Remote Office Setup

13 mins read

Warning: This is outdated.

Here I collected popular recommendations. For what I use, please check my use page. Since I use Mac, things list here are biased for Mac users. Some products may not be avilable where you live, so get a local equivalent one that is comparable.

Building a home office for Remote work.

The secret productivity boost of working from home, is the air quality of your house. You can measure air quality with AWAIR, uHoo or get an Air Meter.

Make sure air flows in your house and you can use an Air Purifier to improve the air quality too.

Have plants in interior can reduce stress and promote wellbeing.

First download a light meter app to find out how much light in your home office. The unit of light is Footcandle. Then according to how much light you have. You can get plants and plants can be categorized into:

Another factor to decide what plant to get is how much care you want to put. Start with low-maintaineance plants.

Planter (container holds your plant) is better with subirrigated, means you fill water in the bottom and plant drink water from their root system.

A website you can learn more about indoor plants: The Sill.

Mac mini / Mac Pro / MacBookPro 13 / 16 should be enough to power most of the following items. I would personally recommend M1 Mac for quietness and not like a heating pad.

It is better to lift your laptop to keep a ergonomical height when you look at your laptop. These are ones with mobilitiy:

If you just want to claim your space and not using your laptop:

Moft is invisible and can be installed on your laptop to use when you go out. But unless you also use keyboard + mouse, I dont recommend it. Because it makes you type in a horrible posture that is very bad for your body.

First turn on faster key response.

I am hooked by HHKB and never look back (Hybrid Type-S).

Other options:

Split Keyboards:

Since we type all day, you may also want to buy a hand cream or a nice hand wash like Resurrection Aromatique Aesop Hand Wash #SupportAustralia.

Mouse should be next to your keyboard. How you want to use mouse:

The difference between MX Master 3 and MX Master 3 for Mac.
MX Master 3 for Mac has no unifiying USB-A receiver. The design has higher contrast. Does not work for Windows. If you already had one, no need to upgrade. You can consider using unifiying USB-A receiver instead of Bluetooth because MacBook and Bluetooth have connectivity issues, one less device interferences.

In Japan, logitech is called logicool.

Trackpad should be placed next to your keyboard.

Watch this fantastic video on why we need wrist rest and make your own in 3 seconds.

You can also buy:

Sitting all day is not good, stand sometimes or always. Here are some options:

Not standing desk, but pretty:

Floyd

If you’re standing, it’s highly recommended to have a Anti-Fatigue Comfort standing Mat.

Good chairs offers 10+ years warranty. For 10+ years of comfortable sitting and health. It’s not that expensive! Company usually has home office stipends.

Herman Miller Chairs: Sayl ($550+), Cosm $900+, Aeron ($1400+), Embody ($1500+).

Other brands:

Allsteel
Knoll
Steelcase Leap, Gesture

Find more chairs: BTOD’s best office chairs for 2020.

You can also sit on Exercise/Balance/Fitness ball to change a bit, but not for long.

BTOD does good review for chairs.

When you sit on the right position. If your feet not touching the ground, you may consider to buy a foot pillow.

Protect your floor. Easier to move with your chair caster. You buy different chair mat based on your floor type, thickness of the surface, and size of the area you will roll with your chair.

You want monitor that is 4K+ with USB-C. 60Hz+. 27"+. 60Hz so no delay.

For gaming, Acer Predator series seems perform better than Dell in the same price range.

What is HDR?

Please read this guide about Play HDR video on your Mac. Only few HDMI products (cable/adapter) can play HDR content:

DisplayPort needs >= 1.4 to be able to play HDR.

For Netflix, you need to use Safari.

You’ll also want to install MonitorControl app to control your external monitor brightness & volume. Or SwitchResX to set resolutions for different apps.

If your work needs to see true color (medical), try EIZO’s monitors.

To keep a ergonomical height when you look at your Monitor. It’s flexible for sitting and standing.

Why it’s important

If possible, get a Monitor Arm. It’s more flexible.

You want to do deep work without noise.

Make your headphone comfy: Softie covers.

You want to be loud & clear during your call. This will also open up another career path of podcasting. Better audio quality makes you sound more trustworthy. Tips for audio quality.

USB-C so it can easily plug into newer MacBook Pros. Otherwise you need adapters.

Microphone Price USB-C
Blue Yeti Nano $99 ✔
Rode NT-USB Mini $99 ✔
Audio-Technica ATR2100x-USB $100 ✔
Rode NT-USB $100 USB
Shure MV5 $100 USB
Jabra Speak 410 $130 USB 2.0
Blue Yeti $130 USB
Audio-Technica AT2020 USB+ $150

Rode AT1 & AI1 $250
Blue Yeti Pro $250
Rode Podcaster / Rode Procaster $250
HEiL sound PR-40 $329 via Wes Bos
Shure SM7B $340

If you want to do podcasts: Podcasting Setup 2020

If you need an Audio Interface (for example, if you’re using a good microphone): UR22C.

Blue compass $99 (looks nicer)
PL2T boom arm
RODE PSA1 Arm

Easy direction is buy a webcam. Another direction to go is to reuse your existing DSLR.

MacBook Pro did not come with 1080p webcamp so...

logitech C925e — 1080p 30fps $100
logitech C922S — 1080p 30fps $100
logitech C920 — HD Pro 1080p 30fps (Superseded by C922S) $80
logitech HD Webcam C615 — 1080p $70
logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM — 4K 30fps $200
Razer Kiyo — with built-in ring light (1080p 30fps, 720p 60fps) $100

If you own a Pro Display XDR, Logitech 4K Pro.

You can also install Webcam Settings app to zoom in and out, tweak settings like Aperture, Brightness, Contrast, Hue, etc., at hardware level.

Read also: In Sight.

Try to get natural light in your room. Natural light makes you happy and look much nicer!

Your face could be underexposed all the time and you want your face to be clear.

Could try these lights:

If you have strong backlights you can try to find Lighting Reflectors.

Brands to find products:

My strong bias is CalDigit TS3 Plus dock... One dock has 15 ports: 1Gbps Ethernet, Audio In/Out, USB-C 3.1 Gen 1, 4x USB-A 3.1, USB-C 3.1 Gen 2, 2x Thunderbolt 3 (one can charge your laptop 87W), and Display Port 1.2.

CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub is new released in 2021, 8 ports (4x Thunderbolt 4, 4x USB-4, 8K Display or Dual 4K 60Hz Displays, charge your laptop up to 60W).

Make sure buy one that is forgiving on placement (place your device on the right angle on the charging mat). Buy ones that can charge 7.5W+.

You can charge AirPods 2, AirPods Pro, iPhone 8+, Nintendo Switch.

Belkin BOOST CHARGE

Above you have so many gear, you need a USB Hub to power them. Keep wires organized. Use your old USB-A things. Read a SD card. HDMI port, et cetera.

One to rule everything probably is CalDigit TS3 Plus — This one has 15 ports of everything! You can still charge your MacBook Pro with 87W! I’m a happy customer!

If you are looking for a one to go out with, probably

CalDigit USB-C Pro Dock and Satechi has many offerings: Satechi USB hubs. Also check out Belkin and Anker USB Hubs.

Sometimes you need to go out and work.

For MacBookPro 16".

Also check out this thread.

Lastly, make sure bluetooth devices are at least 4.0+ (2019.01.21 5.1 released).

That was a lot of stuff. Why I even write this? Because I like you and do not want you to go through million sites with Ads and pop-ups then find more or less the same with this list.

But the most useful thing you have and it’s FREE is to take micro breaks often and frequently!!

You like this? Show me what your home office looks like: @JuanitoFatas

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    Q comes with DisplayPort cable. QM is the same but with HDMI cable. DisplayPort is better than HDMI. Also only certain HDMI products support HDR.

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