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desk setups are so much more than just a place
to work because they're one of the only places
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in your home where ergonomics Personal Taste
and functionality meat so in this video I
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want to share with you my top 10 desk setup
design mistakes and how to fix them from over
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a decade's worth of experience working at a desk
both as an architect and as a full-time content
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creator now it's important to remember that with
desk setups form and function are two things that
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need to go hand in hand but unfortunately it's all
too easy to be inclines to lean further one way
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than it is the other as you may find yourself
falling into a group of people who only care
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about their desk setups being as powerful and as
comfortable as physically possible usually with
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a sthe of RGB or a group that cares more about
the way that their desk setup looks even if it's
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at the cost of terrible posture back pain and a
numb buttock and if you fall into either of these
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groups this is completely fine as long as you've
made an informed and conscious decision as what
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you do with your setup is completely up to you
but I have a feeling that you may be here because
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you're interested in that magical middle ground
that has the best of both worlds both in terms
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of sheer performance and beautiful Aesthetics
first up one big mistake that I often see is
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with video lighting as this is something that's
easy to overlook completely by relying on just
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the harsh ceiling lights that our homes tend to
come with and so because of this what I've noticed
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is that when people start looking into lighting
for video conferencing or streaming the tendency
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is to go for these video Centric LED panels or
soft boxes that do perform incredibly well but
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don't quite look right in a residential setting as
they often compromise the overall look of a setup
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because they take so much attention away from the
other more aesthetic items that you may have as a
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part of your workspace so firstly it's important
to understand that the reason that these kinds
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of Lights tend to perform so well for video calls
is mainly because they have a big diffused light
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source set to a color temperature that renders
the most accurate skin tones on camera as when
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it comes to lighting your face soft Shadows tend
to be the most flattering and a daylight Kelvin
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level ensures that you have the most naturall
looking complexion but there's absolutely no
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reason that a more aesthetic floor lamp can't
provide you with 90% of this functionality when
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pairing them with smart bulbs as these often will
allow you to adjust both the temperature and the
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brightness and if you're really serious you can
even buy super high quality video Centric bulbs
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for regular e27 fixtures too and when using
a large modifier like a basic lampshade or
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purchasing a larger and more decorative bulb you
get all of the functional performance that you
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need for video at cooler temperatures as well as
the ability to turn down the brightness and adjust
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the temperature levels for regular use and what
this does is also provide dual functionality by
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also improving the Aesthetics of your room because
it moves this dependence away from the often harsh
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ceiling lighting that our homes tend to come with
by providing a warm dimmable and low-level light
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source and then if you dot this kind of lighting
around the room you can create an incredibly
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inviting environment which allows you to control
different modes depending on how you're using the
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room which makes them especially effective if you
work from an open or shared room like a bedroom
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hallway or living area now it's probably quite
obvious to you already that my preferred style
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definitely falls into the less is more camp but
as an avid PC user my setups in the past have
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become incredibly complicated and when I think
about it I can only boil this down to a severe
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stomach turning case of gas AKA gear acquisition
syndrome which is the obsessive desire to acquire
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new gear for your specific profession or Hobby
in the hopes that it will somehow turn you into
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a superhero now to a certain extent it's true that
a man can only be as good as his tools however the
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harsh reality is that despite good tools making a
skilled Craftsman better they do not make a poorly
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skilled Craftsman good and this tempting idea of
spending money as a shortcut to becoming better
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often only comes in the way of actually doing the
work leaving you with all the bells and whistles
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but countless hours lost to research and setup
which tends to only serve as a distraction to
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actually making real progress so because of this
I've personally come to the conclusion that when
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it comes to hardware and tools desk setups should
be as minimal as possible and especially because
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I'm someone who obsessively stays up to date with
tech and design the more tools I have the more
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options I have and the more options I have the
more I tend to start daydreaming about tweaking
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my tools in order to make them better however
when I limit myself to Only The Bare Essentials
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I find that I actually end up doing way more
work as really it's kind of following this idea
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of CEOs wearing the same three to four wardrobe
items every day as it just means that there's so
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much less to think about and additionally from a
purely aesthetic standpoint Hardware often only
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diverts attention away from the more aesthetic
parts of your room especially when it comes to
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things like multiple cables and interfaces going
into different pieces of equipment so by reducing
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these you reduce their visual impact on your space
and yes this principle even applies to you if the
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main thing you want to stand out is all of the
hard work that you've put into your multicolored
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pulsating desktop PC but this principle is really
most effective if your workspace is shared with
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somewhere like a bedroom or a living area like
this one is because it's likely that you also
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want to use these rooms to relax which is quite
hard to do when all you can see is a mountain
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of equipment and despite already knowing that
certain products like laptops or monitors with
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integrated speakers webcams and USB hubs will
never do their jobs better than their full fat
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individual counterparts while also usually being
far worse overall value I believe the real reason
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for considering products like these is not only
for that tidy aesthetic but for the time and
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effort that they save too as there's just less
to set up less to research and a lot less that
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can go wrong where for most people troubleshooting
and installation takes so much time and effort to
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get right that it never seems to quite get where
you want it to and especially if you have kids
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or a relationship or a business that you're
trying to hold down time is of the essence so
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having the fewest amount of tools possible that
both look great and perform well out of the box
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becomes invaluable when it comes to ergonomics
I've noticed that there are two extremes people
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who don't prioritize it at all while sitting on
a dining chair hunched over a laptop and people
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who do investing in expensive ergonomic chairs
like the Herman Miller Aeron which seems to be
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standard in almost all of the architectural
offices that I've ever worked at but it may
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be interesting to you that for your own desk set
setup both of these might actually be mistakes
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now it's clear that a chair with good back support
will help you avoid back pain and poor posture but
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what even the best ergonomic chairs don't solve
is the problem of sitting being the new smoking
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where Studies have already shown the long-term
effects that sitting can have on your health but
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the thing is getting up to move every 30 minutes
or so in order to counter this is something that's
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incredibly hard to do if you're in the zone while
sitting on a super comfortable ergonomic chair
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and then additionally from a purely aesthetic
standpoint decent ergonomic chairs are often
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quite bulky expensive and commerciall looking
which often tends to clash with Home Furniture
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like beds rugs and sofas and now I'm not saying
that this commercial aesthetic is necessarily a
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bad thing because they look great when they're
in a commercial setting and if you're fortunate
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enough to have your own office space in your
house this isn't a problem that you have to
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worry about as if you have both the space and
the budget having the option on sitting on a
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perfectly ergonomic chair is definitely nice to
have given that you can resist the temptation
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to sit on it for hours on end without moving
however for the large majority of people the
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solution to these ergonomic mistakes that I found
to be most effective in terms of size price and
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functionality is just using a standing desk and
a low profile desk chair now these work together
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so well firstly because they come in almost every
possible shape size and price bracket imaginable
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and standing desks encourage the natural movement
that our bodies are designed for as you tend to
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find yourself continually shuffling as it's
so hard to stand perfectly still for hours
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on end but regardless of what you choose this
still requires resisting the temptation to not
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sit for too long so this unfortunately
still doesn't remove user error however
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I personally find that by purchasing a chair
that doesn't prioritize being 100% comfortable
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but prioritizes being compact lightweight and easy
to slide away this reduces the temptation to sit
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while also reducing any friction involved that may
be in the way of you wanting to stand too while
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still being more supportive and comfortable than
a dining chair while also being less bulky and
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better looking than an ergonomic chair although
you're completely free to disagree and to make
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sure that I do stand as much as physically
possible by having something soft underf foot
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this reduces fatigue and then by using drawers
at either end this is a great way to disguise
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the more unsightly mechanisms that standing
desks tend to have but ultimately ergonomics
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are highly personal and as everyone has different
Lifestyles and priorities take everything I say
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with a pinch of salt as what works for me
might not work for you and of course because
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I know some of you are going to ask I'll leave
links to my favorite products down in the video
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description another big mistake with desk setups
is not allocating enough space or budget for
00:10:32
storage Furniture simply because I know it's so
easy to get caught up dreaming about the more
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exciting things while subconsciously draining your
budget and filling up your room now depending on
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your work it's quite likely that you'll have
things like hard drives paperwork scanners or
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camera gear that you all need to find homes for
and because these kinds of things aren't usually
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that pretty to look at by allocating a portion
of your budget or an area of your room to a nice
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closed door Furniture solution this is a great way
to stop these items collecting dust and clutching
00:11:07
your surfaces now I talked a lot about this idea
in my last home organization video so definitely
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go and check that out if this is something that
you're struggling with but really for the most
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part the main idea is to subdivide and categorize
items into separate stacking bins or containers
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so that they're a lot easier to find while you
simultaneously can seal and prioritize the most
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frequently used items in your workspace in the
areas that are the most accessible which makes
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it so much easier to keep things tidy and for the
most part A tidy more budget room is still going
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to look far better than a messy but expensive
one so for this reason investing in furniture
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that makes staying tidy easy is possibly one
of the best things you can do both for your
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productivity and the aesthetic of your space where
investing in something like a good set of drawers
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can be incredibly worthwhile as they make the
back of this unit more accessible and visible
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because you can pull the drawers outwards which
importantly also makes putting things away a whole
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lot easier and more enjoyable too another mistake
is unintentionally creating a cold or uninviting
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work environment which is usually down to four
things color lighting texture and Acoustics now
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color is the first and most obvious thing to
point out as it's really easy to just separate
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colors into warm ones and cold ones and the main
reason that white and gray monochrome spaces tend
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to feel cold is because they typically take on
the cooler Hues of daylight where this absence
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of color can also lead to an absence in character
too making the space feel quite empty sterile and
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uninviting however in case you didn't notice this
setup behind me it's almost completely monochrome
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because over the years I've simply found that I
feel feel more energized in brighter environments
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where my workstation becomes the only thing with
any color or character for me to focus on in order
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for there to be nothing else competing for my
attention however you can still have a bright
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and minimal setup without it feeling cold and
uninviting as monochrome setups tends to take
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on the color temperature of the light that you
put them in where temperature controlled lamps
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and varied lowlevel lighting can make a huge
difference additionally by then adding texture
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through things like like Furniture plants rugs and
curtains these will then soften a space in order
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to make it feel warmer and also serve a dual
purpose in absorbing acoustic reverberations
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which has a huge impact on our subconscious as to
how empty or Hollow a room can feel which isn't
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always clear when looking at an image or a video
through a screen and then by adding some character
00:13:52
through personal touches this can break up any
emptiness in between which makes for a great
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and low commitment way to introduce color and
texture if these two things intimidate you another
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mistake is to neglect our own personal wellbeing
when at our desk setups where I find that the
00:14:10
wellb building standard that's typically used in
commercial office projects is particularly useful
00:14:16
to me with so many points that are applicable
to our homes too particularly in the area of
00:14:21
daylight in regards to our well-being Studies
have shown that an increased exposure aligns
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our biological rhythms to the time of day which
enhances mood alertness metabolism and overall
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health and making it more likely that you'll sleep
on average 46 minutes longer each night and when
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considering how much better I feel after a good
night's sleep this seems like an absolute cheat
00:14:45
code and this is why I always think it's wise to
place your workstation near to a window unless for
00:14:51
some reason sitting by a window is particularly
distracting or uncomfortable for you and when
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I think about it this is really the reason why I
tend to be so inclined to live and work in modern
00:15:02
apartment buildings as the windows just tends to
be so much bigger than those in larger and older
00:15:09
properties but irrespective of whether you live
in an apartment or not the size and orientation
00:15:15
of the windows and rooms in your home may be wise
factors to consider when choosing where to place
00:15:21
your setup and then on top of this other than
the daylight that we take in through our eyes
00:15:26
the next things would be the air that we breathe
and the water that we drink where keeping a space
00:15:31
for a full water bottle or a water dispenser
at your desk is a great idea to ensure that you
00:15:36
stay hydrated because this increases cognitive
performance and then by using an air purifier
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this significantly reduces the amount of dust
and other particles in your room like pollution
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and pollen which I found to be a must if you're
prone to allergies or if you're a sufferer of hay
00:15:53
fever like I am and then finally indoor plants
can be another great addition if you live in a
00:15:59
drier climate is they can also add moisture and
oxygen to the air too while also providing a ton
00:16:04
of character and supposedly reducing stress
which to me sounds like a win-win that's if
00:16:10
you're diligent enough to keep them alive another
mistake is just not introducing enough variety
00:16:17
into your work environment as it's very easy to
get tunnel vision and only focus on the desk setup
00:16:23
itself while completely forgetting about the
rest of your room now leaving the rest of your
00:16:29
space unfinished and somewhat neglected may feel
quite insignificant compared to the place where
00:16:34
the actual work is done but by including something
like a quiet corner with an up Holsted armchair or
00:16:41
a size table this can be incredibly beneficial
as this not only adds character to the room but
00:16:47
also acoustic performance too so not only does
this make your space more aesthetic and inviting
00:16:53
but you may be surprised to hear that touches
like this which add variety also boost your
00:16:59
productivity as they provide you with somewhere
away from your desk to use for different tasks
00:17:04
like emails or creative writing that don't quite
require a full desk setup solution and then what
00:17:10
using this secondary space can do is reduce the
monotony and fatigue of working in the same space
00:17:17
every single day while also making any work that
you do there more Dynamic and purposeful and I'm
00:17:23
saying this because I found that when I move
to a different location either in or outside
00:17:29
side of the house the purposefulness in doing this
provides a really nice bump in productivity as
00:17:35
subconsciously I think I tend to be thinking I'm
here for a reason so I tend to find myself being
00:17:41
a lot more motivated to finish a task too and
honestly I was noticing this happening so much
00:17:46
that I decided to make the switch to a laptop only
setup which takes this to the extreme but even if
00:17:53
you work at a static workstation just by including
a secondary place to sit this adds variety for
00:17:59
you to do things like take very intentional
breaks instead of taking them while at your
00:18:04
desk and in doing this you build this subconscious
relationship with your space in understanding that
00:18:10
this is a place where I hustle and this is a place
where I slow down and try to be creative and this
00:18:16
might just make the room for your setup not only
more enjoyable but a whole lot less monotonous
00:18:20
too where things like lighting standing desks
aroma therapy and even being near a window can
00:18:27
all contribute to how energized and motivated you
feel because they all follow the same principle of
00:18:33
adding variety now quite opposite to not having
enough variety is creating a space with too much
00:18:40
distraction as obviously having things in your
office or beside your workspace for things other
00:18:46
than work is never really a good idea however
it's really surprising just how much some of us
00:18:52
do this as it can not only clutter your setup
but also [ __ ] your productivity too which is
00:18:58
never really a good thing and this is because
having a desk set up right next to an area that
00:19:03
you use solely for relaxation creates some
cognitive dissonance regarding what you're
00:19:09
actually supposed to be doing in this space which
often means that you can never actually do either
00:19:14
of these things to their full potential and
so just as having things like a sofa and TV
00:19:19
in your periphery makes life incredibly tempting
the same thing really goes for gaming and even
00:19:26
watching content as I can tell you firsthand that
an all-in-one work/ gaming setup despite being
00:19:33
very efficient often led to me taking quick breaks
that turned into hours and essentially this same
00:19:40
thing is happening if you let yourself Doom scroll
or fall down YouTube rabbit holes in the same
00:19:46
place where you're supposed to be working and now
this isn't to say that you can't do these things
00:19:51
if you've got a much stronger will than I have but
the main thing here is just to be self-aware about
00:19:57
it as I find that I am way more effective when
being more intentional with my brakes by actually
00:20:03
doing these things away from my desk and so your
weakness may not be gaming but instead napping or
00:20:09
chatting to housemates or staring out of a window
in which case it makes sense to apply this logic
00:20:15
and perhaps not put your setup in a bedroom or
in the same room as your housemate setup or even
00:20:21
next to a window where it might become beneficial
to look for alternative Solutions and curate your
00:20:27
workspace in a way that reduces the distractions
that you know you are personally prone to falling
00:20:32
into another big mistake is not taking care
of cable management as if your setup has a lot
00:20:40
of wires going into different places these can
completely destroy the look of even the nicest
00:20:46
of setups however if this is you I can relate
because doing cable management is the worst but
00:20:53
thankfully I found that there are a whole lot of
solutions out there for those of us who hate ha it
00:20:59
which makes life a whole lot easier one of these
Solutions are simply to use cable Nets and Trays
00:21:04
that instead of individually clipping wires and
squeezing them into cable raceways they allow you
00:21:10
to Simply screw them into the underside of your
desk and throw wires in there as you please and
00:21:16
in order to reduce the amount of power cables
that you need to run to your desk buying surge
00:21:21
protectors with integrated mounting points allow
you to plug everything underneath to which tends
00:21:27
to be a must for standing desks and then when
it comes to things like ethernet connectivity
00:21:33
cable sleeves are another great way to group
smaller amounts of cables together in order
00:21:37
to reduce their appearance while also modifying
their color so that they blend in against your
00:21:43
walls and then when it comes to what's on
top of your desk for things like charging
00:21:47
wireless chargers with multiple charging points
do a great job of making things neater and more
00:21:53
convenient but because sometimes you just can't
help needing a few loose cables lying around
00:21:58
for things like file transfers magnetic Clips
can be a fantastic option as you can neatly
00:22:05
snap them to the back of your desk surface and
retrieve them whenever you need to and lastly the
00:22:12
final mistake that I want to mention is simply
just overcrowding your setup as just like with
00:22:18
Furniture it's essential to measure just how much
space you actually have to fit it in most commonly
00:22:24
I tend to see people making the mistake of buying
a desk that's not too too wide but too deep for
00:22:30
your room which despite giving you enough space
for your monitor and your peripherals a deep desk
00:22:36
doesn't always provide enough space to comfortably
move around behind it and again the same thing
00:22:41
can happen when falling in love with buying your
dream desk chair only to realize that it takes up
00:22:46
way more space than you first anticipated so in
order to avoid this it's essential to check the
00:22:52
measurements of what it is you're buying against
the size of your room and look for ways that you
00:22:57
could perhaps make more space in the space that
you already inhabit where items like desk shelves
00:23:02
and monitor arms can do a great job in freeing
up desk space which allows you to work with a
00:23:08
shallower desk and then by using things like wo
mounted cabinets instead of drawers and cupboards
00:23:14
this frees up additional areas around your desk
too and so sometimes just with a little bit of
00:23:19
research there can be so many better alternatives
to products that we may initially be very drawn
00:23:25
to because these Alternatives just use space far
more efficiently but speaking of which I found
00:23:32
some of the best items for your home office to
be from the sponsor of today's video ugreen who
00:23:38
in celebration of the holidays recently sent me
products from their brand new Uno series where
00:23:43
their charging stand makes for a super compact way
to simultaneously charge your phone and earbuds
00:23:49
with its own USBC Outlet where you can choose to
add a compact USBC charger for your specific brand
00:23:56
of SmartWatch 2 and then when you're on the the go
their 10,000 milliamp hour power bank can provide
00:24:01
over a full charge wirelessly to an iPhone 16 as
well as stable USBC charging to any of your other
00:24:09
devices while weighing only just over 300 G but
what's so different about the Uno series is that
00:24:15
they feature playful TFT screens that display the
real-time charging status of your devices through
00:24:21
Emojis with fun expressions in order to add some
warmth and charm to your desk setup which makes
00:24:26
them a great gift for friends and families with
a heartwarming design language that reflects ug
00:24:32
Green's commitment to delivering user Centric
premium products so be sure to check the ug
00:24:37
green Uno series out using the links down in the
video description and sign up before January 5th
00:24:43
for a chance to take part in their Christmas
giveaway and be one of 300 people to win up to
00:24:49
$750 in prizes and finally thank you so much
if you made it all the way to the end of the
00:24:55
video and if you enjoyed it don't forget to sub
subscribe and I will see you in the next one
