Write like Mark Twain, lying down

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Guest article by Alexandra Galimova about the advantages of lying work and how slothful people can save the world. If you have long dreamed of chopping tables for firewood and lying on the sofa, but something stopped you, this material is just for you.

Who said that you can only work and study while sitting at the table? At school we heard shouts every now and then: "Ivanov, sit up straight!", "Masha, put your elbow on the table!" and others, more unpleasant in form and content. In my student years, I sometimes managed to take a nap at a lecture, resting my head on the desk. And then what? Open space office, dress code and other restraints of freedom. However, if you are a creative person or have decided to drastically change your life and become a freelancer, you can work wherever you like.

Home is not an office

If you are a designer, programmer, translator, writer, Japanese teacher, it is not at all necessary to equip a traditional home office with a table, chair and shelves. Personally, even the word "office" is allergic to me, and all its attributes evoke melancholy. At the same time, the authors of books on personal effectiveness unanimously argue:

Even if you work at home, you need to clearly distinguish between work and personal life: everything has its time and place.

Bulgakov's professor Preobrazhensky said: "I will dine in the dining room and operate in the operating room!" The same professor said that he did not want to be like the famous dancer Isadora Duncan: “Maybe she dines in the study, and in the bathroom she cuts rabbits. May be. But I am not Isadora Duncan."

Stop! Preobrazhensky is a doctor, and he belongs in the operating room, but we are creative people, and in spirit we are much closer to Mrs. Duncan! Who can forbid us to dine in the study or work in the bedroom?

Standing up? Why not

Standing work has become a fashionable trend lately: doctors' horror stories about hemorrhoids, prostatitis and myocardial infarction, combined with authoritative expert opinions on increasing the productivity of "vertical" workers, have already brought millions to furniture manufacturers. Vertical workers include Twitter developer Alex Payne, writer Philip Roth, former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Lifehacker.com editor Jason Fitzpatrick and many others. Height-adjustable tables, all kinds of coasters and other gadgets can be purchased on Amazon and Chinese sites.

Those who do not want to spend money on fashionable furniture come up with various life hacks, such as installing a vacuum cleaner box on a desk. However, there is nothing ideal in the world, and timid voices are already being heard about the fact that long standing threatens with varicose veins, thrombosis and other terrible "osami". Who would doubt that?

Work is generally a deadly thing.

"Horizontal" work

After hearing about the dangers of sitting and standing work, people began to think about the fact that it is possible to work in a horizontal position. It turned out that the idea is not new: it was Marcel Proust, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway and Victor Hugo who were lying.

The advantages of "horizontal" work are obvious:

• It allows you to change postures: lay one side - roll over onto the other, then onto your back or stomach.
• It saves money: there is no need to buy office furniture.
• It saves space: not everyone has the opportunity to allocate a work area of two by two meters at home, not to mention a separate office.

Obviously, there are certain disadvantages: lying down is not beneficial for vision and posture. However, those who decide to spend more than a third of their life in a horizontal position, but thinks about health, can purchase a gadget that provides the optimal distance from the monitor to the eyes, like this "lazy" table.

Slothsters will save the world

The idea of lying work is becoming more popular: a few years ago, Bernd Brunner published The Art of Lying Down, the main idea of which is that the Western world can only be reborn if people start spending more time in a horizontal position, discarding competition, hustle and bustle.

The author believes that in fact many people work lying down, but for some reason hesitate to admit it.

Don't go to extremes

It is generally accepted that people who practice "horizontal" work lead a sedentary lifestyle, so it is worthwhile from time to time to dilute "horizontal" work with sedentary and "vertical" ones. You can combine teaching via Skype with offline classes, or combine translation "recumbent" projects with oral "vertical" ones. Plus, don't forget about sports and work breaks.

For me personally, it is optimal to work lying down - I write and translate on a comfortable sofa. I do not like to sit or stand, but with pleasure I lie and walk. After a few hours of work, I usually go for a walk or to the pool. As a child, I kept trying to lie down on the sofa hugging a textbook, but vigilant relatives invariably returned me to the table.

The result is a certificate with triplets and hatred of school. In my university years, I was finally left alone, I began to practice lying down. The result is a red diploma and pleasant memories of five student years.

I think the love of lying work is a hereditary thing. My mother teaches English on Skype from the couch, and my eldest son is preparing for the exam and learns Chinese mainly in a horizontal position.

I will not call for chopping tables for firewood and amicably lying on the sofas, but perhaps someone will want to change their workplace. It doesn't really matter if you work sitting, lying down or standing on your head. The main thing is that the work should be a joy!