Jimbo

So, I just started my first software development job, and I'm sitting in an office quite a lot. Since I'm still the local newbie, I don't have many meetings or really any distractions during the day, so I spend a lot of time just sitting working through the bit of break-in material I've got laid out. I spend so much time sitting, though, that it's wearing me out (not used to it; at school I would get up and walk around every hour between classes). Anybody got any tips for how to handle the change in workstyle?

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xavier

Well, one way would be to have a bottle of water next to you and keep drinking - that way nature will give you a reason to get up every once in a while.:p

But you could obviously just get up and look out the window, eat an apple .. do something , anything . It's not a good idea to sit all day in your chair.
Ps : the way your post got laid out , and the fact that I was first reading the post in diagonal all I read was :

- I know , i have issues :p

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Duck

Make sure you've got a decent chair, not a chair which has a bit of foam on top of a board. A leather chair (artificial fabrics are crap) which is 'sprung', and fully adjustable, including tilt.

I sit most of the working day and it's not too bad cos I've got a good chair, (but ages ago when a sat on a crap chair it was torture sitting all day). Wear comfortable 'loose' trowsers, go for a walk at lunch time.

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Booooze

All I can say is make sure you have a good chair. About 2 weeks ago I had to go out and buy a new one. It got to the point where I couldn't sit in it because it was painful. That's a bad sign.

DaWei

Walk outside for a smoke break every now and then...even if you don't smoke.

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Duck

What sort of software products will you be working on? I'd be really interested to know!

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bigguy

I used to work for the county courthouse, and I had to sit all day long. I used to take my car seat massager in with me, and plugged it in, and used it all day. Relaxed me, and made the day go by smoother. If you do that though make sure you get the outlet adapter, I got mad when I found out buildings, don't have a built in cigarette lighter. What were they thinking?

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King

I started at my software development job about a year ago and had the same problem when I started. The first thing I did was ask for a better chair, that helped a lot. Another thing is to just get up every couple hours and go to the lunch or break room and chat with people, grab a coffee, or play a game of pool (my company just got a pool table). Once you have worked there a bit longer you will know more people to just get up and go talked to someone for a bit.

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mackenga

Sitting all day is a killer. I have a crap chair at work and have a permanent pain in the middle of my back. There's no way my employer will buy me a decent chair, so I plan to buy one of my own shortly and take it in there.

I also recommend getting a really good keyboard. It pains me to recommend anything with that evil logo on it, but the gull-wing Microsoft Natural keyboard, with the raised section in the middle, is unbeatable if you ask me (and I've tried several).

DaWei's idea about the smoke break is a good one too. I happen to smoke, which is probably about the only reason I ever get off my ass these days. Although, if you don't smoke, I think this is a tricky subject. Non-smokers should be entitled to take fresh-air breaks in my opinion, but if your employer disagrees it's not good to mark yourself out as a renegade too soon in your career - wait until you're indispensable first!

Not really related to your question, but the advice I'd offer anyone starting out in software development is be careful how much work you take on. If people keep changing your spec or adding extra parts to a project make sure you let them know that you can only incorporate changes and additions if they stretch your deadline.

I made the mistake of trying to be 'good' and absorb extra work but all lay loads on a willing horse and they just assume you'll always do that if you start.

Best of luck in your new job, by the way! Hope it's better than mine!

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Duck

By the way, it is not professional to go to the toilet. Really professional people rarely if ever use the toilet. (I haven't seen my boss use the toilet in the last 4 years). lol

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