Twenty Fifteen Retrospective
This year, this year of 2015(is that right?)... Fuck it. There was going to be a retrospective just like last year and poof! Nothing. What happend is the web became inundated with these type of posts. It all happened after Christmas, and wow was it a crying shame. Everyone, and by everyone, I truly mean everyone on the web decided that they, right now, would write some kind of retrospective.
It seemed like it was a go-to response to some Verge article. A right of passage into the world of 2016, or just perhaps a way to blow off steam that had accrued throughout 2015. Whatever, likely no one will care if this turns into a not-spective. Which actually just happened because the rest of this chutzpa will be a response to a fine friend.
Late last year a coworker produced a post outlining the specifics behind his standup desk setup. Afterwards, he asked me nicely to do the same so he could compare. Well, that day has come. As follows...
I have been standing now, in some fashion for the past five years of work. Most of it has been on shody, thrown together abarations that sit on normal desks. Only recently, within the last three years, have I invested in a proper standing desk for my home office. This includes:
- Set of standing legs from multitable
- 1 simple top from Ikea
- 1 freedom monitor arm from ergotech
- 1 Asus 25 inch monitor
- 1 Calddigit thunderbolt station
- 1 CST Laser guided trackball
- 1 Custom Ergodox with deep space alphas and granite mods
- 1 Power Cube
- 1 12South ParcSlope
All of this can be seen in the photo below.
So what are the goods and the bads of this setup? For starters there will be a new Ergotech arm and Monitor in 2016. Not because I crave the desktop space and can't work off from a single screen. It is just much more convenient to have a todo list, doc viewer, chat, and terminal all open in the same 'space.'
Some other 'goods' are that you only ever need to plug power and a thunderbolt cable(soon to be 2) into your computer to get access to all required peripherals. This allows plugging in and getting work done a breeze. Or if required, unplugging very quickly and heading out the door for some coworking. Being mobile and actually taking time to move is what tends to keep the creative juices flowing. Having an "assigned" seat in a workspace never really did it for me and this is apparent in how I have set up my home office.
And now for the not so greats: My office at the moment is a little sparce. It could use a lamp and some overhead lighting and especially a confy-ish chair. However, these are luxuries that I fight to find relevant in a space that should should ooze productivity while kicking the user out at the end of the day. After all, this is a place where work should get done. Perhpas a little moonlighting, and a couple hours of open source work at max. It shouldn't feel like a place I want to escape to at night. Because after all, this is the environment where I go to work and that very concept is hard to keep in line when you work at home.
In terms of the this blog. I have every intention to get my ideas down more frequently this year over lasts. Last year, when it came to writing was most definitely the worst and that should change. So with high hopes, and perhaps a pretty sweet desk setup, here is to 2016!
