With just under half of us still working from home, to one degree or another, here's our pick of the products that can help improve your health and power up your productivity:
Sit happens on the Aeron office chair
Sitting is a dangerous business. As a pro-sitter myself, I’ve been benched by three office-chair related injuries in my career, including tennis elbow, which at the time seemed particularly cruel since I’d never set foot on a tennis court.
The point is, I’ve now been injury-free since I bought a Herman Miller Aeron (with my own money).
The key to its comfort is the ‘Pellicle’: the thin mesh across the chair that cradles you as though you’re being held aloft by a sports massage therapist named Sven.
I'm all ears for the Debut ConneX
Desktop speakers give your ears a rest from headphones and, around these parts, loud music kickstarts Happy Hour (between 5 and 6pm if you’re coming over).
If you’re looking to invest in something that sounds and looks great, and will last, it’s hard to look past the Debut ConneX from German audiophile brand ELAC.
They have ports for everything you might want to plug into them, but also work wirelessly via Bluetooth.
Marginal gains with the Keychron Q14 Max
In the world of mechanical keyboards, Keychron is both gateway drug and taboo, since it arrives pre-assembled.
As someone who makes his living writing on a keyboard, I was on the fence, until I saw the Q14 Max, with the numpad on the left.
Yes, the ‘Southpaw’ layout could help lefties with number input, but for me, the extra space means I’m less likely to lean over to one side and strain my wrist. No, I’m not made of glass, why do you ask?
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There are levels to the Fully Jarvis standing desk
No seriously, sitting down really is dangerous… It can contribute to early-onset diabetes, certain forms of cancer and even “early death” according to the NHS’s review of the data.
Regular breaks and strolls around the house should spare you from the worst consequences, but I’m not taking any chances.
There are plenty of standing desk options out there, from risers that sit on your desk to laptop stands that are several feet tall, but I like the smart simplicity and sustainability of the Fully Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk.
It has programmable options for the desk’s height, good cable-tidy options and it’s reasonably quiet to operate.
Recent studies are also starting to show that standing, in bursts, can improve your attention and focus at work.
Chat routinely with the ASUS ProArt monitor
Are you even working if you haven’t got an AI language model helping you out? While I’ve yet to be convinced by ChatGPT et al’s writing skills, I do find it useful when it comes to tasks like building data sets, writing automation code and even carrying out initial research.
That’s why my next desk upgrade is almost certainly going to be a second monitor for a virtual assistant to live on.
This ProArt model pretty much does everything very well at a reasonable price. (In fact, it should really be your first monitor). It’s sharp, bright and accurate since it’s designed for creative professionals.
It has a 27in (69cm) display and ports to let you transfer files or daisy chain it to additional screens. Its ergonomic stand also means you can rotate it to portrait mode, which makes it the ideal real estate to house an AI assistant.
The Hexcal Studio has shelf appeal
Most monitors – and the stands they come with – fall annoyingly short of eye level, which is a common cause of neck strain and backache.
One option is a monitor arm, although it can be an eyesore and, take it from me, a pain to install. The other is a desktop shelf that elevates your monitor to a more comfortable height and delivers some desk real estate.
This is the money-no-object option: a monitor stand that doubles as your cable management and dock (providing extra USB ports) to hook up to your workstation.
It has adjustable feet too, and even a wireless charging module for your phone. Best of all, there’s eight plug sockets on the back, so you can just send one power wire to your desk, and plug everything else into the Hexcal Studio.
Sweet bliss with Apple AirPods Pro 2
If you’re in the Apple ecosystem, then a pair of AirPods Pro 2 is almost essential for a productive work life.
They’re as good at silencing the aural assault of a busy flight as they are at muting that spluttering, hacking colleague two desks over.
Plus, transparency mode is helpful since it turns down noise-cancelling and audio volume when the AirPods sense someone talking to you (although it also activates if you sing to yourself, which is sub-optimal).
The AirPods’ most useful trick is the way they flick seamlessly between your Apple devices’ Bluetooth connections with one button press.
Plus there’s the adaptive equalisers, spatial audio and even the option to turn them into hearing aids. Oh, and they sound great too.
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