The working from home thread: tips and advice

Finally done... well, 99% done.

Desk works great, found myself standing 3 hours per day on average already, and for the most part the working environment achieves what I wanted to achieve.

What I was going for was "A long day in the office should not feel fatiguing and I should feel fresh at the end of it", balanced with "I and whomever I'm working with should feel like we're face to face in real life".

To that end:

• Sit and stand according to what felt right at the time.
  
• Lots of natural light and air, with only minimal artificial light needed (anticipating Winter).
  
• Shouldn't need to wear a headset to be heard or to hear.
  
• Video conferences and pre-records of webinars and conference talks should look like me.
  
  

There's a tonne of tech in here, and everything on the desk can be switched between a Windows PC mounted under the desk and whatever laptop (Linux or Mac) that goes onto the bamboo holder on the left of the desk.

The key pieces of tech:

• Camera is a Sony a7rii which I've had a number of years, connected to an Elgato CamLink, and with a 55mm f1.8 prime lens.
  
• Lighting is Elgato Key Light Air
  
• Mic is a Shure SM7b on a K&M broadcast arm.
  
• Speakers are PSI Audio A14-M Studio, driven by the SSL2 audio interface.
  
• Headphones are Audio Technica ATH-R70x, driven by the SSL2 audio interface.
  
• Control of a lot of this comes from the Elgato Stream Deck.
  
• Power comes from a 12-way rack power strip plugged into an APC Smart UPS 1500v. The power strip is mounted under the desk in a tidy integrated into the desk... it's a hidden mess of cables.
  
• USB is: Startech 7 port hub to monitor, camera to monitor, monitor to Lindy USB switch, Lindy switch to the Windows PC and the CalDigit, CalDigit to whatever laptop is plugged in. Most of this is also in the hidden nest of cables.
  
  

Furniture:

• Shelving is String.
  
• Desk is Humanscale Float.
  
• Chair is a very old Aeron.
  
• Various mounts on the desk are Elgato Multi-Mount.
  
• Speaker stands are ISO Acoustics.
  
  

End result: It cost a lot and was acquired over a very long period of time (a couple of years), but I've got a work space I don't physically feel, and a relaxed environment for long days of back to back meetings, tech work, or recording and editing presentations. And when I'm able to just work on docs I also have superb sounding music.

Edit 2023-11: lens is now the Sony 50mm f1.2 G Master, stream deck has been upgraded to stream deck +, monitor has been upgraded to a Samsung 32" 4k thing.