How complete is your WFH set-up?

So, in the UK we’re back into Lockdown 2.0 and realistically for office workers we don’t expect to be back in the office until well into next year. Even once we are, in many cases it will never be five days a week again. That, combined with the fact that walk-and-talk meetings are going to be increasingly limited by the weather, temperature and lack of sunlight, means we really all need to have a great desk set up.

I’m no expert, beyond of course the 2000+ hours I’ve been doing it this year, but here are thoughts on what I’ve done and what I’m planning. You’ll work out what fits your situation best but I’ve seen examples of excellent setups squeezed into corners of small apartments in London, Paris and Milan. So, even if you don’t have luxury of windows as I do there hopefully you can work out a set up that is comfortable, ergonomic and effective. Please do share you own tips in the comments so we can collect together.

The heart of the set up

Screens

Large monitor — this is what you’re staring at eight hours per day so a key part of the investment. This one is a 32-inch Samsung which I bought a few years back. It’s lightly curved, though I’ve no idea if that makes a real difference or is just a marketing gimmick, and the white frame is a little more attractive than traditional block.

The laptop screen (is an Microsoft Surface device with seperating keyboard) is placed below. A simple configuration allows the mouse to move up and down between the screens. The camera at the top of the Surface device is reasonably positioned to avoid people looking up my noise or down onto my forehead.

Keyboard and mouse

Quiet keyboard — on the assumption you are often typing during calls (hopefully relevant notes rather than finishing the report due in an hour!) then investing in a quieter keyboard reduces the irritation for your colleagues

Wireless mouse (combo with keyboard). In this day and age no point having unnecessary cable, or even taking up two USB ports. Ensure you have a keyboard and mouse combo. (The one I have doesn’t appear available anymore, but looks similar to this. Always worth checking the comments to see what reviews say about the sound)

(Most wireless keyboards and mice aren’t good at warning about low battery so ensure you have spare AA or AAA batteries available, or you’ll be raiding the remote control! I tend to get consumables like batteries via Amazon Subscribe and Save which gives up to 15% off regular purchases)

(An alternative I used when travelling was a Bluetooth mouse. The advantage is you don’t need to worry about the USB dongle and many are charged by a USB cable. These used to cost a lot but are now very affordable. Given our WFH focus you’ll want a keyboard/mouse combo so not so relevant; some point when travel happens again I can share the set-up I pull together to support 15 years of being on the road)

Connectivity

It became clear pretty quickly back in March/April 2020 that while the connection into our house was good enough for home working and home schooling at the same time the Wifi could not keep up. Thus I have a fixed connection with a old-school Cat5 network cable plugged into the Netgear internet router (why do wifi routers need to look like stealth bombers?).

As my MS Surface laptop doesn’t have a network socket I got a simple USB adaptor that also gives me a few more USB sockets.

For those of you who don’t have the wifi router in the same place as you have the computer then there is a very easy, quite cheap, and hardly know solution.

This tech trick has totally transformed many people’s working efficiency and maybe the single most useful idea on the page.

Enter the powerline adapter. This simple bit of kit involves two boxes that use the electricity power cables in your home to allow internet connectivity in any room. This can give you wireless connectivity in rooms it doesn’t reach (which can also be done through wifi extenders and other tech) but most valuably if you buy the right ones it gives you a plug for a cable in the distant room.

This should also work to get a fix single to your Smart TV though I’ve not actually tried that as a use an Amazon Firestick for Netflix, Amazon Prime etc and that only works with wifi.

Audio

Microphones

A stand-alone microphone. Here’s an investment you personally will never directly benefit from but depending on the quality of what’s built into you machine your colleagues will likely love you for this investment.

My funky Blue Snowball was actually an investment a few years back for recording podcasts; you can go with something a little less bling. Alternatively the rise in podcasting and audio streams for gamers means there are all sorts of sophisticated set-ups at manageable prices, such as this from TONOR.

The alternative of course is a full blown headset of which there are many types and what you invest in will presumably depend on your post-lockdown plans. For those returning to offices soon where there will be far more calls going on as staff speak to those colleagues who are still WFH it may be worth the additional expense of noise-cancelling headphones.

Passive noise-cancelling is cheaper, and there are also useful considerations such as those headphones where you can mute/unmute by touching a button on the cable or mic-boom rather than needing to interact with your computer.

Going wireless is convenient but comes at a cost. For example the top end Bose wireless ones that a colleague use to lend me have a fantastic range and look great. They also have a fantastic price.

Do remember that is you are likely to be using in the office, the LED-enhanced Korean-style gaming headset may cause even more amusement in person than when people saw it on the screen!

The third route is a wireless Bluetooth speaker. MIne is a hang-over from my travelling days and is great where you have a number of people in a room and no speaker phone. It’s less relevant currently, unless you want to put it next to your Peloton to talk while cycling!

Final note on audio-in. You will see a cheap set of old-school mic-plug headphones. These are the emergency for when other things go wrong. I find plugging these in often overcomes problems that USB devices might be having. I presume everyone has a pair or two lying around, else for those fully-upgraded Apple users you can grab a low-cost pair here.

Speakers

On the whole I see no need for external speakers. If the quality is so bad then you might as well go the headphone route.

Where a speaker is useful is for quality music. True music buffs will scoff at a Bluetooth device streaming Amazon Music but for the bulk of us this works perfectly to play what’s streaming on our phone. Typically instrumental jazz at the moment for me.

My Pure speaker is old-school and needs to be plugged in for power but there are so many available now that are rechargeable and all easy to set up and play what’s streaming on the phone. Maybe think ahead and buy one suitable for the garden next year (my kids use this one), or get Santa to bring a waterproof one that let’s you listen to music in the shower!

Camera

I don’t have an external camera. Or rather I do, left over from the days when USB webcams first came out. I don’t use it as the built in one is good enough and at the right level. On top of the monitor or on the table both give a sub-optimal angle from your audience. Out to the side is even worse.

When I’m talking with people I actually shrink the window as much as possible while seeing them and pull it as close as possible to the camera to maximise the eye-to-eye nature of the conversation.

Printer

This is as cheap-as-chips HP colour printer (the smallest I have found that allows scanning and copying. It’s a year or two old so imagine and there are new version numbers now — it looks like it has reached HP DeskJet 3760 which is currently on ￡75 including two months of subscription ink (see below).

I use HP instant ink. You pay monthly for a certain number of pages and they monitor ink status and automatically send new ink when it’s running low. It starts at 99p a month. I pay ￡3.49 for 100 pages. The plan can be changed as required so when we get back to the office I might reduce by page number. (Get a free month through this link)

This printer (and most others these days) allow wireless connection and printing via email. It’s not good for high volume but who needs that in the current situation. In a previous role when I was printing larger amounts at home I had an HP LaserJet Pro. This was cheap to buy, fantastically fast and very reliable for 10s of pages of black and white print. (The toner was horribly expensive but that’s the razor and blades pricing model they use.)

Furniture

Desk and chair

The desk is one we’ve had for 15 years. A have two chairs and switch between them for variety of posture. Neither are amazing but both do go up and down and have wheels. I agree in theory with those people who say the single most important thing is to buy a chair, but when you can pay less than ￡100 for this, it feels tough to consider one at ￡700. The right answer is presumably somewhere in between. Anyone seen a website that really helps with this given we can’t go into John Lewis anymore to try them?

Or if you’ve got a spare seven grand just go for the top….

Auxiliary equipment

The VonHaus monitor stand I have is great — strong, light and contains a one-to-three USB adaptor which is useful if you don’t already have one. I think it might have been discontinued but there are plenty of similar if not quite so easy on the eye. If I was buying now I would be considering one that could change height. (I would also be thinking of a desk that would change height but that’s clearly a more significant investment)

The MS Surface screen is balanced someone less attractively on a few books from the epic Mortal Engines series (well worth a read for kids between 10 and 14, or if you’re into audio books then suitable for listening from about 8 years old)

Not clearly shown in the photo but important is the right set of charging cables. With a cable on desk at work there was limited risk of running our of battery. But for years I’d prided myself in only ever using the cables that came with devices so had limited cables at home and not in the “home-office”.

This was clearly daft and in the hope that Apple doesn’t change their connector standard I invested in a whole load of cables (of different lengths) that are strategically available around the house. There is nothing more frustrating than finally finding time for an afternoon walk and then realising that the phones down to 15%.

I do have a stylus for the Microsoft Surface device, but the way it is standing means that it’s hard to apply pressure and therefore I used it a limited amount. It is one area I think I could improve. Potentially having an iPad and pen to the side connected to the Teams calls and Team whiteboard.

Not in the photo, but on the floor is a tennis ball. I roll my feet (socks, no shoes) on it while on calls. I’ve no idea if this massaging makes any difference but it’s a habit I’ve had for years to keep my feet moving. Some people do the same with golf balls. I’d love to hear from anyone how has an informed view of this.

Gooseneck phone holder

Originally purchased as part of a school project this bizarre piece of kit is great if you want to stand for a while but not hold the phone.

You can connect your phone to your call, fit it in the gooseneck and talk.

If you do want to sit after a bit you can easily bend it to be at the right level. If you are writing/drawing on a video call you can use this to point the phone directly at your piece of paper.

I also tried this for calls on the exercise bike but you do need to find a surface to fix it to as the shaking of the bike gives the viewer seasickness.

Lighting and surrounds

Lighting

The window is north facing so no issues with direct sunlight (except very early in the summer).

The desk lamp and the room lights do a good enough job.

What I don’t have and which is very clearly on the yes-not-no wish-list is an LED light ring. They are not expensive — starting at only ￡15 — but I'm doing Zoom calls with people not recording Tiktok so it feels a little over the top!

Backdrop

Behind me I have a wall with some photos. No changing light and no through passage that family members need to walk along. This means I typically just use that.

On occasions a virtual backdrop is helpful and of course the technology in Teams and Zoom has progressed over the past six months and it works well except when you reach for your cup of tea and your arm disappears.

A somewhat daft wish-list item for me is this behind-the-chair green-screen. I’ve no real need , but those with people behind or a cluttered background might find it useful. I’ve yet to see a good review for the cheap ones and the idea of spending ￡50+ on a piece of green canvas feels wrong!

Nutrition

Snacks

Somewhat a side point, but important and easy for everyone. I start the day putting 3–4 pieces of fruit in a bowl. This are then my “go-to snacks” if I’m feeling hungry or have a frustration-driven desire to eat. It’s better than seeking cheese in the fridge!

I have also purchased bulk quantities of things like Itsu seaweed snacks (wasabi flavoured please!)which are a better solution than cookies if the fruit is not enough

Hydration

Two pint glasses are filled with water early in the day (one with Vitamin D tablet) to make sure I’ve hydrated well. The various hot drinks are not shown.

Paper

There’s very little paper. Partly because we’re all using less currently, but also because I ensure that any notes taken on paper during the day or actions, written up or scanned as soon as possible, and for any paperwork coming by post I scan this and store on the Cloud. (Another post on this at some point)

Thanks for reading!

Happy to have shared this and really appreciated the set-ups and tips other have shared with me. Do share any comments or thoughts as comments or the LinkedIn Realistic Live Management page.

Note: Article contains affiliate links