A big desk made me much more productive, but it took a very long time. I’m not saying it’s not worth it, you learn a lot, but it’s a massive amount of effort. Once you get a bigger desk, you’ll find that you don’t use it a lot because you keep getting up to get things. You’ll eventually figure out standardized locations for everything, but then because it’s so standardized you’ll find yourself stealing from it because you know what you need will be there.
You’ll probably also need an extra keyboard, special mouse, desk lamp to help with the overreaching that causes lots of physical strain as well as the low light (or too much light) that can cause eye strain.
Next you’ll constantly fidget and get up for a drink of water, some food, a snack...so you’ll have to think about how you eat, how you space out meals, set locations for water bottles, and so on and so forth.
Once you’re done with all that, you’ll then sit down to work...and you’ll actually have to, for once in your life, confront your demons of inattention, task switching, and pure laziness. This is what finally got me to start meditating as well as eliminate the mental pollution of entertainment disguised as news.
We spend around 14 hours a day, maybe more, at our homes, so all in all I think it was worth it. But realize you’ll be building so many skills from the ground up that our culture just never teaches you.
It also provides as many as three separate work zones that you can use comfortably by swiveling instead of moving the chair or moving your other work out of the way. For instance, reference material on one side, computer in the middle, and note paper on the other side.
> There is a lot of research[...]
Architectural Robotics: Ecosystems of Bits, Bytes, and Biology (MIT Press) https://www.amazon.com/dp/026203395X
The keyboard and mouse controls are on a panel that is connected to the chair so they stay in the correct position relative to your body even if you turn one way or the other.
Just thinking about this video sometimes gives me shivers.
[0] https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Willi...
I assume it dates back to when I was studying for A-levels (UK school exams 16-18 years old). I would do all of my evening's prep (UK boarding school name for homework) on the largest table in the old library, I'd set up a sort of defensive wall of papers and folders that took up a 1-2 meter radius from me and sometimes more if I was working on a particularly large mind map. People soon got the idea and, since the school wasn't lacking for places to work, no one seemed to mind me bunking down for 2.5 hours (yes, we had enforced prep in silence from 7-9:30pm) every weekday evening and giving me all the space I needed.
Enjoy your new desk!
This is the key thing, i think. There is a convention in some technical disciplines - mechanical engineering, architecture, civil engineering up to a point - that things are measured in millimetres even when they're on the scale of metres. So you get a ceiling that is 2400 mm high, or pilings on a 1500 mm spacing, etc.
I'm not sure why. I suppose it means that the large things are directly comparable with small things that are more naturally measured in millimetres (if your tiles are 300 mm, you need eight courses for your 2400 mm bathroom wall), and you can use single unit on drawings taking in large and small things (the engine block is 900 mm long, the bolts are 12 mm across, on 150 mm spacings).
It probably ties in with preferred numbers somehow:
My assumption is that it is a. more accurate and b. allows you to talk about a 22mm pipe (standard plumbing diameter pipe) in the same unit as a 2400x1200 sheet of plaster board, without having to worry about what to do with the decimal point - pure speculation though.
Ironically people will say “twelve hundred” in this context which is deemed to be of American influence, but in any other context they would more likely say “one thousand two hundred”. Given that the US is imperial this can’t be a trade influence - must be for speed and ease of pronunciation.
This is speculation on my part, but I consider mm better because it allows greater resolution than cm without fractions and makes more sense when you consider cm is the only non-thousandth metric prefix we use for common units (mL,kg,km - dB would be an exception). cm on the other hand is closer in scale to inches and generally easier to estimate because of this.
Source: I asked someone who has a Masters in English and forgot most of what she said, so don't hold my feet to the fire on details.
My point is that non-American English spelling is wrong in many cases, intentionally. So don't go around saying you're correct. You mutilated your own language to appease the French.
If we're going to talk about the deliberate sabotage of orthography, then surely Noah Webster's "thru", "catalog", etc are the most outrageous?
That said, as with metre/meter, we have at least salvaged some Websterisms as adding nuance to the language. In the UK, i write computer programs, but pretend to enjoy opera programmes.
A comfortable chair, keyboard, mouse and monitor setup is almost critical for working an extended period of time. I also work from home and realized I needed a dedicated room/area for my workspace. Before this, I was in a smaller apartment and my desk was in the living room area. I noticed my morale deteriorating after a few months in that environment.
Your desk doesn't need to be that big. I had a larger desk before and aside from not fitting very well in my room, it tended to get cluttered with random junk. Having a smaller desk forces me to keep it clean. Also using a monitor arm helps you claim back some space.
On the chair, comfort is important but like I mentioned above firmer is better if you're going to be sitting for a long time (and again, standing desks are not that expensive so you should consider one).
[1] $240 from IKEA http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S49084965/. It's cheap because it's manual (you turn a crank to adjust the height) but it works fine.
Although as ever, The Onion was way ahead:
https://www.theonion.com/more-office-workers-switching-to-fe...
https://www.theonion.com/health-experts-recommend-standing-u...
:)
Looks uncomfortable, like a dentist's chair (but maybe is amazing once you get in it).
Since a lot of people are chiming in with monitor suggestions, I'll add my own:
32" 4k main
27" 2560x1440 secondary
Rotate the 27" monitor to portrait mode. Use it for your browsers (however you need them).
Edit:
If you go the 4k route, absolutely make sure your hardware can drive it at 60hz. HDMI will typically only give you 30hz and you will go mad.
Desk hygiene cannot be overvalued- if that is the way your mind works best. I find I am often a product of my environment- wthats why working from home is so difficult; home is "relaxation and projects" space, not work space. Same deal with clothes. I try to dress in a buttondown and slacks to go to work, whereas a lot of my coworkers just do a T-shirt and jeans. Like the stanford prison experiments, it is all about the environment.
These days I think my perfect work space would probably have a good chair with desk on three sides. I'd like the central desk area reserved for my main workstation screens and other peripheral devices. I'd have one side for all the organisers and phones and gadgets and chargers. And until someone invents an electronic version that beats good old pen and paper, I'd have the other side include a large, comfortable writing/drawing surface, a magical unlimited supply of paper and different colours of pens, all the writing/drawing aids like rules and compasses and so on, along with a good printer and a good scanner.
Compared to working on a laptop, literally on my lap, the difference in productivity is infinite as I can't get anything done in a cramped environment.
The key thing a desk enables is ergonomics, productivity, and avoiding fatigue through allowing a variety of work configuration.
I have had a standing desk for almost 5 years, and while I don't religiously stand or sit for any period of time, I just stand when I'm feeling restless, and sit when tired. Works great.
A desk isn't a desk without what you do on it, mine also has:
- A table top of your preferred size, attached to a standing desk, with a quality desk is invaluable. Prime Cables sells standing desk legs for under $200. - I run three 24" QHD monitors, replaced 2 27" QHD monitors. Less neck movement, and way more pixels. It's not just about screensize, but number of usable pixels. - MS Sculpt ergonomic keyboard that i switch with the freestyle - MS Sculpt mouse
All attached to a MBP.
I wasn't a fan of the keyboard and mouse, but once I got used to it in a few weeks, I can't type on my laptop anymore with pain. Don't feel like you need all of the above, I've arrived at what I have one piece at a time, trying different things.
More important to me is QUIET and lack of distractions. Either silence or white noise. No random things moving around (as I would have in an open plan office even with headphones).
Otherwise it doesn't matter much. I've written a lot of code on planes (in cabin white noise is great) as long as I can switch off the seatback monitor.
In general I don't like to have a lot of specialized tools (multiple monitors, fancy keyboards, unusual pens etc) -- the cognitive burden is too much.
I wonder if having a small desk has a kanban-like effect. No, you don't have room for the computer, and a phone, and your notebook, and that book, and those printouts. Pick one and get on with some work.
I don't use a multiple monitor setup, though I do like having more pixels than I get on my laptop so do have a single external monitor at the desk. I mostly code in a text editor with command line debugger.
I haven't used printouts in a very long time, in part because they are clumsy and overwhelming(!!). The notebook is only to keep temporary state. But anything smaller than A4/8.5x11 paper is too small in the occasional case where I want to draw a picture / graph.
I have never thought of myself as trendy. Hmm. :-)
I recently purchased a very wide, standing desk, and boy, do I regret not doing this before. It takes up a healthy portion of the room, but it has increased my productivity immensely. Another, added bonus is the fact that my body feels a whole lot better after a standing day's work than a sitting day's work.
Definitely look into it!
I quit using a second monitor too. That was a big productivity gain. I am a project manager, so I have no need for two screens.
When I really need to get something hacked out I will unplug my laptop and just work on that.
A desk should be large enough to support your work style. For me, that means space for a few large monitors, keyboards, and mice (I have a desktop and laptop, and sometimes bring the latter in for maintenance.) I also like space for notebooks of written notes, and area for someone else to work at if they're "visiting" while we collaborate.
Without a large enough desk, I tend to start taking over other furniture for paper storage.
I also tend to care about my customers more when I bound to some physical restrictions. In simple words, I become more empathetic to other people's ups and downs when I feel the pain of this world. Even when such limitations are artificially imposed on my working environment.
And herein lies the problem of man
It was an everlasting beginning. Boehme
After looking at expensive office chairs I ended up making one out of the seat of a wrecked sports car ($70 and they removed it from the car for me. Leather, very comfy). I used the base from an old swivel chair. Best chair I've ever had. The only downside being that it reclines enough to nap in.
Sounds like a feature, not a bug. :)
Despite knowing that, my desk is still incredibly messy...
I'd also highly recommend using multiple larger (>20") displays for a notable productivity boost.
Any monitor arm recommendations? For a 32" and a 27" monitor which I keep in portrait mode.