Ask HN: What work/office purchase transformed your life?

OK, cheating a bit here, but: My Jetbrains IDEs. It's a huge productivity boost for me over VSCode, with batteries included out of the box (great diff engine, gitlens like visual git, built in postman like client, SQL query editor and table browser, amazing indexed searched, awesome refactoring). I've paid for an individual sub for a decade and will probably keep doing it for life. Really great product that's useful every hour of the workday, no matter how I sit or stand.

For me it's been adding plants to my desk/office. It makes the room feel more alive and vibrant. I currently have a fiddle leaf fig and a succulent pot, love both of them.

AirPods Pro without a doubt. It's the only item in my life that if it broke, I would immediately buy a replacement. I used them in the office to isolate myself from other people and when I'm walking outside to isolate myself from cars.

I don't drive, so getting to and from work is often more work than the actual work, plus, a lot of what I do isn't desk work.

I spend a lot more on on-the-go gear than office stuff.

* Tile Trackers

* Vacuum insulated water bottles, food jars, and a coffee mug

* A decent phone

* A MOLLE backpack(SOG Ninja) and accessories.

* A headlamp (Sofirn HS10, it's tiny and USB-C rechargeable)

* Zero drop barefoot shoes

* An ultra slim neck wallet

* An A5 6-ring planner for the rare occasions I'm using real paper

* Duplicate home and backpack copies of things like USB chargers

My latest purchase is some 1.8mm reflective cord.

Tied around a carabiner at both ends, so I can quickly clip my keys to my belt with one of those tactical belt hangar things, and ensure they don't fall out of my pocket.

HM Embody. It's not "comfy", but after six months, a lower back condition that hasn't been corrected, only managed by years of PT improved enough for me to go off pain management. Bonus: It also solved a prostate issue I didn't know I had.

RealForce R3S TKL, 30g. I returned a Kinesis 360 and got this instead. None of the reviews helped, and tbf, it's not easy to explain the difference or value of optical programmable switches until you use them. Note: I broke my hand a lifetime ago, and it just wasn't mechanically able to fit the 360's ergonomics. You have to be well to stay well, I guess.

Air purifiers. Breathe well.

High CRI lighting. Your lights can be for more than helping you not bump into things. I feel like I'm seeing our home for the first time, and I need less light to prevent strain or fatigue while reading, etc.

I don't know if "transformed my life" would be the right term but I always harp on to colleagues about my Polycom. I was skeptical when originally buying it but the purchase has ended up being one of my favourite things on my desk.

My laptop is docked and closed so using the built in mic and speaker isn't a great experience on remote calls. I don't like the experience of using headphones for a call because of the effect they have on how I perceive my own voice.

With the Polycom on my desk I just join a call, have everything set up automatically and get a great speaking/listening experience. Connectivity issues have been extremely rare and I can't remember the last time I needed to mess with settings unlike my Airpods which feel 50/50.

I personally have the Plantronics P7200 but there's many good options out there. Plus points for being able to expense it to my employers work from home allowance.

A pull-up bar for my home office. I do a couple of pull ups every time I walk through that door. Amounts to 5-15 / day.

I'll second what others said about chairs and nice keyboards. If you're going to spend a lot of time using it, it might as well be a good one. Some other things that helped me with a mainly work from home life:

- A very large desk with a ton of space to tinker with things. I got an corner desk, with one wing holding an electronics workbench, and the other kept clean for working on my 3d printer or camera or taxes, etc. PC is in the center

- Monitor arms, they are just night and day better than stands

- More monitors, I went up to 3, but I've been thinking of adding more or swapping one with a lg dual up

- Stream Deck, really nice to add macros to your workflow. It's also got nice integrations with Teams and Discord for helping with calls

- Wireless headset, I use a steel series one. Very nice to be able to get up and get water or a snack during a meeting and not miss anything

- EInk notebook, I hate typing notes, and this replaced my pile of scratch pads

- Nvidia Broadcast, noise cancellation you can apply to both yourself and the shit audio your boss's laptop mic makes

Not a purchase, but I've taken the time to make some simple scripts to improve my workflow lately and it's been great. I have one that I use multiple times a day that just turns on my webcam and light, then opens OBS in virtual cam mode. When I close OBS it turns off the cam and light. It may just change 4 clicks to 1 click but it's quite nice in practice.

CompareIt! [1] - It's an ancient diff program last updated over a decade ago, but I've never found a diff program nearly as useful.

It is windows only, but it is fast, allows quickly setting manual anchor points (I miss this horribly when doing git diffs via vimdiff), and has converters for common file formats like doc and pdf (extracts the text and then does the diff).

I use it for both work and home. In addition to code diff, it's great for comparing things like PDFs of insurance renewals, to see what has changed.

It's the best $30 I've ever spent on software.

[1] https://www.grigsoft.com/wincmp3.htm

Changing desk height to standing height and buying a saddle stool.

I used to bike to work but as soon as I sat down at my desk I felt like I was cutting my body at the waist. My lower body/legs were some kind of passive appendage stuck to my chair.

The first week of working while standing I kept looking for a chair to sit on, it was really distracting and I felt tired.

I bought a saddle stool with enough height so that I can transfer back and forth between standing and sitting. The stool has no back support and my legs are still fairly straight (like sitting on a bar stool) so my body is still much more active than just sitting in a chair.

Definitely life-changing. I have suffered from lower back pain all my life. If I have to go back to sitting in a chair for more than a few days I feel my back starting to lock up. In the standing/saddle configuration this doesn't happen.

Here is a random example: https://shop.lfhair.com.au/product/saddle-stool-ch-841/

An ergonomic split keyboard. Suddenly I can type without rotating my shoulders inward. Which in turn means more room in my chest for my lungs to expand. The difference was not subtle. Learning to touch-type on this thing took a while but was totally worth it.

- Moonlander keyboard. I was experiencing numbness in a couple of my fingers, and having the keyboard split into two pieces lets me relax my shoulders and just feels much, much more comfortable. Plus the programmable layout means I can make all the stuff I need for coding (curly braces, brackets, oft-used combos like =>) much more accessible.

-48” 4k OLED screen. A single large screen, combined with a tiling window manager, is just so much better than multiple smaller monitors. I typically have my IDE taking up 2/3 of the screen and my browser covering the other 1/3 - but I can easily adjust this depending on my needs. Plus it’s got HDR and a decent refresh rate (120hz) so it’s great for playing games too. It’s technically a tv, not a monitor, but it has a “PC mode” that fixes text rendering and enables vsync.

My Remarkable 2 E-Ink notebook for sure. I'm a pen and paper notes taker - R2 has been extremely useful in freeing me up from the pen and paper books. And my notes are searchable and tagged!

Top is maybe my old Dell 27" 4K Ultrasharp. Still nice and bright but lacks USB-C/Thunderbolt. Plenty of pixels for me and a good height range.

I tried lots of USB-C docks/dongles and finally gave in and got a decent lower-end Thunderbolt dock from Anker. No more juggling multiple cables to get 4K60. Single cable solution to dock my MacBook Pro and run pretty much anything.

It isn't currently in my office, but a cheap recumbent stationary bike has been a good help to knock out some cardio when I have a break.

Well top is really the M1 Pro MacBook Pro. Fast, silent and 95% of the time I don't even think about battery life. A big improvement over my 2019 i9 MBP.

Related, also maybe my 12.9" iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard cover. It's a 2018 with a dying battery but it makes a great book reader, video viewer, spare monitor, etc. With the keyboard case it's decent for writing or remote terminal work. It's become my "couch laptop" and what I throw in the car in case I get stuck waiting for something or someone.

I've got a cheap standing desk but meh - mostly sit at it but being able to change height even for sitting is nice. Cheap-ish Tempur-Pedic office chair works pretty well for me. Creative Pebble Pro speakers were a big improvement over my previous ones with analog input and a subwoofer I kept kicking. Anker C200 webcam and Audio-Technica ATR2100x-USB microphone were cheap upgrades for calls. A clamp-on cupholder that keeps my drink stable and away from possible spills onto my MacBook is a win. A few external SSDs for Time Machine etc.

- A logitech MX vertical mouse. I rarely have carpal tunnel issues using it all day. I wish it was a bit more responsive and I'd use it for gaming because it's so comfortable

- A decent backpack with space for a) a whole set of USB cords b) a small hand tools kit and c) a small cutlery set. Having dedicated cords and tools for just my backpack is nice, and a nice cutlery set is good for meetings and out in the field when I don't want to waste single-use plastic.

Arctis Nova Pro Wireless Headset. I can stay connected to both my workstation (with enough range to cover my house and some of the yard) and my phone at the same time. This allows me to wander/pace away from my desk during meetings, and also answer calls without taking it off. It's super comfy, and comes with two batteries so the base can charge one while the other is in use, meaning you never have to plug it in to charge (if you're away from the base station and just using them as Bluetooth headphones, you can also charge with a USB-C cable). The quality is pretty good (not as good as my Sennheisers but good), and the battery compartment has a thoughtful magnetic catch instead of a bit of plastic that will break off. The styling is muted and not super "gamery". There's even an 1/8" jack if you need to listen to something that only has analog out.

It's a wonderfully designed piece of kit and I highly recommend it to anyone who works on a computer or is a PC gamer (edit: now that I think about it, it should also work on most modern consoles, but I can't vouch for that).

I hate the price tag but the apple studio display just works. The speakers are nice, the camera works without input, it plugs into my MacBook and I didn't need to change the settings to keep it closed and running. Maybe I'm living in 2005 where all this sounds impossible but I find it really makes it ten times easier to show up to work and just get working instead of fiddling with settings each morning.

Physical sticky notes

Really!

I never used them and after receiving them as a "gift" I started loving using em.

They really help me manage both: job and private stuff!

I would get pretty bad wrist pain due to what I'm assuming is carpal tunnel, so I got a DeltaHub Carpio 2.0. It changed everything -- no more pain. It took a few weeks to get used to, but now I don't even notice it (unless it's gone). I work with it, I play competitive FPS games with it.

Another would be a standing desk with an Ergodriven Topo Mat. I stand 99% of the time. I don't even own an office chair anymore. My back feels much better (I really feel better overall). My feet hurt pretty bad in the morning, right after I wake up, though. But a worthy tradeoff.

Another would a Audient EVO 4 audio interface. It lets me mix ambient sound from my mic with my music (sometimes I like to hear my wife and kids or my mechanical keyboard, other times I do not).

Lastly would be an AirDoctor.

Standing desk with same USB C dock + jabra headset + ergonomic microsoft sculpt keyboard + similar dual monitors in my home and work office. It's been very convenient as I can grab and go to plug in my personal laptop, work laptop, or usb c the peripherals to to the gaming desktop pretty easily.

Dragon medical dictation and now dragon one dictation. I don't agree with their frankly predatory end of life discontinuation to not activate any more licenses for the former, but man is it convenient. Just gives my hands and mind a break.

If you have suggestions for another ergonomic keyboard I'm all ears! My work one stopped working with my corporate laptop this week and I can't figure it out. Most of what I've seen doesn't have F-keys which are essential for me.

Employees. They're pretty passive aggressive, but for the most part they just shut up and do their work. Makes my job easy. These days I mostly just take people to lunch, golf, smile & shake hands, occasionally do an inspirational TED-like talk, and just collect the cash.

I need a height adjustable desk that can go down to my lap and up to standing. Being able to go as low as my lap allows my feet to stay flat on the floor, my legs to have even pressure on my fancy herman miller aaron chair seat, and then have my arms comfortably at my side with my forearms level to the tabletoptype on my split mechanical keyboard. I also recently went to a vertical mouse. The computer stand needs to be tall enough that my eyes are generally looking straight, not up or down.

I also like a good mic and good webcam (currently using a dslr).

Also having a large thermos of water at arms length.

hands down best purchase for me was a split keyboard. Had a hard time justifying it, but 2 years in it does wonders in terms of chest/back comfort compared to traditional keyboards.

second best purchase was a quality all-mesh office chair (locally purchased Ioo in my case, similar to aeron). My primary motivation was coping with heatwaves in the southern/top floor apartment (it worked great). Generally high quality and comfort warranted a second purchase for my wife after ~6 years. I was sceptical about ageing of the mesh material over the years, but after ~8 years of use you can hardly tell it apart from a freshly unboxed chair.

1. Large internal hard disks and USB back-ups to archive a ton of information.

2. I registered for a free Canvas account on Instructute.com and now build courses to teach everything I learn.

3. Deciding that upgrading my PC's system unit would wait as I bought new peripherals, like 43" 4k TV as monitors, a better keyboard, a DSLR, etc.

4. Used Xeon-powered workstations, then learning to upgrade them.

5. Learning that the best things in life are free, like large-format color copiers on CraigsList that have a small and fixable issue, but are too heavy yo move without renting a commercial truck with a lift gate.

6. A VPN so I could pirate books and audio books.

Phillips Hue and having multiple presets. Now that the DST is over, it's darker in the morning for me, so I have a Hue scene to turn on most of the lights in my office bright, but not at max. In the afternoon, once the sun starts to set, I have another preset that plays well with dark mode, but still somewhat bright. Then I have a more dimmer preset for later in the evening. I've noticed it has improved my circadian rhythm.

Another great buy was the Cal-Digit TS4. It's hooked up to two monitors, a WD SSD for Time Machine backups, and Ethernet.

It’s possible the recliner is just mitigating the problem by allowing you to not sit as straight

I had the same issue of tight hips/pain when sitting up straight and I found doing hamstring stretches and some core work a couple times per week fixed the issue for me

Something I learned was that a lot of time tight hips or lower back pain is actually due to tight hamstrings

Hardware / furniture

- Kinesis Advantage 2 keyboard (with QMK Stapleberg mod via Teensy microcontroller). This way I get the advantage of the extremely ergonomic keyboard + plus the benefit of it being highly configurable/programmable via C (QMK)

- adjustable desk

- ergonomic chair (got it second hand from a furniture store that buys from businesses that are closing down offices; essentially an 1.5k chair for $200 in good condition)

Software-wise

- learning vim/nvim (long term commitment but after a few years it starts bearing fruit and I’m more productive on it than any other tools I’ve used

- raycast (powerful, highly configurable Mac OS launcher)

- using a clipboard (I use the Raycast built in one; have a dedicated key for it)

- vimium (vim motions in browser)

- benefits of vim and vimium is that I don’t use mouse much and so my shoulder doesn’t hurt (from moving back and from from keyboard and mouse) and I don’t use the mouse scroller (biggest killer for hand pain for me)

Evoluent Vertical Mouse. Mouse lasted for about 4 years (the middle scroll wheel stopped working), and replacement mouse purchased is still going strong.

https://evoluent.com/products/vm4rw/

My wrist would ached so much when working at a computer until I started using it. Then got a PERIBOARD-409 keyboard (https://www.amazon.com/Perixx-PERIBOARD-409U-Mini-Keyboard-1...) that would allow me to keep the mouse closer to the keyboard.

Herman Miller Embody.

I am physically disabled from severing my spine. This changed my experience of being at the desk.

Teeny teeny computers like the old MacBook Air. Mind you, I’m a workaholic and enjoy work. Buying computers that are usable but are so small you don’t mind carrying them around all day is a giant productivity hack. You can work on the bus, when your doctor runs late, etc.

I have a random chair, a random desk, a random monitor, a random keyboard and mouse, and I never had any problems with anything at all. I feel lucky I have not had problems with my eyes, hands, or back doing this for 20+ years.

The biggest transformation was getting an RH Mereo chair. For me it's solved the back and leg issues caused by poor posture.

It's the first chair to make me sit comfortably & correctly [1].

Also transformational were:

* Corne split keyboard

* Benq e-reading lamp

* Galaxy Tab S8+

* Sit/stand desk

* Cheap foldable laptop stand from AliExpress (laptops by default seem terrible for posture).

[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/08/13/6360250...

The Aeron actually works great for me, but I realize each person's body is different. In my case, it relieves pressure on my lower back, where I've had a lot of bone density loss due to a medical condition.

Would you be able to share a picture of your setup? I can't imagine a desk and a stress recliner, and I have similar problems with my posture. Also tried many chairs, including kneeling rocking chair.

I painted my walls white (from shitty brown) and now I'm not depressive anymore.

I also bought a split ergonomic keyboard (Dygma Raise), and now I hate typing on every other keyboard.

Current setup:

- Humanscale Freedom chair with headrest, gel seat and gel arm rests

- Accell Thunderbolt 4 Docking station, 96W USB-C w/ 2x Dell 2715q

- Logitech MX Master mouse & MX Keys keyboard

- Fry's mousepad

- Xiaomi Mi Monitor Light Bar w/ remote

- STM Myth 18L Laptop Backpack

- Jabra Speak 510

A used, very fast enterprise-grade LaserJet with a duplexer and stapler. I think mine’s at least 15 years old, and somehow there’s still third party parts and consumables available.

Investing in actual office space that isn’t directly in my bedroom space, with a large solid desk on a standing frame, and a 50” ultrawide with a KVM in it. Everything just works, I can focus, I have good music and speakers, and when it’s time to finish for the day I can turn it all off with one button and walk out.

In my case this was done by moving to a larger house with a seperate office, but this could easily be a shed, a wework, or a rented commercial suite, but the separation really helped.

First time I heard of Stressless recliners. Which one specifically are you using? They look awesome, but oh my are they expensive. Are there affordable alternatives?

I'll second spending money on a chair. Spend as much as is required to find one that works for you.

After years of compromising and not wanting to spend what looks on the surface like silly money on a chair, I splashed out on a Herman Miller Mirra 2.

It's so comfortable that I'm pretty sure I could sit on it for the rest of my life and I'd never be in any pain, and it's in its 10th year of service without anything breaking, degrading or wobbling.

Best investment I've ever made!

Ergodox keyboard and vertical trackball mouse saved my arms. Another commented suggested two trackball mice, one for left and right to alternate. Might do that too.

Hifiman Ananda wired headphones. They are the lightest and clearest headphones I've ever used. I was fed up with the unreliable connection and dying battery in my Airpods Max. Listening to music is now effortless, and I'm listening more closely than ever to all genres.

I keep them on a wooden stand on my desk, plugged into an Apogee Duet 3 interface.

Logitech MX Vertical mouse

My first split keyboard, where I could also easily change the angle. That was an ergonomic game changer for me. I can really recommend a split keyboard to anyone. In my case, it's a Dygma keyboard. I use vim as my primary editor and I've never been able to type so fast and for so long without interruption

A large SAD light therapy light (beurer). Fixes my insomnia. Bonus points for acting as a webcam light.

I use two mice. I have a trackball mouse for my left hand and also use a conventional mouse for my right hand. I switch back and forth throughout the day. I suffered CTS early in my career when getting a full time job. I could not work full time without this setup.

A silent (fanless) desktop computer.

A big desk. A bunch deeper and longer than the bare minimum. And L-shaped so that I can rest my hand on it.

Having an external monitor behind my laptop screen allows me to change the focal distance of my eyes back and forth, so that's probably good for the eyes.

Portable USB monitor for business trips. That second monitor when on the road does wonders.

headphones which were really good. blocks out all the noise in our “vibrant open” office

What kind of desk/table did you find that worked with that? I have a 5K grand leather livi by room chair my grandfather bought for me that I adore, but using it with a desk has been a significant challenge.

Converted my garage to a gym. I have squat racks, bars, dumbbells, rower, and more. My now 13yo has discovered he likes lifting which was a nice benefit too.

An ergonomic chair (Hag Capisco). Fixed back/leg pain.

Ergonomic everything. From hardware to wrist wrests. Transformed my life from bad carpal tunnel syndrome to none at all.

Apple Studio Display was a bit of a splurge, but makes the hours of meetings I’m in every day much more pleasant.

Trackball mouse - took several days to learn, and no more carpal tunnel syndrome or fore-arm tension in general.

Bose PC speakers, Shure MV7 mic on shock mounted arm.

These have made Teams calls so much easier to deal with.

Walking pad (TR5000-DT3). Keeps me fit for the last 2 years and all back pains are gone since used daily.

The latest Happy Hacking Keyboard Hybrid with its amazing Topre keys.

A Valvomo Netsurfer chair - made work comfortable again

Split keyboard

Hiring an EA.

I don't know if they transformed my life, but the following things substantially improved it.

- OK, except the MacBook Pro. That transformed my life. Portable, powerful, long battery life, super-usable.

- OK, and Raycast (https://www.raycast.com/), too. Raycast has transformed my life. I resisted Raycast for a long time, because I already owned Alfred and I thought that Raycast was hipster junk for people unaware of Alfred. I was so wrong.

All my common statements and actions are now down to quick launch and hotkeys with a lot of GPT integration thrown in (eg. "Check spelling and grammar", "Improve writing", "Summarize text", etc).

I've been trying to stick with cross-platform apps as much as possible so that I can eventually move back to Linux, but Raycast is that exception. I pay for the Pro license. And yes, I've played with Albert and (I think) KRunner on Linux.

I could do most of this with Alfred, Albert, or KRunner, but Raycast is so much more polished and has so much less friction when extending it.

- Standing desk: https://www.amazon.com/Flexispot-Standing-Adjustable-Electri...

- Electric Kettle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DEQDEZA/

- Light therapy lamp: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075H39NDL/

- AA battery flashlight: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G75P1SC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... I use this thing all the time.

I was nervous going from a USB-charging, albeit larger flashlight to something that takes AA batteries, but this is way easier. When the thing is dead, it's not useless for 2 hours until it's charged up enough. I go to the office battery drawer, retrieve another AA, pop it in and I'm good immediately. In actuality, I keep a spare AA battery in my daily backpack and rotate it out.

- TNF Surge 2023 backpack: https://www.amazon.com/NORTH-FACE-Commuter-Laptop-Backpack/ I moved to this from a Goruck GR1 (which I still use outside of work). The Surge backpacks change all the time. I have a couple from past years -- they aren't that great.

It has a lot of pockets to stash things, the bottle holders aren't stupid. It's ergonomic. The chest strap has a whistle which I use all the time to get people's attention. It holds a 16" MBP and an iPad easily. It's light. The fabric on this particular color is quite rain resistant. Don't watch the YouTube reviews for the 2023, most of them are reviewing a substantially inferior 2023 prototype model before they improved a bunch of things.

- Foam rollers. Doesn't matter which, just buy one with decent ratings.

- Balance board. Nice little core workout and kinda fun when you're noodling on a problem. I bought the crappy plastic one that was on Shark Tank. Don't buy that one. Instead, buy one of these from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=balance+board