I'm at that stage of life where writing is difficult. It's uncomfortable, stressful, even painful.
Unless I'm wearing sweat pants. <g>
Unless I'm wearing sweat pants. <g>
I spent quite a lot of momey on a really good desk chair, a good desk with height adjustment, an extremely good computer monitor and a docking station for my laptop. They all make a huge difference to physical comfort. But, I also don't sit writing for more than about 40 minutes at a time. I get up, walk around, look at something else, all to give my eyes and the rest of me a bit of downtime. Sometimes I'll even raise the desk right up and stand whilst writing.There are most definitely psychological aspects to writing "comfortably". I was speaking more to the physical aspects. The same goes for reading. Used to be I could read for hours, but increasingly both my eyes and my body wear out early. The first manifestation of this isn't so much physical discomfort as it is a loss of concentration.
With writing it's more about the hands. The arthritis kicks up. Knuckles ache. Close behind (*ahem*) is my posterior, which starts to protest after only an hour or two of sitting, regardless of what sort of chair I'm in.
This has real consequences. To make genuine progress on any particular day, I do best at about three or four hours. But my body has trouble making it that far. So just as I should be gathering steam, my brain is starting to falter and wander. Word of advice to all you youngsters out there: get back to work! <g>
Having spent some of my professional career reading and writing plans and orders whilst standing, lying flat on the ground, crouching behind a rock, being bounced around in an APC, contour flying in a helicopter or sitting in the back of a C-130 I can honestly say that I don't miss writing like that at all.That is the right way to do it, all right. I don't have a standing desk, but I've a good chair, monitor etc.
Breaks are difficult to take because I have two dogs who wait for any sign that I am done, whereupon it's playtime and walkies. My trade-off is to switch between writing with pen and ink, and writing at the keyboard. Still and all, I pine for the days when I could lie on my stomach on the floor and write, drape a leg over a chair and write, and generally not be troubled by aches and pains. </whine>
Except that if you're writing 3-4 hours per day then you're talking about working 50% of a full time job. Even if you don't write every day writing sessions of that length are still enough to justify investing in your working environment.I'm not intending to write full time. I'm 70 years old and retired, so while this isn't quite a hobby it is also not a profession. English could really use a word for that. More than an avocation, for I do try to sell my books, but my financial goals at present are merely to break even.
Younger people can often ignore the consequences of poor posture etc because their bodies recover much faster. As you've discovered, that isn't true when you get older. You can help your body keep up with your brain, but it needs a good working environment.As far as comfort goes, I would like my body to keep up with my brain. That, alas, is a losing proposition. I think it probably always was (more imagination than stamina), but when younger one can ignore the creeping discomfort for longer.