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For those who are unfamiliar with these acronyms, WFH stands for Working From Home and WHS stand for Workplace Health & Saftey. When my employer announced that my team must start WFH (and for good reasons) for an indefinite period of time, I was slightly disappointed and frustrated. Why so, you ask? I will tell you the main reason why – because just a day prior to the announcement was when I was provided with a variable height desk. This was one of the outcomes from my several and ongoing sessions with my chiropractor. Lower back issues due to reasons such as (but not limited to) prolonged sitting, bad posture and other lifestyle choices perhaps lead me to the door knocking for help.

While I have worked from home on several occasions, this would be the first time I’ll be doing so for more than 1 consecutive day with no definite end date for the situation. While I had the technological infrastructure to support this activity, my ‘working environment’ at home was something which will not spark joy.

This setup is so efficient and economical that I could continue to concentrate on more ‘pressing’ issues!

This was the closest I could get to creating a makeshift standing desk with the resources I had at my disposal at that time while alternating between a regular desk (dining table). Standing, just like sitting for a prolonged period isn’t good for you either. Also, all the pictures uploaded here were taken before having the idea of writing a blog about this so please don’t mind if these don’t qualify for the upload and hashtag criteria for Instagram / Pinterest.

After a lot of research, product reviews, consultation with my Chiro, I felt like I knew what it is that I needed to create a better home office space. As I thought of every conundrum that may arise, I also wanted to ensure that I don’t sacrifice quality over cost, support local businesses and minimise delivery time. With all that in mind, I identified 3 items that are most urgently required.

• A sit-stand desk (preference of 1200x700mm approx)
• An Ergonomic chair and
• An anti-fatigue sit stand mat.

Desk Shopping

It was narrowed down to two sites in the end –  Zen Space Desks and Officeworks to see and compare. Please note that Zen Desk offers a $100 discount code when you visit the site which can be applied to the desk and selected accessories. The price mentioned in this section is after discounts applied. In the desk department, we have the basic Zen Space Desk ($477) vs Officeworks Matrix Executive Desk ($379). From a price point and generally speaking, I was inclined towards the Matrix table but it was out of stock and didn’t come in black. Now you know, for an IT Security guy, black is the go-to colour and factoring in my situation and the gradual increase in demand expected, I knew I had to act fast else there will be a shortage (which at the time of writing this blog, it’s out of stock). So, I opted to go with the Zen Space desk and added the anti-fatigue sit stand mat ($53) to the cart as well since the cost and quality of it were the same with what was on offer from Officeworks (J.Burrows brand).

Chair Shopping

In the chair department, even though Zen Space Desks do have chairs for sale, unfortunately, as far I know, there is only one physical store and it’s in Morningside, Brisbane. The advertised cost of the cheapest chair they have is $249 (after a $50 discount). Whereas Officeworks which is a stones throw away from my apartment had several chairs to try and also enough space to conduct a chair race with my partner. Other than the general ergonomic features listed on the product, my criteria for a chair included comfy cushioning for the seat and back. The winner was the Flash 2 Deluxe ($268) which was within the budget, minimalistic and comfy as! They didn’t have the ‘with arms’ model in stock so we ordered it online.

Delivery for all of the above was within one business day. Paid a flat rate of $36 to Zen Space Desk and $40 to Officeworks. Even though its free delivery for products over $55 at Officeworks, the chair had a ‘Big and Bulky Delivery fee’ applied. Assembling of the desk took approximately 45 minutes and two people. The chair took about 15 minutes and one person.

Other unexpected purchases

Although the current setup was what I had in mind, there were a few other minuscule details to ‘iron out’.

Ok, that was the last ironing related pun I will use!

After a few days, I had it all installed and trialling, it all was going smooth and felt like I finally have a decent and minimalistic setup. One thing I did notice however was the lack of flexibility in adjusting the screen heights. Ideally, the top of the screen should be at or below eye level. My extended display was at a fixed height and not meeting the requirements and although the laptop stand was adjustable, it was a cumbersome task to adjust. Having been accustomed to my office setup, I knew those monitor arms is what I now needed. Not only would it help with the height adjustments, but it will also save some valuable desk space. I recall seeing these modules on the Zen Space Desk site and had one item on my mind – the dual monitor arm and laptop combo ($299) in ‘the black’ of course! But here is the thing, firstly – its an expensive combo and secondly, they ran out of stock for the blacks. I did shop around in Amazon and other sites but I needed something quick and reliable for sure. Knowing better and having a better idea of what is needed, I head to the Officeworks website and look for the same specifications.

I quickly realised that the monitor and laptop combo is rare off the shelf commodity and why Zen was charging a premium. Also, the discount voucher codes weren’t valid for these items. So Zen is now out of the picture (or so I thought). Out of all the monitor arms available in Officeworks, this one got my attention. It was well within my budget, also had two USB ports, same day free delivery and was available in ‘the black’! The only problem now is to find a solution to mount the laptop. This was when my super awesome ‘where were you when I needed you’ brainpower kicked in! Why not buy the Universal Laptop Mount ($39 + $22 flat rate for shipping) from Zen and use it with the monitor arm? Genious!

 

 

The setup was easy and requires only one person to complete. Few things to take note of before you go down this path is to ensure that the monitor is ‘VESA’ mount compatible. To quickly check, if your monitor is VESA mountable, look behind the monitor for 4 screws mounting provisions in the middle. Sometimes these holes are covered by the manufacturer using a small rubber thingy. My monitor wasn’t VESA mount compatible but my partners’ is and so yeah. That’s the least she could do after she called dips on the study desk and chair in the new place we moved into last year 🙂 The whole thing (planning and implementation) was done within a few days so I feel like the outcome is a fantastic one. A huge shout out to my partner (and trusted advisor) for being supportive and encouraging me to make all the right choices so far. I now have space to comfortably work and also study. With the current COVID-19 situation and not knowing when things would be back to normal, I feel like this is one of those investments which will reap benefits and keep my body happy.

There are several sites which offer advice and motivation on home office setups but most of them looked like I first needed to take an interior decoration course at TAFE, renovate the house to obtain the right feng shui, travel the world to fulfil my #wanderlust and also attend Coachella for inspiration. But if there is one link I would share for WFH and WHS, it is this by the QLD government. I wanted to share this and my thought process since there are a signification amount people now starting to work from home and like me, haven’t done so for an extended period of time and may not be equipped to do so either.

Hope this was a good read and thank you for taking the time to do so. Please share your thoughts and ideas because you know, if you’ve got a better solution, I still have about 30 days to return my order 😀

 

Now go wash your hands, avoid touching your face and maintain social distancing!

 

Cheers,

Shaine