Because I primarily work from a desk
pretty much every single day,
sometimes spending up to 12 hours at my desk,
depending on what I'm working on.
I've spent over ten years
creating different desk setups,
refining and adjusting continually
to create the most ergonomic
and comfortable desk setup.
So I like to think I know a thing or two
about what it takes to make a great desk setup.
In this video, I wanted to cover various
different desk setup upgrades
one should consider
when creating their own setup.
I want to make it clear though,
that you don't have to buy
every single thing
that I am mentioning in this video.
I just wanted to make
some recommendations.
You can choose whatever you like
based on your budget and your preferences.
First up is of course
the main centrepiece of the setup,
and that's the desk.
One major and very important factor
that everyone needs to consider
when purchasing a desk
is not actually the width of the desk,
but they should be considering
the depth of the desk.
So this is something
I learned the hard way.
If your arms don't have support,
your elbows don't have support,
and they're kind of just floating
whilst you're using your keyboard or mouse
that can actually result in aching pains
in your trapezius muscles,
the muscles that are here and here.
And you definitely don't want that.
So it's really important to consider a desk
that is deep enough to rest your arms on.
Another solution to that is to have armrests.
So if your chair has adjustable armrests,
making the armrests
the same height as your desk
can also make a big difference.
The desk I have here is from Vernal,
who are also sponsoring this video.
This is one from their new solid wood range,
which is made from real walnut.
It looks and feels absolutely incredible.
I'm personally a huge fan of Walnut.
I love the way it looks,
I love the way it feels.
It's a very premium and luxurious wood.
Great way to add some warmth to a setup.
I have the large one here,
which is 180 centimetres wide
and 75 centimetres deep.
The depth of this desk is perfect
as it has enough space for my arms, keyboard and mouse,
whilst also being able to easily fit
a large 32 inch monitor and a desk shelf.
It also has standing functionality
with three different memory settings,
has a built-in cable management tray,
making it easy to store
and hide away cables.
My cable management isn't the neatest,
but it works.
I also have this matching desk shelf,
which I'll cover later on in the video.
Make sure to check out Vernal.
I'll leave a link to this desk
in the description below.
If you can, I would also recommend
putting your desk in front of a window
or near a window.
I'm not sure where this notion has come from,
that putting your desk in front of a window
is a bad thing.
I actually think it's completely the opposite.
I actually think having your desk
in front of a window is a good thing.
I get a lot of natural sunlight coming in,
which is of course,
great for my mental well-being.
But at the same time,
your eyes are then also more likely to focus
on things farther away than your monitor
or the wall behind your monitor,
which is very important
because then that can help combat myopia.
So myopia is something
I actually had previously,
and myopia is essentially nearsightedness.
It's when your eyes find it difficult
to focus on things farther away.
And one of the causes of myopia
is looking at things close to you,
like your monitor.
If your eyes aren't regularly
focusing on things further away
and you're not getting natural sunlight
in your eyes,
that can very much speed up
the process of myopia
causing you to have nearsightedness.
Because I had myopia,
the only way to fix it is to wear glasses.
Now you can see I'm not wearing glasses right now,
but I did used to
because I have had laser eye surgery.
Whether you should have laser eye surgery
is really down to you,
but it's been an absolute game changer for me.
Next up is the chair.
So even though it's not
the centrepiece of the setup,
it's probably the most important part
because it's what you're going to be sitting in
for hours on end.
Please do not make the mistake
of getting a gaming chair.
Gaming chairs really
do not make any sense to me.
They are not designed to be ergonomic.
They're not going to be good for your back.
They might be comfortable at first
and they may be fun at first when you get it.
But five, ten years down the line,
when you're sitting in a chair like that
for hours every single day,
it's just not going to be good
for your back in the future.
Also, they're super ugly.
I feel like they also look a bit childish
and they're, well, overpriced.
Please avoid gaming chairs.
The chair I have here
is the Herman Miller Aeron.
This is by far and away
the most ergonomic chair you can buy.
It's absolutely incredible.
What makes this chair so good
is the amount of adjustability it has.
You get the standard height adjustments
like any other chair,
but you also adjust the armrests,
the tension of the backrest,
and much, much more.
When adjusted to you and your weight,
it should almost feel effortless
sitting in the chair.
Now this chair is not cheap,
it does retail new for around $1,000,
but a small little hack,
which I would very recommend,
is looking on your local marketplace
like Facebook Marketplace
or any other sort of classified ads,
and looking for Herman Miller Aeron chairs.
You will find them
for essentially half the price or less
because offices are usually just giving them away,
just trying to get rid of them.
I would highly recommend getting a used one
because they are built to last.
They will last like 10, 15, 20 year no problem.
Once you have a chair,
it's important to then get the settings right.
You need to make sure
that when you're sitting in the chair,
your feet can sit flat on the floor
and your knees are roughly
at a right angle.
And then if your desk isn't
deep enough to rest your arms,
you need to make sure the armrests on the chair
are at the same level as the desk.
Next up is a monitor.
So monitors are naturally
very highly preference based.
Everyone will have different requirements
and different expectations of a monitor.
Some people like myself will be fine
with one monitor,
whilst others will need multiple monitors.
Some people might not even need a monitor
and they are completely okay with just a laptop.
We're at this weird stage right now
where there isn't really one monitor
that's exceptionally good.
One monitor that's great for everything.
Now you can get monitors
that are genuinely good enough.
But I think, like I said,
everyone's requirements,
everyone's expectation is gonna be different.
So it really comes down to
what you expect from a monitor.
For example, the monitor I have here
is the Pro Display XDR,
it's 6K resolution,
super bright, and 32 inches in size.
However, it would be terrible for gaming
due to it only being 60 Hz refresh rate,
and it's not OLED.
But then you have OLED monitors
that come in a variety of different sizes,
resolutions, refresh rates.
Yet because they're OLED,
it's not as bright as a Mini LED monitor.
So, in bright rooms, they're not going to be that great.
I did make a video last year
called The One Monitor Setup,
where I covered the monitor
that's nearly good for everything.
It's far from perfect,
but it does cover most people's needs.
But what I would recommend
is getting a monitor stand
or an arm that gives you flexibility.
The monitor stand for my display
offers a ton of adjustability,
including height and tilt.
And high-end monitor arms can offer even more flexibility.
The aim is to get the monitor at a level
where you're not angling
your head too low or too high
so your neck is ideally straight.
I also like to regularly
keep my desktop looking fresh,
so I change wallpapers regularly.
I have a bunch of my own wallpaper packs,
make sure to check them out.
I'll leave a link to them
down in the description below.
On my desk,
I also have a desk shelf
which can be used to raise the monitor even further.
However, I use my desk shelf to mainly organise
my other accessories
and to raise my speakers.
This desk shelf is also from Vernal,
and made from solid walnut.
I found that having something like this
helps me organise my accessories
as well as hide things away.
There's useful
trying to put things like my external SSD
because the desk shelf also raises
the speakers to be closer to my ears.
It helps with sound quality a lot.
Same with the speaker,
so they're angled at my ears.
If you do work alone,
I would highly recommend
a pair of desktop speakers.
I specifically have the audio
engine, a two plus speakers.
These speakers are genuinely fantastic
and they sound incredible
when paired with a subwoofer.
They have such a wide range.
Depending on what I'm listening to,
they can sound super sharp
and tactile or smooth and more.
I'm no audio fault, but I definitely do
appreciate good sound quality.
I feel like dedicated speakers
I had finds.
If that's what you're into,
it's always going to be much better
than the built in speakers in a motel.
If you do video calls, often
a webcam is a must.
Most monitors
do not have a webcam built in.
I have this insta360 link webcam.
That is a great quality.
It's a great step up from a standard
MacBook webcam.
This is actually the older model.
They now have the new insta360
link too, which is even better.
But this camera is awesome.
It can follow me around if I move and
can do a bunch of other cool stuff.
If you have a laptop, regardless of
if it's connected to a monitor or not,
I would highly recommend
an adjustable laptop stand.
The one I have here is from Native Union.
It lets me adjust the height
and angle of the laptop.
It's solid made from aluminium
is the ideal way
to raise your laptop to eye level
so you're not having
to bend your neck down to look at it.
Now on
to some other great small additions.
I would highly recommend a mouse pad.
I have this full grain
leather one from your likes.
It's a good way
to add some nice texture to the desk
while also protecting it from my mouse.
Scratching out the desk.
Keyboard and mouse are very preference
based on.
I think there's really a right
or wrong keyboard or mouse to use.
I personally use the magic keyboard
and the magic mouse, which isn't known
to be ergonomic at all,
but I find the magic mouse amazing.
I feel like it's the best mouse.
I've been using it for over ten years.
I've not had any issues,
but I can completely understand
why other people do not find it ergonomic.
But most people I would highly recommend
the mix Master three
which has a ton of functionality
and will be much more comfortable
if you have wrist issues.
I would also recommend
checking out the logic left,
which completely changes
the angle of your hand, keeping it
in a more natural position.
If you have a laptop and a monitor set up
and need a bunch of additional ports
for connectivity,
I'd also recommend an external dock.
I have this caldigit one that lets me
connect my laptop and one or two to it.
I can
then connect a bunch of accessories to it
as it gives me a ton more USB ports
as well as some other useful ports.
I would also recommend
some sort of desktop charger
for your phone and other accessories.
I have this desk charger
that can charge my phone, Apple
Watch and AirPods all at once.
Not only is it useful, but it's also
a very premium piece of tech.
It has a weight to it
and the materials it's made from fill.
Incredible.
It looks very classy.
And if you regularly work into the dock,
then of course
a desk lamp can be very useful.
Again,
whatever you choose here
is purely preference based.
I have the Logitech Lightship Beam
Alexa, which is technically
a light made
for lighting your face
when you're streaming, but I also find it
very good as a desk lamp.
So for me it's dual purpose.
You can adjust the brightness
and colour temp on one side
and the other side it changes colours
so you can set it
to pretty much any colour you like.
If you like you'd a compliment.
So those are just
some of the desk upgrades
I would recommend all.
Of course,
live links
to everything down
in the description below.
If you guys
have any other recommendations,
please leave them in the comments.
I'm always interested to hear
what other people would recommend
in making their setup more comfortable.
Hopefully you guys enjoyed it.
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