You have a standing desk, so why are you always sitting?
Nicola Tik
The desk goes up with the best of intentions, and somehow by Tuesday it has quietly settled back down for good. If that sounds familiar, you are far from alone, and it is not a willpower problem. Once you know what the desk is actually for, using it gets a lot easier.
Here is the bit that takes the pressure off. Standing at your desk for eight hours is not the healthy version of sitting for eight hours. Both keep you in one fixed shape, and holding still is the real culprit either way. Stand stock still for hours and your legs and lower back will grumble just as readily as they do when you sit. So it is no wonder that "just stand more" never quite sticks. The value of a standing desk is not the standing, it is the switching between the two.
A widely cited expert statement suggests office workers build up to around two hours a day of standing and light activity, and eventually towards four, spread across the day rather than done in one long stint. The spread is the important part. Nobody expects you to stand for two hours straight. A handful of shorter spells, a bit here and a bit there, adds up to the same thing and feels far more doable.
Rather than deciding to stand in the moment, which rarely happens, you could tie it to things you already do. Standing for every phone call is an easy one, since you are talking rather than typing anyway. So is standing for the first stretch after lunch, or whenever you are reading rather than writing. Pinning it to a trigger means the desk goes up on its own, without you having to remember.
When you are up, a few small things keep it comfortable so you actually want to do it again. You could try setting the screen so the top sits at about eye level, keeping your weight even across both feet, and letting yourself shift and sway rather than standing like a statue. A small footrest to rest one foot on now and then, alternating, takes the load off your lower back nicely.