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,

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 a useful tray

to put things like my external SSD,

and 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 wedges,

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 Audioengine A2+ 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 warm.

I'm no audiophine,

but I definitely do appreciate good sound quality.

I feel like a dedicated speakers

or headphones,

if that's what you're into,

it's always going to be much better

than the built-in speakers in a monitor.

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 2,

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.

It's 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 ULX.

It's a good way to add
some nice texture to the desk

whilst also protecting it

from my mouse scratching up the desk.

Keyboard and mouse are very preference-based.

So I don't 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 now,

I've not had any issues,

but I can completely understand

why other people do not find it ergonomic.

For most people I would highly recommend

the MX Master 3S,

which has a ton of functionality

and will be much more comfortable.

If you have wrist issues,

I would also recommend

checking out the Logi Lift,

which completely changes

the angle of your hand,

keeping it in a more natural position.

If you have a laptop and a monitor setup,

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 monitor 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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