12 Desk Setup Upgrades That ACTUALLY Matter

I've made a lot of desk setups longtime subscribers will know that I am obsessed with trying to get the perfect setup I've shared quite a few videos on this channel sharing a number of those different setups I've been working from home since before that was even a thing it's been 13 years now that I've had a dedicated desk set up at every home that I've lived in and at every office that I've rented I've bought and used a ton of different desks chairs monitors and all sorts of other desk accessories I like to think I know which desk upgrades actually matter and what it takes to make a good setup that's both ergonomic and not a waste of money when setting up a new desk the first thing I do is look for the perfect desk for that specific space as every space is different so I like to make sure the desk matches however there is one important factor that I feel like a lot of people don't think about enough when choosing a desk and that is the actual depth of the desk itself having a deep desk is important if you're going to be there for hours at a time as you'll need room to rest your arm arms on it when typing if your arms aren't either resting on the armrest of your chair or the desk you'll quickly start getting aching pains in your trapezius muscles the muscles that are here and here I've noticed if I don't have anything resting like if I'm not resting my elbows anywhere over time because you're sort of slouching and your arms are sort of like this you end up just getting uncomfortable aching pains in those muscles because my office is quite roomy I've gone with a large 180 cm wide and 80 cm deep desk I've then put it on a frame that gives me the option to turn it into a standing desk I bought them both separately as I was looking for this specific color combination with a desk this big I have room for everything I need within Arms Reach when it comes to desk recommendations I actually don't think the brand matters that much price will simply vary depending on the features and materials all that matters is getting a desk that fits your specific purpose and has standing functionality but for those wondering I'll of course leave links to the tabletop and the frame that I'm using down in the description below the next part of the setup and probably the most important is the chair a lot of people will simply use a chair they already have like a dining table chair or buy a chair they feel like they think looks good they haven't actually thought about the ergonomics of the chair itself a general rule that I like to apply to my life that I've got it from somewhere else but I can't actually remember exactly where is that whatever is separating yourself from the floor I think is worth spending money on so things like an office chair a good mattress a good pair of shoes these sorts of things are separating you from the hardness of the floor that I feel like it's just worth spending a little bit of money to make sure you get a sufficient level of comfort please do not buy a gaming chair I don't even understand why gaming chairs are popular they're not ergonomic they don't look good and they're just going to end up giving you back problems later in life please avoid gaming chairs if you can the specific chair I'm using is the Herman Miller airon which is known as the goat when it comes to office chairs it has an absolute ton of adjustability and especially designed to be as ergonomic as possible however this chair is not cheap at over $11,000 new so the two cheaper alternatives I would recommend are the Ikea markers chair or one from see I think it's called the main requirements I think you should consider when choosing an office chair is height adjustability and armrest adjustability the height needs to be at a position where your feet can rest flat on the floor and the armrest height needs to be in line with your desk so that you can rest your arms on there if you can't rest them on the desk itself the desk and the chair is important to get right from the beginning as they will most likely be the two things you keep the longest in your desk setup so you want to make sure they last so when it comes to monitors I feel like they are very highly preference-based so I'm not going to be recommending any specific monitors but I did want to share what I think you should be considering when choosing a monitor for your setup first thing of course is how many monitors I think many people go through the phase of thinking they need multiple monitors to be ultr productive I'm not going to lie I was definitely one of those people I used to think that I need like three or four or five different monitors to be super productive and yeah I kind of just realized that isn't the case I just much prefer having one large monitor what I've noticed as well is that if I do need an extra secondary monitor I can just use the monitor on my MacBook but even then I've rarely ever actually used the monitor on my MacBook my personal monitor that I have in this specific setup is the Apple Pro display xdr and I do also have a studio display at home and there's a few reasons as to why I chose these monitors first up is they are very high resolution monitors that are ideal for my workflow the pro display xdr specifically is 6k resolution that resolution gives me a ton of screen state but it's also still very sharp I primarily do design Work video editing and photo editing for design work especially the resolution and Screen estate is very important it also only requires one cable to connect to my MacBook so it's quick and easy to get going when I get into the office in the mornings the way I see it is that if a product is going to help me get my work done quicker and more efficiently then it's wor worth the investment the wallpaper so I'm biased here as I sell my own wallpapers but I'm obsessed with regularly changing wallpapers there's something about having a new wallpaper that gives my setup a whole new look and feel wallpapers for me can affect my mood they can motivate me or just match a certain aesthetic I'm going for I'll of course leave links to all of my wallpapers down in the description below next up I want to share an awesome app called workspaces who are also sponsoring this video something I do often is move between very different projects so I might be working on a video might working on a website or something like that I have to keep changing those apps I have to keep shutting down apps opening apps workspaces helps solve this problem so for example when editing a video I need to open up notion for the video notes I need to open up Final Cut Pro for the edit and I need to open up finder for the video clips workspaces is an app that can do all that for me with one click another example is when setting up my development environment for making a website I need to open up visual studio code figma for the design Safari and I might even have a relevant music playlist to help me stay focused workspaces makes it super easy to set up different apps files folders emails and a bunch bunch more all you have to do is run a workspace and it opens up everything for you then when you're done it can close it all for you too you can customize what the actions do whether you want something to happen immediately with a delay or even when you finished you also don't have to launch a whole workspace if you want to get to a specific action maybe there's something within a workspace that you want to access you can launch those individually but still take advantage of workspaces doing the automation so make sure to check out workspaces I'll leave a link to it down in the description below I have my monitor on a monitor stand but if you don't have a deep desk I would highly recommend getting a monitor arm instead they will take up significantly less room on your desk and also fairly affordable prices for them can vary depending on materials and functionality if you do have the room though a desk shelf could also add more space to your desk as well as bringing up the level of your monitor it might not look as minimal but I added added a desk shelf to my setup recently and have been loving it it gives me more room for little things such as my Dyson fan remote SD cards and any other sort of small little belongings I also have room underneath for other things that I need quick access to because I like having my laptop open next to my monitor I prefer having a laptop stand to raise the MacBook it now brings it more alongside my monitor making it easier to move Windows across to it the monitor stand that I have here is from UGM monk but I'll also leave links to some other Alternatives that are height adust able having a desk light I think is a must whether it's a lamp LED lighting strips or a monitor light bar I found that having a light that can lights up my desk area and even change color temperature more useful than I ever thought it would be I have a pretty unique desk light here it's called the Logitech lighter beam and it's actually a key light for video streaming but it can be doubled up to be a desk light as it's so versatile you can put it into various different configurations it's really down to preference and you can change the brightness as well as the color temp temperature next up is the mouse and keyboard and when it comes to mouse and keyboard I feel like there is so much Choice out there that you should be able to find whatever you like I've tried many different mice and I just keep personally going back to the magic mouse for me it's the one that's been the most useful due to how well it's integrated with Mac I've been using it for over 10 years now and I've had no issues apart from the god awful way of charging it of course however if the Magic Mouse is uncomfortable for you there's the Logitech MX Master 3s and the lift these two mice are the ones that I keep recommending to people looking for an ergonomic productivity Mouse I've also made a dedicated video sharing my favorite mice so make sure to check that out for the keyboard I'm currently using the magic keyboard I personally like the shallow key travel and the compact size I think it's well worth spending the money on a keyboard for two main reasons it's probably the most touched thing on your desk so it definitely needs to hold up and it can make or break your productivity a good keyboard will help you type faster and get things done quicker along with along side the magic keyboard I recommend the newy a75 and the MX mechanical mini I also again have a dedicated video showing my favorite keyboards right now so make sure to check that out when it comes to desk mats again I'm a bit biased here but a desk mat is a must I have this full grain leather one from ulx it has a smooth shiny leather finish to it which is ideal for a mouse it gives my desk a bit of texture and warmth that you won't get with a bare desktop so I don't think this one is totally necessary but it's definitely an upgrade worth having in every setup that I've had I've always had a set of external speakers I just much prefer listening to music through speakers I much prefer listening to podcast through speakers and of course watching video there's just something about it for speakers that just a lot more convenient than having to mess around with earbuds or headphones and because I'm usually working alone or maybe with one other person I'm not really interfering with them or other people around me so it's just for me makes a lot more sense the speakers I have are the Bose Companion 50s I've had these speakers since 2015 which is wild as that is a pretty long time they have been absolutely faultless in my ownership one of the best desk upgrades I've made but unfortunately they don't sell them anymore so I'll leave links to some other Alternatives that I would recommend now that most phones have wireless charging it only makes sense to have a wireless charger on your desk it also means your phone is always charged up so you don't have to worry about the battery so much I actually have two wireless chargers on my desk I have the oky wood Max safe charger on on my desk shelf this one is used to charge my iPhone and also gives me the ability to turn my phone sideways so I can take advantage of standby mode below the desk shelf I have a nomad 3 in-1 charger which is used to charge any other phones that I might have airpods and my Apple watch I'd highly recommend getting an all-in-one charger if you can having one place to charge all of your devices quickly means no having to worry about low battery and these are just some of the desk upgrades that I would recommend if you have any recommendations yourself please leave them in the comments below also make sure to check out my full desk tour video that I published earlier in the year hopefully you guys enjoyed it follow me on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe for [Music] more

Channel: Oliur / UltraLinx

Views: 548,798

Keywords: workspaces, workspace, office, office upgrades, workspace upgrades, office accessories, workspace accessories

Id: vPCexNhxP8o

Length: 11min 19sec (679 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 01 2023