Ask HN: Setting up a home office Tips?

1 pointsposted 8 hours ago
by Goleniewski

Item id: 41740358

3 Comments

markx2

8 hours ago

Two things that made the most difference for me.

1. Wacom tablet, basic level. I developed RSI (because of mouse clicking) in 2007/8 and using the tablet in Mouse mode helped hugely.

2. Coccyx cushion

cameron_b

7 hours ago

Once you have your rough layout, I would give some thought to repetitive stress avoidance. The ergonomics of a home office are slightly different since you aren't stepping away to a meeting in the conference room or walking down to the cafe from time to time. You have to build in your change of scenery, ( schedule your walks, make them happen ) but you also have to give room for just being at your desk more, and making it fit better to how you work.

I also like the "keep it separated" structure for work laptop and personal computer. I have a three-wide monitor setup, and the center is shared. I also use separate keyboard and mice, including a vertical mouse, because I found it helped on the right-hand setup to have a different angle.

I have a sit-stand desk that I find to be really great. You can spend lots for that part, but mine is a manual leg set and a melamine top to go with it from Ikea, along with a stool from Ikea as well to make sure I had a few options but none include 'too slouchy.' You may want a proper chair with a back, but I didn't want to find a place for mine when I wanted to stand and move more. I also find that I keep the desk in a pretty narrow range of height once I find a good spot and I keep it there for days. That's why manual is good for me.

I support collaboration tools, so I am on calls often, and have headsets and cameras sent to me to try out, but I find that I use a few things in rotation. I don't like having things in my ears ( so no airpods for me ) but I do like lightweight over-ear headsets. I'm currently using the Logi Zone Wireless Plus, and I've liked their wired version because it is even lighter (they were both sent to me for evaluation) but I still find myself using speakers for some calls, so I have a soundbar connected to the work dock and a stereo receiver connected to the other. I prefer having separate "out loud" connections, so that I don't have to scramble to set up for a meeting, and the headset floats, since it can handle multiple connections ( dongle, two bluetooth ).

I also have separate cameras, making sure that they have a microphone for when I don't want to wear the headset. Cameras can be a little finicky, most will want supplemental lighting to actually look good. The Poly P5 ($55) does really well in very low light, but I found I didn't like the sound of the audio magic it does ( it has great noise cancellation, but I'd rather use my headset) I find myself using Logi[tech]'s older c525 because the framing fits my desk area with little messing around, and because I have two of them atop the central screen, so the perspective is similar for both computers.

To ease the lighting for the cameras, but keep the lights out of my eyes, I mounted LED strips to the ceiling above me, controlled by WLED and a motion sensor. That ( and the melamine desktop ) provides for a soft "bounce" light to help for calls, without the "ring light" feel of staring at a lamp all day.

That's a bit of a book, but hopefully it helps with the decision process. Your desk is very personal and particular, and it is worth spending the time to evaluate along the way as well.

user

7 hours ago

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