- Welcome to my workspace!
So as you may or may not know,
a couple of months ago I started a new job
where I work from home rather than in an office;
and that meant I needed to make
some serious upgrades to my home workspace.
I've been slowly adjusting my setup over the past few months
as you may have seen if you watch my vlogs.
I've been like, you know, trying out different desks
and arrangement and getting new monitor, et cetera;
and I'm finally at a stage where I'm really happy with it,
and so I wanna give you a tour.
First off, let's go big picture.
Like I said, I work from home
and so my desk is in our living space.
I live in London, and in London renting is very expensive,
especially if you wanna get somewhere
that is halfway nice and in a good area.
So we have a one-bedroom apartment;
but luckily for me, we've got this nice big living space
that is plenty big enough for my desk.
I used to have my desk over against the wall,
but soon decided that I wanted
some more natural light in my life;
and so that is when I figured out that this
little alcove here is the perfect size for a desk.
So this is my little work area.
I've got a nice big window to the side
that lets lots of light in.
I can also open it and get some fresh air whenever I like.
It's just a really nice space to work in,
and it also keeps my mess over to this little corner,
rather than being right in the middle of the room.
Now I guess let's start with the desk itself.
So, this is a standing desk.
In the past, I have made some DIY standing desks
by combining together a bunch of Ikea furniture.
I made a video about it actually,
about the last setup I had.
So I'll leave that on a card if you're interested in that;
but the desktop I had with that setup
was not big enough to have a monitor on,
so it just wasn't gonna suit this working from home setup.
In the end, I gave up on the DIY way of doing things.
It wasn't working out for me.
I couldn't get things the right height,
and so I've gone ahead and bought
this adjustable sit-to-stand desk.
This is a crank desk,
so I just have to turn this handle here,
pretty easy to do; and it's nice
to be able to move it from sitting position
to standing position because when you use a standing desk,
it's not actually good to stand 100% of the time.
So, yeah, having that option is awesome.
Anyway, this desk is from a company called Furna.
It was only 289 pounds, and I was like this is amazing;
it's so cheap!
Turns out you get what you pay for.
This desk isn't amazing quality.
I think it's fine now that it's all put together.
It's pretty sturdy,
especially because it's got this back bar on there.
It would definitely not be sturdy without it.
That's a tip I'd have for looking at standing desks,
you want something that has that horizontal support as well
because otherwise things can get pretty wobbly.
You may have seen in a vlog
that putting this thing together was hella stressful.
For example, the table top itself
didn't come with holes already drilled into it;
so we sort of had to guess where to put the legs,
and that meant putting it on wrong twice
before we figured out the exact right place for it.
It's also not something I ever could've put together myself.
It definitely required two people
and having Mark's help with it,
so keep that in mind if you're looking to purchase one.
Really happy with it now though,
and I like that it's white.
I like white workspaces for some reason,
and I like that it's the perfect width;
and it's also much deeper than my old desk as well,
which means that I can have things like my monitor
or my notebook sitting back further
and it feels a bit less cluttered.
I feel like I'm a person who attracts clutter,
like I'm just a cluttered person;
so anything that can cut down on that is good for me.
So here, let's look at this side of the desk next.
This is my microphone that I use for podcasting.
It's attached to the desk using a microphone arm.
This is a Blue Yeti microphone,
and it's got a pop filter on it there; so when I need
to record our podcast every Wednesday morning,
I just tilt the screen and bring the microphone forward
and get ready to record.
Right in the middle of my desk,
of course, is my external monitor.
I used to just use my 15-inch MacBook
for all my design work, but that's really bad
for your posture to be like looking down
at a laptop screen like that;
and so I figured that I'd get a monitor
because that can improve that,
and also then I have more space for designing on.
This is the Dell Ultra HD 4K 27-inch, I don't know;
there's probably more numbers on it to tell you about that,
but I'll link it down below in the description
where I bought it from off Amazon.
This is a really great quality monitor.
It wasn't cheap.
It was like five hundred and something pounds,
if I'm remembering correctly;
but worth it for me because, like I said,
work from home so this is my main workspace,
and having a good quality screen is really important for me.
It's pretty nicely designed too.
You can spin it around here
and raise it up and down really easily.
I've got this lamp from Ikea.
I can't remember what its name is,
but I'll link it in the description if I find it.
To be honest, I don't really use it that much;
but I really like it,
so I don't wanna get rid of it just yet.
My MacBook sits to the side of my monitor
because I use an external keyboard and track pad
for doing my design work.
These are just the Apple magic keyboard and magic track pad.
I think that's what they're called.
Some people find it a bit weird that I prefer
to use a track pad than a mouse but, I don't know,
there's just something about it.
I just prefer that way of working,
and I guess I got used to it
with only using my laptop for so long.
When I work, I tend to put Slack and my emails perhaps
over on this screen and then have my actual work
that I'm doing up on this screen here
so that the two can be kept separate
and I cannot be distracted.
And it means that if I hear that Slack message alert,
I can just glance to my side and see if it's something
that I need to deal with right now.
Like I said before, I'm quite a messy person.
I try and keep this desktop as clear as possible
with only the essentials on it,
but inevitably by the end of the week it's full again.
Right now on it I just have some drafts of a project
that I'm working on and also my bullet journal;
and before anyone asks,
I am gonna be doing a more in-depth video
about my bullet journal and that setup
and how I found using it a bit later on this month.
So look out for that.
So that's everything on the desk itself.
Just gonna quickly mention something
I'm standing on right now.
This is an anti-fatigue mat,
and it's recommended to get one of these
when you have a standing desk
because your feet don't get as sore
and it's a bit better on your knees as well, I think.
It's basically just a giant hunk
of good quality foam, I suppose.
This thing cost about 50 pounds,
so it seems quite expensive for a mat;
but I've just found it amazing,
and I can stand for much longer since having this.
So, I'm really pleased that I bought it.
When my legs or my feet do get a bit tired and need a break,
I tend to lower the desk down
and just grab one of our bar stools
and sit on that for a while
until I feel ready to stand again.
I do try and stand as much as possible
because I do find it's much better for my focus to do that.
I don't know; there's just something about it
that I feel more in work mode when I'm standing
rather than when I'm sitting,
which is more of, like, lounging around relaxing mode.
As you can see,
there's not much decoration on the desk itself;
but I do have a few things
on this wall here to the left-hand side.
First, I have this poster by Dan Edwards.
This is his poster about the creative process,
and I just thought it was really cool.
In fact, I made a video inspired by it
at the London YouTube space on YouTube NextUp,
filmed on the green screen.
It's one of my favorite videos I ever made;
so if you haven't seen that, check out my version
of the creative process, linked up above.
This little shelf here came with the flat.
It was just there and it was empty.
It's a bit wobbly, so I didn't wanna put anything
that was too heavy on it;
but I have inherited these little cacti pots from my sister,
who is leaving the country and moving back to New Zealand.
So I'm looking after them for her,
and they sit next to me on my desk.
I also have this photo frame with some pictures of us
from when we went to Brighton, which I really love.
And then this guy here is King Bob, my minion.
I'm not super into minions,
but I just think he's really cute;
and Mark bought him for me in Singapore,
so he sits there keeping me company as well.
Down below my desk, this is actually what I used to use
as my worktop, as part of my standing desk;
but this is a little Besta shelf frame thing,
and this is where I just keep some stuff.
I've got this ream of A3 paper,
which is what I use for wireframing.
I love drawing on big A3 pieces,
so that you're not limited by the size of the paper.
Also got my pens down there
and a few little things I'm working on,
and it's also where I'll keep things like my 12-inch MacBook
when it's not in my bag and my iPad and things like that.
I used to have a set of Ikea Alex drawers
as part of my desk setup as well,
which has a lot of other like electronics
and stationary things in it;
but now they sort of sit across the room
next to my record player.
I love getting to work from home
because it means I can play records while I work.
This is our record player setup.
I might do a more in-depth video about this
and an album art video if you're interested in seeing that.
I don't know; let me know in the comments,
but, yeah, I love being able to grab a record
and put that on to work to.
So that is my workspace and I suppose a little peak
into my apartment as well,
seeing as the two are one and the same.
I hope you enjoyed seeing it, so please make sure
you give this video a thumbs up if you did.
I'd love to hear about your workspace.
What are some special or unique things
about it that you feel like sharing?
Leave them down below in the comments.
Tell me what your thoughts are on standing desks as well.
If you're new to my channel, first of all, welcome;
and, secondly, hit that subscribe button
if you'd like to see more videos from me
and you'll be told when I make them.
They'll come into your subscription feed.
I make new design videos every Saturday
and then vlogs of my life here in London every Tuesday.
So, I will see you in the next one.
Bye!