I spend a lot of time at my desk. Working from home for the last nine months has allowed me to play with my setup and tweak it gradually. I can’t tell you if it improves my productivity, but it is comfortable, and it does look cool.
Today I got a new desk as a Christmas present. I like a large space to work, and I love having an authentic wood surface. I thought about a standing desk, but with the volume of training, I like to sit when I am working. As long as I keep up my 4-minute movement breaks, my 30 second hangs three times per day, and sit correctly; I don’t feel the need to stand all day to be healthy. I have gone with the GERTON Beech Tabletop (155×75 cm) with some trestle legs from Ikea and have varnished it with a dark oak finish.
There is something about Eames chairs that is special. I originally wanted the soft pad low back design as they look great, but I have never been a big fan of too much padding. I ended up going with the high back ‘managers’ chair and found a high-quality replica from By Kallevig.
The monitor is the computer. I have tried multiple screen setups including double 27-inch widescreen monitors, but I was never a fan of the bezel. An alternative would be a 49-inch ultrawide screen, but I like to have a bit of hight too. I have settled on a 4K 32-inch curved monitor from Dell. The size gives me space for two windows side by side, and the screen is easy on the eyes.
The built-in keyboard on both my laptops are great, but I use an external device when working at my desk. My current choice is the wireless Vinpok Taptek, is the first mechanical keyboard I have used, and I am not going back. It is a pleasure to type with and has colourful backlights that respond to the keys that add a nice touch. It has a mac layout which can be an issue when using my work laptop, but I like it and can’t bring myself to replace it with a PC layout alternative.
I have had an apple magic trackpad for years, but last year I was given a Microsoft Surface Arc mouse by work, and I have been using that instead. It feels great in hand, has a touchpad on the front that gives you lots of control, and snaps flat for travel.
For my laptop, I rotate between my recently purchased work-issued i7 Surface Laptop 3 and my personal, and much older MacBook Air. Of the two, I prefer the Microsoft device and use the Surface almost exclusively. It has a high-quality touch screen, plenty of power, and I find Windows to be really useable for working.
For music, I have a pair of B&W P5 headphones. I have been a die-hard fan of Bowers and Wilkins since I was lucky enough to visit Abby Road recording studios at school as part of a tour of EMI set up by the British Arts Council. In every room, they had 800 series speakers that sounded out of this world, and so I have not bought speakers from another company since.
Now I have my new desk; I want to add a desk plant to lighten up the room and add some green and have been looking at Little Botanica for options. After that, possibly some speakers? Perhaps a pair of Formation Flex desktop speakers with a Formation Bass sub? We shall see…
Let me know of Twitter about your setup.
SamuelJTanner 