The working from home thread: tips and advice

Meanwhile, 4 months later, I'm still working off the dining table, continually kicking my missus opposite me, on a borrowed monitor and stolen keyboard waiting for the arsehats to fix my flood damage, while my desk sits upsidedown in my bedroom and bikepacking stuff covers most of the floor.

Yeah, but you really don't want a computer that reckons it's your mate.

while my desk sits upsidedown in my bedroom

I can't be the only person noticing an obvious issue with that.

Actual LOL.

It was outside for a while. I was just going to leave it on the street with a "please take me" sign on it.

I've been time-sharing a desk for 18 months. Doubles up as a change table, and when it's nap time I cart everything downstairs for two hours, then back up again.

But we might be getting a wework at Waterloo soon........

Huawei NostrilCam™

had a quick look on my lamp and it's a luxo, no white reflector on the inside of the lamp, but I'll grab one of the bulbs you recommend below, and see how that goes.

I'd love to put a dimmer on it, but have memories of buzzing dimmers on lamps, and wall switches from my youth, so am a bit reticent to add one to the cable currently, plus power cable isn't that long, and where the lamp is currently positioned, getting to the dimmer on a regular basis will probably be a bit of a faff..

Thanks for all helpful info, much appreciated.

My other half’s phone voice is too loud also.

Mine also refuses to wear a headset on zoom/teams calls. Separate offices FTW!

Me and other half have different spaces, which I'm sure is to it's detriment because we can both be distracted and there isn't anyone to hold us accountable. I'm working with a friend in the same room in an Airbnb in the highlands, he's in private equity data science and is on calls all day. I've not this much work in ages!

Haha

"FFS, what are you doing talking to colleagues?! I'm trying to guess this techno track off youtube!"

If she was mine, she'd already be locked outside, only allowed to return with headset in hand.

She's already been banished to the loft. Her office is bigger than mine, but as it's in the eaves, I'd only be able to use about 1/4 of the floor space without braining myself on the ceiling.

In reality I'm the one with the booming phone noise. Add that to my preference for hilariously loud keyboards, and my habit of shaking my legs (fast twitch fibres naturally), I'm a terror for people working in the same room as me.

Is there a forum recommended budget office chair?

Budget is less £900 Herman Miller more £100 Ikea or something.

£100 ikea will be a waste of money in the long run. If you can stretch to a second hand aeron I think it'll be worth the extra monies

A bit of cursory research just now suggests that. I can up my budget a bit but £400 or so is really too much.

I can get a refurbished Herman Miller Celle for £240 (fully adjustable with lumbar)... does anyone know this one?

It's supposed to be more adjustable than the Aeron which would be good for me and seems to get good reviews.

I actually rate the IKEA Lidkullen stool pretty well, but I prefer a backless stool for desk work in general. It has the benefit of adjustable height and the seat allows you to wiggle your bum.

You have pretty sensitive back/posture issues right? So definitely worth spending money to get the right thing, just putting it out there as a cheap option I like. Build quality seems decent too but you have to train yourself not to stub your toes on the feet...

That's £140 extra well spent I'd say

Or give the Lidkullen a go. I've got a backapp stool. Ugly as sin but does wonders for my back

If you're on a tight budget, give the Ikea lidkullen a go? I'd assume you can return it after a week of careful use if you're not happy with it?

Why don't you get a wifi bulb? I bought a generic chinese one off Amazon last autumn and it was a game changer, I use it in an angle poise lamp. I control it from my phone and it lets me change the shade of white, so I go from daylight in the daytime to warm white late in the day and I can dim the bulb as well, made a huge difference once it started getting dark outside early.

Ha, we have one of these in the house, they are brilliant laptops for the money but that webcam is by far the worst feature, to the point that it negates all the great points about the laptop, its like chin cam

had a look at https://www.2ndhnd.com/ ?

Is there a forum recommended budget office chair?

The one you steal from your old office?

Guilty!