Productivity cave complete

I had a goal for mindful consumption back in Aug.

Meaningful materialism. Invest in things that help me make more money

I wanted to buy the right things that would be meaningful and give back high ROI. Specifically, the right home office equipment that helps with physical health (back, neck, shoulders).

I also wanted to take care of my work by taking care of how I work. A craftsman takes good care of his tools. A good craftsman uses the right tools, high quality tools, to produce high quality work.

Productivity cave complete

And after 4 months, my productivity cave is 99% complete. At least the most critical pieces for posture are in place, and the rest are more good-to-have and decorative:

• Ergo mesh chair
• Sit/stand desk
• Mech keyboard
• Wooden palm rest
• Apple trackpad
• Ergo wrist pad
• 27" monitor
• Monitor arms
• Monitor light bar

Initially I thought I would sit most of the time, and stand maybe once or twice a day for short periods of time, but now it’s the other way round. I sit in the early morning from 5-7am, but for most of the rest of the day, the desk is standing mode. In fact, now I sit to rest and take a break.

I thought the standing desk’s only benefit would be helping me overcome sleepiness when I work, but it ended up being so much more.

I invested around $1.5-2k for it, and they are the best investments ever for my day-to-day posture and overall health. I’m already feeling the ROI from it.

Benefits

1. Sit, and everything comes to a stop. Stand, and things start flowing. I’m more embodied when I stand. I’m more present. I think better. I feel my body better more – needing to go to the bathroom, drink water. Overall it’s an upgrade on self-care.

2. More active movement from transitioning between sitting and standing. Even during standing, I’m shifting around a lot. My legs can get pretty tired at the end of the day, which I take as a good sign of a workout.

3. My neck and shoulder pains are more manageable now. I get them mostly from using my phone (neck droops down too much), or when I sit too long, but once I shift to standing and looking at my monitor screen, it eases.

4. More screen real estate. I really underestimated this one. I was happy with my Macbook Pro screen and I thought I didn’t really need that extra monitor. But now, I can’t work without it. Having more screen real estate is simply a much better experience and more productive. I have my laptop opened too, so I have a dual-screen setup now, which is great! Less toggling around windows. The bigger screen also means everything is bigger on the eye, means less eye strain and less neck/shoulder strain (due to leaning forward to read small web copy).

Next

• Reduce EMF exposure. I tried to keep to wired accessories but there’s still EMF sources on my desk - laptop, trackpad, phone, speakers. Switching to a wired trackpad means I can turn off Bluetooth on my laptop. Switching off network on my phone and using it only on wifi. Will shop for a wired set of speakers.

• Remaining items on my buy list:

  • Microphone
  • Speakers
  • Webcam for Zoom calls/workshops
  • Better cable management solutions
  • Figuring out an ideal power plug set up
  • Foot pressure mat (with grounding?)
  • Peg board
  • Desk accessories

• Luxury, good-to-have items:

  • A standing chair for half-sit/stand posture
  • A separate full length mech keyboard for even better ergo and typing experience

What were the best things under $100 you bought this year that’s great for your posture, health and/or productivity? Any other suggestions?