14 desk setup upgrades that ACTUALLY matter

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 along

the way it feels.

It's a very premium and luxurious wood.

Great way to add some war to a set up.

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, while

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

and has a built in cable management tray,

making it easy to store

and hideaway 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 a 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 they're not going to

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 set up, 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

and 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 510 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.

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 area.

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.

Our 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 used one

because they are built to last.

They will last like ten, 15, 20 years.

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 on monitor.

Some people like myself, will be fine

with one monitor it was.

Others will need multiple monitors.

Some people might not even need a monitor

and they are completely

okay with just a laptop

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't get monitors

that are genuinely good enough.

But I think, like I said,

everyone's requirements,

everyone's

expectation is going to 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,

Cisco resolution, super

bright and 32 inches in size.

However, it would be terrible

for gaming due to only being 60

Hz refresh rate and it's not old.

But then you have old monitors

that come in a variety of different sizes.

Resolutions refresh rates.

Yet because they're old,

it's not as bright as a mini LCD monitor.

So bright

rooms are not going to be that great.

I did make a video last year

called The One Monitor set up

where I covered the monitor.

That's nearly good for everything.

It's far from perfect, but

it does cover most people's knees.

But what I would

recommend is getting a monitor stand

or an arm that gives you flexibility.

The monitor stand for my display.

It 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 strapped.

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 vinyl

and made from solid walnut.

I found that having something like this

helps me organise my accessories

as well as hi 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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