In my youth I would rearrange my room at least a few times per year. I liked changing it up, adjusting to how I was feeling at that time. It kept things fresh and I always got excited to show my parents how I moved my TV and stereo to the other side of the room and put my bed in some weird spot in the middle. As an adult, I guess I mostly have this blog — so enjoy.
For the past 5 years, I’ve relied heavily on a pretty great life hack of using a Husky workbench as a sit/stand desk. What got old there was the need for a keyboard tray when sitting in a chair. For whatever reason keyboard trays are terribly made (a market ripe for disruption?). So, I moved to a large IKEA tabletop with a Fully Jarvis sit/stand frame. I couldn’t be happier with this setup! The frame is incredibly sturdy and it was pretty easy to mount to the tabletop.
Underneath, I was able to achieve really clean cable management by using cable sleeves, Velcro strips, Command strips, and custom 3D printed mounts for my CalDigit and MacBook Pro. I also used some cable raceways to help hold and contain cords that ran the length of the desk. This all keeps everything nice and tidy and also a giant pain in the butt anytime I need to change things. Worth it, though.
On the hardware front, I upgraded to a mesh Wi-Fi network with the TP-Link Deco X60. It’s helped keep my Wi-Fi much more stable when on video calls and it’s able to better handle the growing number of devices on our home network. I also started using smart plugs more, buying a bunch from Meross because they were both cheap and HomeKit compatible. So far they’ve been rock solid.
With all the other changes, I decided to go ahead and bring my record player back into the office. It was hooked-in to my stereo receiver in the living room with surround sound but wasn’t getting much use. I guess the kids (toddler and an infant) don’t care about vinyl yet…
As far as peripherals, I’ve stayed with my Keychron K2 and basically ditched my Ergodox EZ. It was just too difficult to get used to. I’ve also changed to using my Apple Magic Trackpad most of the time over my Logitech MX Master. It’s so much easier to navigate Arc, Figma, and Miro with a trackpad.
Other than that, my setup has remained mostly the same over the past year. Same mic, monitor, hub, etc. But, looking forward to making little tweaks here and there as I get more into smart home stuff.