Your “Must Have” WFH equipment?

BionicRasher

Dual monitors (with built in USB C Hub so just one wire connection to laptop) mounted on dual monitor arms to save space

https://www.lenovo.com/ie/en/accessories-and-monitors/monitors/office/T23i-20C20230FT023inch-Monitor-HDMI/p/61F6MAT2UK

One of these baby's. It's a saviour if you are on calls all day like me

https://www.emea.jabra.com/business/speakerphones/jabra-speak-series/jabra-speak-750#%237700-409

Decent chair and good desk with enough space

Good mouse, Bluetooth rechargeable preferably, and Bluetooth keyboard. In fact I Just purchased this one.

https://www.logitech.com/en-ch/products/keyboards/craft.html

It helps being the head of IT!!

Work does regular ergonomic assessments so its great to get that help from them as otherwise people would be hunched over a tiny laptop on the sofa and crippled after a few years

jimmycrackcorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118497081#Comment_118497081

I project to my personal laptop screen so it gets used as a secondary monitor, as I was thinking of getting a portable screen and then considered why, when I have one already.

Wompa1

I have 4 monitors. If you have only ever worked off a single monitor, your mind would be blown by having a few. That would be no. 1. Have at least 2 monitors. Some people go for an ultra wide monitor and just snap different apps into sections of the screen, I tried it but find multiple monitors is better for me.

I got a standing desk and a couple of anti-fatigue mats plus some slippers. Any of these without the other is tough, particularly on wooden floors. Even with the soft foam anti-fatigue mat, after a while your feet get sore.

A decent chair is a must too.

That's about it. Everything else is just nice to have, imo.

OU812

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118497545#Comment_118497545

Are they side by side in a row or two rows of two? All the same brand?

B.A._Baracus

Use your tv as a second monitor if you are anyway close to it. It really helps if your job requires two screens. Also helps with throwing teams calls on it if someone is sharing. All you need is a long hdmi cable.

Not ideal for everyone. But for me, working in the sitting room and the coffee table and couch nearby it really helps.

Another tip is that if you are using two monitors (tv or monitor) you can cast a pure white screen video from YouTube on one to allow more light on your face on teams calls.

sgthighway

Having my two monitors mounted on poles gives me more desk space.

A speaker phone gives me a break from wearing head phones.

head phones are wireless and noise cancelling. Neighbours dogs can be distracting without them and I can go to bathroom during calls.

Laptop Riser for Laptop as I use it as a third screen.

Good Mouse and Mouse Mat

Foot rest for when I can sit back on calls that I don’t use camera.

Biros. Always loads of biros at the office but ran out of them at home.

Not equipment but the discipline to finish work on time and not looking at laptop until next morning is also needed.

Mr. CooL ICE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118497545#Comment_118497545

Only 4 monitors? Amateur...

whippet

I've been WFH for 90% of the time for the last 5 years ... my wife has been doing it for about 11 years. So we are well set up at this stage.

We live rurally and our house is quite large - work circumstances meant we didn't have to endure the rat race in and out of Dublin so moved out of the city to have a bigger house for kids and dogs.

The house has a dedicated office on the ground floor which she has been using and I have converted one of the spare bedrooms in to my office / cave.

So over the years I have:

Large desk with 27" Screen, Dock for MacBook and wireless keyboard / mouse and proper webcam

HomePod for music / radio / phone calls

Wall mounted TV with Sky Q when there is golf, F1or news worth watching during the day.

Couch and small coffee table so I'm not at desk when I don't have to be

Small scalextric track mounted on board that slides out from under the couch

Surface Studio desktop on another desk with Logitech G920 steering wheel and pedals for some Rally / F1 action when needed.

Telescope & Binoculars to look at wildlife and sea to pass time

Do Not Disturb sign to hang on the door when on calls to make sure kids don't interrupt

JimmyCorkhill

My current WFH equipment (apart from a desk & chair) consists of a laptop(with a camera on it), monitor, a keyboard & a mouse (neither of which are wireless), a USB port hub & a headset connected by cable to the laptop/usb port hub.

I have my laptop to the side and if I go on Teams call, I tend to move the laptop over in front of the monitor so I am looking into the laptop camera when on a call. This is a bit of a pain in the hole to be honest.

I tend to not use the laptop screen for work, and just use the single monitor.

How would I go about closing the laptop down and still be able to work away? As on a previous laptop, if I closed the laptop everything closed on the monitor.

I really must look to get a wireless keyboard & mouse, as the wires are a bit of nuisance. Can any recommend a relatively cheap, but solid wireless keyboard & mouse?

Also, I may get a webcam to put on the monitor to save me having to move the laptop over so I can look face into it for calls.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118518931#Comment_118518931

Webcam and wireless bits, 100%.

How would I go about closing the laptop down and still be able to work away? As on a previous laptop, if I closed the laptop everything closed on the monitor.

On your laptop, go to start, search for "power" and go through the settings there. You should see an option for "when laptop closes do...." and a few options like sleep, shutdown, nothing etc

BionicRasher

Great Bluetooth rechargeable mouse that I have purchased for a few people

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B081JY8Z7J/ref%3Dcm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_V8TMD3J9SQ1DMMS44Y42

OU812

those of you mentioning wireless mouse & keyboard. Why? Personally prefer wired.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118519555#Comment_118519555

For the mouse especially, wires are a pita

gameoverdude

Tea. Lots of tea.

And tangled twisters.

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118519555#Comment_118519555

Wires are definitely a pain with a mouse - every now and then it snags, and you have to do that little shake.

For me, I prefer wireless because I share a home office with my wife, so I often need to move downstairs or into my bedroom for certain calls, like if she’s on one too, or if I’m having a 1:1 with a member of my team (which I keep strictly private). My laptop is plugged into a Thunderbolt docking station, so it’s just one cable - that supplies power, data and monitor connection - to connect/disconnect. A wired keyboard, mouse or headset would be a lot more faffing about to bring them with me, and then set it back up again. All three are rechargeable by USB-C, so each evening I rotate between charging one of them when I’m finished work.

Plus I have the keyboard, mouse and headset also connected to my personal laptop - each of them support multiple devices via Bluetooth. That would be more difficult to do with wired devices.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118493250#Comment_118493250

Can you post a link to the standing desk you bought?

the_pen_turner

make sure you are up to date on all tax and any allowanes you are entitled to. surely part of your electric and heating and internet etc must be paid for .

make sure your insurance etc is covering the work stuff too and your reimerced for that.

a press or cabinet to store all the work crap like printers, ink, paper, boxs of pens, etc

thomil

Coming in late into this thread (as usual 😉), most of the crucial stuff has already been mentioned.

The one thing I'd say is not to try and cram too much not your desk, especially if you already have a desk that's on the smaller side. Keeping cables and wires to a minimum, or banishing them entirely, should be the priority.

Also, try not to simply go for the cheapest stuff but keep an eye out for some more high-quality stuff that is actually comfortable to use. I've actually outlined some of the stuff I use in a blog post I put out about a year ago, I hope it's not considered spamming if I share that here:

https://thomil-english.blogspot.com/2021/01/working-from-home-eight-gadgets-that.html

Mods: Please PM me if you'd like me to remove the link.

seamus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118520449#Comment_118520449

https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/p/bekant-desk-sit-stand-oak-veneer-white-s09061188/

Work paid for it, I would have gone for a manual version if it was coming out of my own pocket

Laptop, bible, coffee, feminazi manual, birdscope.

JimmyCorkhill

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118519102#Comment_118519102

Thanks for sharing this. I notice the site is amazon.co.uk.

Is this likely to get hit for customs/excise etc. or is it coming via somewhere in the EU?

Esel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118523110#Comment_118523110

Dispatched from Amazon ensures this shouldn't happen - and if it does, Amazon will refund you.

Larbre34

1 x Humpus.

Rechargeable, hands free, silent running.

Only €230 delivered. I got work to pay for mine, you should get your work to pay for yours too.

laoisgem

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118523834#Comment_118523834

🙈

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118496076#Comment_118496076

For occasional use, most local libraries will do print on demand by email for very modest fees.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118525312#Comment_118525312

Since moving jobs last summer, I've "needed" to print 24 pages. Three shopping lists and three weeks' OT recipes... And I've seen the job's invoices for copier paper, they've plummeted in the last two years. Still way too high, but a vast improvement. Might help with reaching carbon targets!

lee_baby_simms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118523834#Comment_118523834

Is it dishwasher safe?

handlemaster

Netflix

Richard Hillman

TV, Netflix & Amazon subscription, Nespresso machine, cans in the fridge.

A George Foreman.

Trojan

This might be helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C33b42W5qwk

120 x 53 Desk, good chair,

2 monitors on monitor arms, Jabra 510 conference call speaker, basic camera, wireless keyboard and mouse (Logitech Mx Master -highly recommend) . Docking station. Have a work phone but no need for it really.

**Monitor arms overlooked by so many. The amount of space alone on the desk they give back

My friend who does a similar role (project management) just uses a laptop for everything. I don't know how he does it.

Ray Palmer

I prefer wired things too. Years of being an early adopter of tech kind of made me regress. The amount of wireless items that have passed through my hands into the bin is pretty astounding. It was part of my job to test them as clients wanted them on site. They decided on a wireless keyboard and no mouse just the touch pad on the keyboards. They weren't chargeable so they needed to have batteries replaced regularly but they were under lock and key so they keyboards rarely worked in any of the conference rooms. People would bring batteries in their pockets to meeting and take them out when they left. It made me absolutely hate wireless keyboards. They keyboards all got "broken" after a while as people left them right where somebody would "accidentally" stand on them. They weren't cheap either

The other reason for wires is I want work in that room and don't want it outside of there. Having a door you can close and not have to go into when finished for the day is key to me. Work laptop is work and my personal stuff is mine and they don't cross over. One exception to the wires is the headset which is wireless but I have tons of variations, my favourite is my ISOTunes which are Bluetooth ear protection so I can use them in my workshop and were great while the neighbour was doing renovations.

https://isotunes.com/collections/top-products/products/isotunes-link

sully123

I've got a 32'' plasma in my office. You get a document up on that baby and you are seriously looking at that document.

Net curtains.

https://youtu.be/BR3B8-DsXL8

Former Former Former

Monitors, and some way to bring them to the right height.

Two years into this pandemic, I still can't get over the number of people on Teams calls who are very clearly hunched over a 13" laptop screen.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545366#Comment_118545366

That, and using kitchen or dining room tables and chairs. There are going to be a lot of people in 3 to 5 years with bad backs as a result!

JimmyCorkhill

Genuine question on the wireless keyboard & mouse. Got them from work, they come with batteries and some little USB thing you stick in the laptop.

How often do you typically need to replace the batteries? And when finished in the evening should you change the switch on the keyboard & mouse to off?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546830#Comment_118546830

Its kinda like how long is a piece of string

Really depends on the quality of the batteries

I have a logitech keyboard and mouse, used 6 days a week, for 8-10 hrs a day, I change the batteries maybe once a year. The mouse uses a single AA, the keyboard uses 2 x AAA.

I never turn them off.

The batteries I use are Energizer/Duracell rechargeables, but you can get longer lasting single use batteries as reusables have a lower capacity, at least the ancient ones I have do

For reference, these are the keyboard and mouse I use. Got them around 5 years ago. Specifically got these as I had 3 laptops on the go at the time and only wanted to use a single keyboard/mouse

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Multi-Device-Wireless-Bluetooth-Keyboard/dp/B01GV6HP0E/ref%3Dsr_1_29?keywords=logitech%2Bwireless%2Bkeyboard%2Band%2Bmouse&qid=1643392161&refinements=p_89%3ALogitech&rnid=1632651031&s=computers&sprefix=logitech%2Bwireless%2Bkeyboard%2B%2Caps%2C116&sr=1-29&th=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Triathlon-Multiple-Computer-Easy-Switch-Technology/dp/B01KZVQB42/ref%3Dpd_bxgy_img_1/257-3329442-4106622?pd_rd_w=2qZRi&pf_rd_p=424ee22f-2317-49a5-9cbb-bc8836ac7d96&pf_rd_r=A8M9AS560GT1QFK9BXGV&pd_rd_r=5a43640d-31f5-4001-89a8-a1bce672db80&pd_rd_wg=eIxa5&pd_rd_i=B01KZVQB42&psc=1

ILikeBoats

^ same. They use very little battery