work better when sitting at a desk with a little more room.

Do you use a standing desk now? If not, have you ever considered shifting to a standing workstation?

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A few years ago, I decided to build two new desks for my office. One is a conventional height and the other is a standing desk. I wanted the option to move between desks for a little extra activity throughout the day. I have computers at both desks. I often stand while browsing the web and reading email, but usually sit to type or for long periods of concentration. Moving back and forth helps keep me fresh, as well as organized, with different tasks at each location. Here’s how I built my standing desk.

My standing desk

One benefit of building your own standing desk is that you can get the height just right. Measure from the floor to your elbow for a starting measurement. My standing desk is just above my belly button at 43 inches tall.

I wanted my two desks to share one feature: easy disassembly. I rearrange my office a couple of times a year — writers crave distraction — and I want to be able to move things easily. So, each of my desktops lifts off a base made up of two L-shaped supports. The hard part is clearing everything off the desks, after which I can easily lift the top and move the supports. I can also switch the desktops, which have different shapes.

Originally, I constructed the supports using wood that was 2 inches by 2 inches. The result was rather wobbly. I reconstructed the supports using 2x4s, which resulted in a much more solid structure. As you can see in the next photo, which shows the sit-down desk, each L-shaped support consists of four horizontal pieces and three vertical pieces. Join the support pieces with wood screws or even nuts and bolts. Nails will not hold it tightly enough.

Constructing the desk

Wedged into a corner, each desk is rock steady. If your desk will be away from the walls, you may need metal brackets in the corners to stabilize the desk further.

For the desktop, I chose a high-quality plywood sheet 4 feet by 8 feet, cut in half at the store. When I cut off one corner to create the front of the desk, my old saw mangled the edge of the wood. (I used those cut corners for the shelves that you can see in the first photo.) The rough edge of the wood led me to buy a couple of yards of soft vinyl at a fabric store to cover the wood. The result is a very nice work surface.

If you don’t wish to build your own desk, you’ll find standing desks or stand-up desks for sale online and in some stores. You should also look at drafting tables, which have an adjustable work surface. While my desk is flat, some people prefer a sloping surface.

Mark Justice Hinton is founder of PC Training & Consulting and has written books including “PC Magazine Windows Vista Solutions” and “Digital Photography for Dummies“.

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