Don’t think I can carry on with my current setup much longer: Macbook on desk. Pain in my arms from elbow pressure and pain in my neck from looking at a downwards angle all the day.
What do you do? Are those laptop stands any good? Guessing you need an external keyboard if you use one of them so you don’t wreck your wrists? I’d rather not have to spend a fortune on a monitor (has to be 4k otherwise Macbook Pro looks shite) but not sure there’s any other way.
When I’m at my desk I have my laptop on a stack of boxes to get it closer to eye level and use a separate keyboard (mine is a nonsense mechanical one but they’re cheap otherwise).
I tend to just lay on my bed instead though, still feels more comfortable than being at a desk chair all day.
Does your employer not offer a DSE assessment? I thought by law they had to.
(Finally got mine to send me a second monitor this week, total game changer)
Complained about my coccyx pain until they provided me with a stand up desk. Which tbf they did.
Also have a decent chair with a donut cushion. Also due to a previous tendonitis flair up I prefer to use my laptop keyboard to a separate one.
Re standing desk. I try to stand for meetings and sit the rest of the time. Does seem to make a big difference.
A place I used to work at asked what changes they could make to make working most comfortable, so I put forward the idea of having the extra option of standup desks, like breakfast bar things, with a sort of cushioned roughly waistheight ledge on the wall behind, so we could stand or lean, or sort of sit dependent on how you were feeling. They said that’s a really good idea, but decided to get me something called a mood light instead, so that’s nice, I just sat at the same desk, in the same crap chair, staring directly into aurelia fucking borealis every day.
Hmm, nope
Can you speak to your line manager / HR about it?
In law, employers must:
Incorrect use of DSE or poorly designed workstations or work environments can lead to pain in necks, shoulders, backs, arms, wrists and hands as well as fatigue and eye strain. The causes may not always be obvious.
The law applies if users are, for example:
^ yeah, this. If you’re required to work from home then they’re required to provide suitable equipment.
If your chair has arms that you’re resting your elbows on, get rid.
Why is this? I do it all the time, love it actually.
Remember motion is lotion
Separate big monitor plugged into laptop. Keyboard and mouse. Big desk.
Does anyone know if I can have two monitors with this setup? Only one HDMI output from the laptop.
I’ve got a docking station with 2 HDMI ports which does the job.
If they aren’t at the exact right height to just give support, they will fuck you up. I got rid of mine and my elbow and neck pain disappeared almost overnight. Try to avoid putting pressure on my elbows at all now.
Ah shit, cheers for the heads up.
yeah your employer needs to buy you all the stuff.
laptop stand + keyboard + mouse works pretty well, monitor + keyboard + mouse is better.
Couldn’t imagine working on just a laptop keyboard for more than an hour or so.
Docking station and one old monitor that i took from the office the day before lockdown. Second monitor that they sent me a few weeks later. Would’ve bought one of i had to.
Any newer laptop and monitor you should be able to dock to directly with USB C and run external keyboard, etc through the monitor.
