I use computers a lot. I'm hyperactive and need to move every so often. I have problems with RSI (under control now, but something I need to keep an eye on constantly) because I sit in front of a computer not-moving for long periods of time on a regular basis. This is clearly not an ideal setup.

Since I can't do a treadmill desk until I settle down (which, as we've established, will be a long time from now), I've been tinkering with more portable solutions for being non-sedentary while on the computer. Some potential components (some of which I've tried before):

  • A standing desk just for computer stuff (don't have, but easy to make with stacks of books) with as many monitors as possible (I have monitors).
  • A normal-height desk for spreading out papers and work and things, and doing stuff like sketching/drawing, with an exercise ball as seating for that, and a normal chair as an "if someone else comes into the room" option, or an instrument-playing option.
  • My instruments (just-keyboard would be fine, bonus points if guitar, bass and cello fit too) beside my desk - I love swiveling around to play a quick lick on the piano as a 15 second break between tasks whenever I have this setup.
  • A portable keyboard tray that can be moved to sit or stand freeform (read: a sturdy height-adjustable music stand, which I may get for guitar/bass/cello anyway) and a portable projector (I have the old ILXO office projector).
  • A lounging chair for when I'm lazy and feel like giving in to terrible posture.
  • Whiteboards.
  • A chin-up bar for when I feel the need to climb on things. I can actually lower myself in a controlled fashion from the bar now (as opposed to my "jump off chair while holding bar with no noticeable decrease in speed" performance from 2 weeks ago) so at some point I may actually be able to pull up.
  • An I-am-more-comfortable-than-falling-on-a-hardwood-floor mat for things like situps and practicing falls (if room permits).
  • Assorted fiddly-things for when I get restless - bonus points if fiddly things are for physical exercise. For instance, a door gym, a punching bag, one of those gyroscopic wrist trainer thingies, barbells.

One of the best setups I ever had was in college where I had a 4 (at one point, 5) monitor spread from an exercise ball beside which I kept a set of dumbells. When I was antsy I would do crunches on the ball, curl the (adjustable-weight) barbells with one hand while reading/typing with the other, and so on - it cut down on the number of times I had to get out of my room and (literally) run up and down the hallways to blow off steam.

I'll be setting up the standing desk this week (stacks of books) and looking for a good music stand - the idea is that I should be able to bring it down to keyboard height when I'm standing so that things look sort of like this:

The chin-up bar has been a lot of fun to play with - just to grab and jump around with and hang and swing from. It makes me wonder if I'd do more situps if I actually unrolled the mat next to my desk in the mornings and left it there for the day instead of having it rolled up in the corner going "I can always unroll it if I feel the need to exercise." Basically, I want to make it so that the easiest option I have for blowing off steam is to do proper exercise - taking advantage of one's own laziness is an art.