Why I Mojo: How My Standing Desk Made Me Happier, Healthier, And So Much More Productive

1. Why I Mojo: How My Standing Desk Made Me Happier, Healthier, And So Much More Productive A little over a year ago I decided to take the plunge. Yep, I bought a Mojo standing desk. I hesitated to make the purchase. Did I really need a standing desk? After all, I mostly work while running from here to there– school drop-offs, while making dinner, watching my kids at the park or their activities.Will the benefits outweigh the price? After owning and using my desk for a couple of years, the overwhelming answer is – yes, it was totally worth it. My desk paid for itself multiple times over and made me happier, healthier, and so much more productive. Healthier – Reducing Pain and Improving Ergonomic Posture With the nature of my work, I spend large amounts of time staring at a computer screen. Before my standing desk, I spent long hours in front of my small laptop computer at home scrunched up at my dining room table, on my couch, or in my bed. I travel for work at times and when at home I work all day while juggling car pool, activities, and with one child not yet in full-time school, I find myself working from practically anywhere – coffee shops, the front seat of my car, the back seat of my car, sitting at a park bench, or on those uncomfortable sports bleachers. Because of this, I need to be as compact as possible. My small, lightweight computer is perfect when I am mobile. But, when I am at home logging long hours while my kids are at school or asleep, I quickly find myself with unbearable neck and back pain from staring down at my little laptop. My doctor told me once that I had tech neck; yeah, apparently that is a thing. I spend so much time looking down at my computer screen, tablet, or phone that it really becomes a pain in the neck (sorry for the lame pun). When we built our home office a couple of years ago, I did my research on office furniture. I quickly learned that a mojo standing desk was on my wish list. I hesitated pull the trigger on a desk that was three or four times the cost of an alternative; a simple, modern looking desk that could give me a nice space to work. Upon much deliberation and research, I learned that there were pros and cons to having a standing desk. I knew from my experiences working from home, that I like to stand and work, but did not want to stand all day or all the time. It seemed challenging to justify a purchase that may or may not be something that would benefit me or be an asset to my business. In the end, I decided to go with the electric standing desk. I cannot say that I made this decision all on my own; my husband did a fair amount of convincing and helping me to be okay with spending the money on a desk and therefore investing in myself. As an aside, he purchased a standing desk for himself a couple of months later, after trying out mine.

2. Our Mojo desks are worth every penny. In fact, we have not yet purchased another office chair since one of us is usually standing when we work together in the evenings. While sitting or standing I often check my ergonomic posture and can freely change where and how I position my neck and back with the simple push of a button. This helps my neck and back feel so much better and I found that my time spent even became more productive. More Productive – Working Efficiently and with Less Hassle I love that I can push a button to return to sitting or to stand. Since the work I do involves a lot of writing and editing large documents, I learned that I am simply more productive when I get to stand with some tasks and better at others when I am sitting. When I bought my desk, I also bought a large monitor to dock-in with my laptop. I worried about the number of cords and how to keep everything organized, and wavered about getting a power grommet – which ended up also being a great choice. It eliminated the time I spend setting up my work station. Now I have all of my devices charging at the same time and within reach – my computer, Bluetooth headphones, tablet, phone, and do not forget my essential oils diffuser. My work set-up with this desk is ideal. And, not to sound like a broken record, but did I mention that I literally run around a lot? With my standing desk, I can run back and forth making lunches and dinners, doing laundry, attending to the “mommy, mommy, mommy…” requests, and can easily get right back in to what I was doing. While you may be asking yourself why a standing desk helps me do this better than a regular desk, I am not sure I have the best answer other than, it just does. It allows me my creature comforts and aligns with my personal and professional life needs. Oh, and I can easily raise the desk high enough for my computer to stay out of reach of little hands? It’s tall enough (for now) that my kids can walk under it without banging their heads. This is especially useful, when my office morphs into a police station, the doctors office, or the pretend work office of one of the parents during my kids family time game. And with the cord concealing options, they are safe from those too. When I am working on a deadline, and spending long hours in front of the computer screen, I am more productive with a standing desk. Since this purchase, I added additional time to my work day. I even extended my longest work day by three hours. While, spending extremely long hours working is far from a bragging point, a few years ago when I was scrunched over my little laptop all day my body did not allow for more than a 10-hour work day. When there are days that every minute counts, I can accomplish my goals, meet my deadlines, and have more time and energy for family time. This desk is a working parent must have. My parental duties of carpool, watching kids play at the park, and multiple drop-offs and pick-ups are easier to manage when I get a great space to work when I am home. Happier – Always Working to Improve my Work/Life Balance As much as I try to be a person who relies less on material possessions, I have my vices. During my time as a parent, I learned that there are some purchases that seem like a want, that can and do improve your quality of life. I remember the guilt I felt when I purchased a $100 pair of Bluetooth headphones. If I had guilt about a somewhat minimal purchase, that also has been a great 2

3. convenience and timesaver for me, how would I feel about a bigger purchase? Two years later I can say that having a standing desk improves my quality of life and I have no guilt about it. My husband was right (don’t tell him I said so), that cost of the desk was an investment in myself. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to burn more calories at work, find a better ergonomic body position when spending long hours in front of a computer, or who wants to have the ability to move around more. When I am standing, I automatically take more frequent breaks to simply look away from my computer screen, walk around the office, dance to my favorite Spotify mix, or play with my kids. Balancing work and life with a young family is my primary priority and is a constant juggling act. It is on my mind all day, every day. I want to be great parent, business owner, wife, and friend, and my best self. Its super cheezy to say, but I think this desk is one step forward to aligning with my work and life balance goals. Now, it is time to get back to writing more proposals and building more Legos. 3