Another Tech Tip Tuesday with Jesse Mulligan at RNZ.
Jesse Mulligan (00:00): It's Tuesday afternoon. Jesse Mulligan with you, and time for Tech Tuesday. We do it every couple of weeks, and catch up with Daniel Watson from Vertech IT Services. Hey there, Daniel.
Daniel Watson (00:13): Hey, Jesse.
Jesse Mulligan (00:14): I don't think you'd be impressed with my current home office set-up. It's an old table that somebody used for painting. I've got a beach towel to try and dampen the noise from the table. I've got a piece of polystyrene type material that the RNZers have made for me to create a sea shape shell around me to try and deaden the echo. Otherwise, it looks very home-made.
Daniel Watson (00:42): Yeah, no, I remember posting something like that on my LinkedIn way back. Yeah. It's good ingenuity. Nice.
Jesse Mulligan (00:51): We're actually talking about home-
Daniel Watson (00:52): Possibly not the best.
Jesse Mulligan (00:54): Yeah. We've actually got a bit of delay. Sorry, mate. We've talking about the home environment today, and what's your experience of trying to set up at home and do it properly?
Daniel Watson (01:06): Yeah. So during the lockdowns and that kind of stuff, I was finding myself just working from the old La-Z-Boy for an extended period, with the laptop on my lap. And there's that continuation of home and work. And I quite like just having the La-Z-Boy for when I want to relax. And I was like, "This isn't good enough." So I ended up using some concrete breeze blocks, and a bit of plywood, and making a standing desk, with everything just so, and it was actually really comfortable to work from.
A lot of us now are knowledge workers, and essentially your exercise throughout the day is exercising your index finger to click a mouse button, or talking on the phone endlessly. Right? So there's a few things which come out of that, which I've experienced myself.
In the early days, one of my first jobs was working in the Network Operations Center, and everything was mouse-driven. Everything. And I ended up just getting some really nasty occupational overuse in just one hand, because I only use my right hand for working the mouse. And there was nothing else in there.
So in order to overcome that, one of the things I did, which helped immediately, I just started learning to use how to use the mouse with my left hand. And then I'd alternate days, going left and right hand. Right?
Jesse Mulligan (02:20): Yeah, how does it feel? It reminds me of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he hurts one ear, and so he has to use his left hand for phone calls, and it just totally knocks him off his game. He's like, "I can't talk with my left hand."
Daniel Watson (02:36): It does for a bit, but then after a wee while, you get into it and it just becomes more natural. This is one little thing, but I've seen people who are working in offices, they don't have a headset, so the phone is always stuck in the corner of their neck, so they crick their neck over. And they're trying to type. And you just look really uncomfortable. It does lead to neck pain. That's completely avoidable. So getting all the headset makes all the world of difference, which we talked about before.
But then there's subtler things, like how you're postured. Actually, here's another one. I'll do it before I get into posture. If you've got a powerful laptop, and you've got it on your lap, especially if it's one that's got a bit of a graphics card in it, they pump out a lot of heat. I've actually ended up with a burn on my leg, because I've been working away, and haven't really noticed how hot it's been getting. They do pump out a lot of heat. It's worth getting a nice, flat surface that's not a towel or a blanket, because that'll just cook your laptop.
So the laptop, usually they have little feet on the bottom, and you want that on a nice hard surface, so there's ability to air flow through the base of the laptop, pass the fans, and out the side.
Jesse Mulligan (03:49): What are you picturing there? Like a little TV dinner table tray, or something?
Daniel Watson (03:53): That'll do, but there are some Gucci ones out there, that have cushions on the underside of them, and they've got an extra space for a mouse, and that kind of stuff. I haven't got one of those. I've been thinking about it, but maybe I'll just limit the amount of time I've got my laptop on my lap at home.
Jesse Mulligan (04:06): I don't know if there's any truth to the rumor that having a laptop on your lap can affect your fertility, either. That's not a concern for me anymore, Daniel. Probably the more laptops the better. But it might be something to keep in mind.
Daniel Watson (04:21): It might be a population issue over the health of the nation. Something that we need to be concerned about, but that's probably above our pay grade.
But in terms of ergonomics, there's some real key tips. If you're dealing with an at home table environment, and you're going to be doing it for any length of time, then it's worth getting... You can get these simple laptop stands. So if you've got a portable keyboard, wireless keyboard, then I'd recommend something like the Logitech KX60, because it's an ergonomic one with a nice little wrist rest on it.
But you get these little widgets that are foldout, and it's a laptop stand that elevates the laptop. So it's kind of sitting on the edge of the laptop, so the actual screen is closer to your natural eye height. Because if you're always looking down, then you're going to develop a bit of a crick in the back of your neck, which is something to be avoided.
Jesse Mulligan (05:13): Totally. Yeah, my lovely wife bought one of those, and it works really, really well. And as a bonus, you look a bit better on Zoom as well, if it's up at eye height rather than down underneath your chin.
Daniel Watson (05:25): Yeah, and looking up your nostrils. It's not a hugely good look. So that's another thing to think about. And your posture, your feet should be square, actually sitting at a nice 90 degree angle between your knees and your shins, so that helps support the lower back, so that your thighs aren't tilting you down, so you're able to sit up straight.
I see teenagers these days, and they're actually looking at their phones, and it's permanently in their lap. It's not great. I'm sure there's going to be a wave of issues, and the ACC claims in the future, as time goes on. But if lifting it all up, keeping at eye height, having your forearms 90 degree with your wrist supported, so that you've not got a funny angle up or down.
Jesse Mulligan (06:17): I always laughed at those sort of things, or didn't take them seriously. Like you, I got a bit of mouse hand, and I noticed in the tendon running from my wrist up to my elbow, or tendon or muscle, whatever that is, really sore if you put any pressure on it. Because your arm, the physio told me this, is kind of hovering all day long with these random mouse movements. And so actually those little cushions that look like they're really OTT, just takes so much pressure off. You just lean your wrists on them, and suddenly you're not using any muscles at all.
Daniel Watson (07:01): Yeah. I guess the other thing, especially with working from home, you don't have anybody coming up to you, and going, "Hey", and having a bit of a chat once in a while. I've been in the situation where you just work flat out for six hours in a row, in one position. And then you get up, and you're like crack, crack, crack, crack, and stretching out. Realistically, if you're in an office, you'd be getting up, you'd be wombling off to meetings, coming back. There's actually a little bit more movement in your day.
So when you're working from home, be a bit more intentional about actually taking a break for five minutes every 55, or something like that, to get up, go grab a cup of tea, stretch, walk around the property, come back, enjoy the flowers. The productivity loss is nothing compared to how much better you'll feel at the end of the day, and your capacity to keep working.
Jesse Mulligan (07:58): When you mentioned the laptop stand before, I didn't catch, did you mention that's best to be used in conjunction with a wireless keyboard and mouse?
Daniel Watson (08:05): Yeah, just for less [inaudible 00:10:55]. It's nice to have a nice, clean work environment, so if you can have cables out of sight, tidied away, tidy space equals a tidy mind. Less clutter and reduces anxiety. It's just one of those odd things. It really does work.
Jesse Mulligan (08:26): I like these moments in Tech Tuesday where we lapse into philosophy self-help, Daniel. I'm totally down for it. And I also enjoyed your use of the phrase, "Teenagers these days", which I think could be a separate segment that you and I run, maybe on alternate Tuesdays, where we just complain about things that young people do.
Daniel Watson (08:44): That's right, and I'm pretty sure my kids don't listen to this, so I can get away with anything.
Jesse Mulligan (08:48): Hey, tell me more about this La-Z-Boy, by the way.
Daniel Watson (08:53): So there's nothing like having a La-Z-Boy. You know the old ad, "You lock the rock, and lean like that. You can really enjoy it. There's nothing like a genuine La-Z-Boy." I love that. My dad had one.
Jesse Mulligan (09:08): Yeah, my dad had one too for about 40 years. Is yours a new model, or is it one of those ones that's really been worn in?
Daniel Watson (09:18): No, I intentionally went with the old manual style, because what I don't like, is the time it takes to work the electrics in the new ones. When I get in that, I want to go from 100 to zero in half a second. You pull that lever, you're slapped back, and you're down. It's like, the kids getting me out of here? No way, this is not happening.
Jesse Mulligan (09:39): I want to relax, and I want to relax fast.
Daniel Watson (09:43): Yeah, that's right. That's right. Because usually I go, go, go right until I'm done, and when I'm done, that's it, I'm not moving anymore. So the wife, she appreciates the La-Z-Boy. She doesn't like the look of it. It doesn't go with anything else in the house. But you've got to win one battle, I reckon.
Jesse Mulligan (10:01): Totally.
Daniel Watson (10:01): One battle in the interior design, the La-Z-Boy.
Jesse Mulligan (10:03): Yeah. I've found that moving in with a partner, you lose pretty much everything. You pick your battles, Daniel.
Daniel Watson (10:12): Yeah, that's right.
Jesse Mulligan (10:13): You're lucky it's still allowed In the main family area, and not put out in some kind of far Siberia of the house.
Daniel Watson (10:20): That was the threat, but she ended up getting her own comfy chair. It looks nice in the mind, but it's nowhere near as comfortable. And I find, I come home, and I have to kick people out of my chair. It's like, "Come on, you know the rules here." There's not many of them, but this is a hard and fast one.
Jesse Mulligan (10:37): Okay. You've been listening to furniture Tuesday with Daniel Watson from Vertech IT Services. Hey, thanks for your thoughts on ergonomics, and some of those little gadgets that can help out, particularly in the home office environment.
Nice to chat to you, Daniel. Enjoy the rest of your week.
Daniel Watson (10:55): Have a great one, Jesse.