Best Quality of Life Items You Have Bought for WFH / Online Learning

PuntyBrah on 16/04/2022 - 15:12
Last edited 16/04/2022 - 16:27

It has been years of adjusting and transitioning into working from home and studying online at home since COVID hit.

I'm currently a student at university and would like to hear what items ozbargainers has bought that has significantly improve their WFH environment?

Fortunately I still get to attend on-campus workshops and such but most of my time, I'm at home listening to online lectures and I feel like I'm not well equip to make the experience better..

e.g. laptop stands, comfy office chairs, etc. Smaller more trivia items that made you enjoyed your time at home more are also welcome.

bonus point if you can mention cheaper alternatives too, this is OzBargain after all :)

Home & Garden

Comments

    • Fobsessive on 04/05/2022 - 16:54

      How's this for WFH Teams calls?

      • muximus59 on 04/05/2022 - 22:30
        +1

        no idea sorry, I use it for discord with RTX voice and it works really well.

  • lamchop on 17/04/2022 - 19:18
    +4

    If you have a home PC and a work PC, a KVM switch can be a super useful for switching between the two. Also useful from a mindset point of view when you want to switch off from work.

  • mezje on 17/04/2022 - 21:06
    +3

    Hario Mizudashi cold brew jug

  • Dreamcast on 17/04/2022 - 23:16

    Honeycomb gel seat cushion. Got one with a cover. Can sit for longer and not feel any discomfort in my back.

  • PurchaseAnxiety on 18/04/2022 - 00:26
    +4

    A few things that I enjoy in my setup:
    - a coffee machine is great. Obviously you get the benefit of having nice coffee to drink, but it’s also nice to step away from the desk and spend a few minutes making a nice cuppa.
    - following on from above, my wife has a cup warmer to keep her coffee warm while in calls.
    - If you have a work and personal PC, a KVM switch allows for easy switching between them.
    - A good chair is a worthwhile investment. I went from having zero back issues to having trouble bending over within a few months of WFH. Getting a decent chair sorted this out (you don’t need to spend $1000+ though).
    - A monitor arm provides a lot of adjustment options and gives you some space back on your desk.
    - An electric throw blanket is a lifesaver in winter. Stay warm without needing to heat the whole house or even the whole room.
    - ANC earbuds / headphones are really useful for drowning out the neighbourhood barking dogs, lawn mowers and deaf elderly neighbours talking to each other.
    - If you work off a laptop, then obviously an external keyboard, mouse and monitor should be a must. If you use the laptop screen as a 2nd monitor, grab a cheap adjustable stand so it’s roughly the same height as your main monitor.

    • kgree92 on 21/04/2022 - 13:10

      Nice list. Need to check out these ANC earbuds lol.

      Good point on the electric blanket

      edit: any electric blanket do you recommend?

      • PurchaseAnxiety on 21/04/2022 - 14:15

        We’ve got two, both about $40 from memory. One is from ALDI (obviously a special buy so it comes and goes), and another from Kmart (I think this also pops up seasonally, so might be coming up soon). The ALDI one is better quality, but both get job done.

  • yokel on 18/04/2022 - 07:56
    +1

    Aftershokz aeropex BT headphones which are very comfortable for MS Teams teleconferences. Also bought before the pandemic, Logitech BT KB and mouse that have the button to switch between 3x devices. I find this better than a KVM. I can have work PC on one monitor, personal on the other.

  • pogichinoy on 18/04/2022 - 15:45
    +1

    Smart kettle <3

  • AS2035 on 18/04/2022 - 16:12
    +1

    WHF means spending less.

    I spend almost a year working from home and only purchased items I could not get as we were in lockdown. All the items were food.

  • sackrace on 18/04/2022 - 19:24
    +1

    KVM switch. Let's me use my personal peripherals with my personal desktop or my work laptop with one button changeover.

  • Dontdoit on 18/04/2022 - 20:41

    I've spent about $250 on sensory oil toys and moving sand art toys

  • PrettyBrokeTBH on 18/04/2022 - 20:57

    Ducted Air-Conditioning.

    Set me back a fair chunk, but it is insanely amazing. Not so much now coming out of summer, but it was phenomenal in January/February. The old unit from the lounge room didn't really impact the office, and when you have a pretty big pc in a small-ish office, it can get pretty hot. Having the vent right above you is a game changer.

    • PuntyBrah on 18/04/2022 - 22:38

      aren't those heavy on the electric bills?

      • geoffs87 on 19/04/2022 - 07:07

        I installed ducted last year, and then also put solar on my roof, haven’t seen a negative bill since September (ie still in credit).

        My house is leaky and old (50’s weatherboard cottage), but quite large - cooling in hot days would set me back around 25kwh of electricity, heating on cold days around 20kwh.

        Depending on your power plan, could be $4-5 a day. But I don’t turn it on every day, or all day, only when really necessary. But like others have said, $2k for a chair is necessary for comfort, what’s a few hundred for heating/ cooling a year on those uncomfortable days?

      • PleasureMachine on 19/04/2022 - 13:53
        +1

        Depends on the type of air conditioning.

        Reverse cycle (aka heat pumps) are really efficient energy wise to heat cool…. it's something like 1 energy unit to power the AC produces 4-5 energy units out. Consider it an energy amplifier.

        Whereas radiators are 1unit in for 1unit out.

        I won't talk about gas.

        Evaporative cooling are good too but limited in their range of operation.

        You do need to maintain the ducts to ensure the air goes to the zones you want…..

  • Warehouse on 19/04/2022 - 02:57
    +2

    2 years into WFH I bought an ultrawide monitor. My biggest regret is not getting one earlier!

    My set up:

    • 34" ultrawide monitor as main (X34p),
    • 27" monitor in portrait as secondary.
    • Wired mechanical keyboard (Keychron K8),
    • KVM switch for easy switching keyboard to personal pc after work ($3 off eBay)
    • logitech MX mouse,
    • good chair (ThunderX3)
    • ANC headphones for when I need real focus or quiet (Bose NC700)
    • webcam so it's not the upchin view on calls, with good mic so don't always need headset (CreativeLive v2)
    • heaps of cables and adapters so that I have an easy"dock-in" experience with the work laptop while my personal set up is also connected and shares the monitors and keyboard.

    Something people forget to mention, but heard multiple others doing too: I had to get an AC fitted in my room. Might be something to consider for example if you work in a small room (that would heat up easily) and you can't keep the door open for air flow because you might have a noisy household etc…

    • ttkc on 19/04/2022 - 09:52
      +1

      Can you share the link to $3 KVM switch please?

  • kumquat on 19/04/2022 - 05:17

    With kids at home, got a good headset with noise cancelling mic. Got the Poly focus voyager 2 headset.

  • rinco on 19/04/2022 - 12:41
    +4

    A hammock.

    • PuntyBrah on 21/04/2022 - 13:17

      the most productive item in the reply so far!

      • rinco on 21/04/2022 - 13:27

        My midday naptime meeting seems more productive than the rest of em!

  • rollin on 19/04/2022 - 13:14
    +1

    Any rec's for a KVM? i have a single monitor with apple BT keyboard and mouse. Need to swap between two stations.

    • bohn on 19/04/2022 - 13:50

      Barrier - open source. Free.

      Barrier is software that mimics the functionality of a KVM switch, which historically would allow you to use a single keyboard and mouse to control multiple computers by physically turning a dial on the box to switch the machine you're controlling at any given moment. Barrier does this in software, allowing you to tell it which machine to control by moving your mouse to the edge of the screen, or by using a keypress to switch focus to a different system.

      Barrier was forked from Symless's Synergy 1.9 codebase. Synergy was a commercialized reimplementation of the original CosmoSynergy written by Chris Schoeneman.

      • rollin on 21/04/2022 - 05:34

        thanks mate.

      • Devastator0 on 21/04/2022 - 08:41

        Mouse without Borders is also a pretty good solution that I've used in the past.

  • Raj09 on 19/04/2022 - 14:09

    I got a mx master 3 and a wireless logitech g915 keyboard to work from home. Best duo

  • vinataba on 19/04/2022 - 16:50

    My case is an ultrawide screen 34” (I wished I had bought earlier) & a standing desk

  • Lexar ANZ Chris on 19/04/2022 - 17:18
    +2

    I am working professional. Working in computer hardware industry.
    My spending is much higher than average uni student. so please don't feel you need all these stuff to WFH, but some of them are relatively affordable or have cheap alternatives.
    During the 2 years ish since Covid, I bought (from most favourite to not enjoy so much):

    1. Rodecaster Pro. (record phone calls and make sound effects during a phone call is a lot fun, it has built in amp for headphone and can take your speakers as well, it can work without PC, or work with PC inputs. wonderful stuff). I now have 6 pages of meme sound effects.

    2. a huge dual motor sit stand desk, with heavy duty monitor arm, laptop arm, cable management. (I don't stand all that much, but I do use the function, and it's great) and casters x 4 on each leg. so I can move around.

    3. a relatively expensive gaming chair, although people say that's waste of money, but since then my back ache never happened again.

    4. a set of casters (wheels) for everything. I found a expandable base rack with casters for my huge computer case. I bought some casters installed them on my cabinets, now moving cases and change hardware is much easier. I can now move my cabinets and bar fridge, I change their location every now and then to make my room look fresh.

    5. a very "unhealthy sized" beer container (too big to be called as a mug, or tankard), hand made in China. it's a 3.5L ish "mug", probably deisgned originally for Yao Ming.
      I was going to recommend Ikea mug holder for it's electric gaming table, but now that mug holder won't work for me anymore.

    6. I sold a very old car I got from a friend and bought a pair of stupidly expensive headphone to pair with my expensive AMP/DAC, the deiminishing return hit me hard, but I feel more confident wearing this headphone, it's like a supercar feeling: others look at you and think you are a stupid axxhxxx, but you feel fantastic. But be honest, I failed to tell the difference between the sound of this one and another one i have which is 10 times cheaper.

    7. a definately for work only super large monitor with high referenshment rate and HDR and all that, great for doing excel. and make your table more impressive.
      Again, it's the supercar feeling.

    8. 2 cleaning robots. they only sweep and mop the floor, if only they can also standup and wipe the table and cook and … nvm…they are good.

    9. I bought a smaller beer dispenser and installed it on my benchtop, 2 taps. need CO2 and have to buy Kegs, Kegs have relatively shorter shelf life. but I have a giant mug thing. it helps me put more passion at my work. and help me tremendously during the long lock down. you don't need these equipments to drink beer. But it also have that supercar feeling.

    10. Pegboard, RGB light stripes, a bucket of expensive green paint to paint a background wall green so i have a super large green screen. Pegboards are awesome, you can put lot of stuff on it, including a giant mug thingy. Pegboard plus RGB (mobile phone controlled) also equals to that supercar feeling.

  • Cookiescream on 19/04/2022 - 17:51

    I want to work full time from home!

  • Unacceptable on 19/04/2022 - 19:39
    +1

    King furniture recliner bought at 50% off.
    I am working while watching Netflix in the living room.

  • Qazxswec on 19/04/2022 - 20:02
    -2

    Fleshlight

    Qazxswec on 19/04/2022 - 20:02 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
    • Qazxswec on 20/04/2022 - 00:31
      -1

      How is a Fleshlight off topic in a post about Wanking From Home?

  • dmcneice on 20/04/2022 - 12:46

    This was over a decade ago but a second monitor.

    More recently - a great desk/computer chair (I have a Steelcase Leap)

  • jrowls on 20/04/2022 - 13:21
    +2

    Slippers. Nothing better than working in the bliss of slippers.

  • Bid Sniper on 20/04/2022 - 14:43

    Here I am WFH last 2 years with dual monitor, dell i7 PC and desk I found in the trash at work.

    Went all out and spent $30 on a Microsoft 600 keyboard and mouse combo and Microsoft webcam I keep in the box.

    Actually just making your home nice is best investment, spend some time making your living spaces nice, efficient and clean.

  • goraygo on 20/04/2022 - 15:59

    Poly Sync 20 speakerphone - I do a lot of meetings, earbuds or headphones can’t cut it. All of them eventually hurt my ears.

    • digressfool on 20/04/2022 - 16:28

      I'm curious about this. Do you ever use it with other people in the room (i.e. conference call)? Have you ever used it in the car?

      • goraygo on 20/04/2022 - 17:20
        +1

        @digressfool yes, 2-4 people in a small room is fine. Never tried in a car though.

  • bozbargain on 20/04/2022 - 17:03

    A 2nd hand 21.5" 4K iMac, an eBay deal I found here on OzB. Bought it 2 years ago, thinking it would just for a few months until this Covid thing would blow over…

  • kfcfatfat on 20/04/2022 - 22:36

    Xiaomi Mi Computer Monitor Light Bar

  • ilaughwaytoomuch on 20/04/2022 - 22:49

    stand up desks, can grab one off ebay for few hundred and a wooden panel from bunnings

  • PuntyBrah on 20/04/2022 - 23:24

    anyone know of a good adjustable laptop stand? especially for 15.6 - 17 inch laptop

  • MrThing on 21/04/2022 - 06:52
    +2

    Fleshlight.

    One band man now

    • PuntyBrah on 21/04/2022 - 13:15

      taking the no pants on zoom meeting to a whole new level I see.

  • Devastator0 on 21/04/2022 - 08:40

    For myself, the absolute best thing I did was buy a new chair for my gaming/office set up. I had a pretty decent "Markus" chair from Ikea which served me well over the years but with WfH, I was putting in MUCH more chair time at home so wanted an upgraded. This might be a bit controversial, but I bought myself a Secret Labs Titan EVO 2022 chair. I know it's a "Racing Seat" style chair but it has more flexibility than my old chair did and with the adjustable lumbar support and much more comfortable headrest. It's helped overall comfort and has helped me improve my posture. I really am loving it.

    Only other stuff that I really picked up during the last 2 years was a Logitech c922 Pro webcam, not for work because I have a laptop for that but I wanted a good, solid webcam for use on my gaming PC and when I have calls and stuff with friends and family overseas etc.

  • AlextheMeertkat on 21/04/2022 - 12:54

    A piece of the sticky tape to cover your laptop/usb camera to prevent consequences of pressing the "camera on" button when you are topless in a hammock.
    I have accidentally hit it several times during the normal voice MS Teams calls.

    • AlextheMeertkat on 21/04/2022 - 12:58

      *duct tape of course or sticky tape with a piece of paper

  • Dr C on 21/04/2022 - 14:51

    Espresso machine from Kmart was my fave lockdown purchase.

  • Gros21 on 28/04/2022 - 09:48
    +1

    a usb c hub for laptop to make going from laptop to desktop easy as 2 cables (power/usb c)

    Large monitor i run 2 x at work (21's) at home i run 2 x32" the screen size is amazing esp with windows 10's easy screen spit (just hover cursor over minamize/maximize button) only 1080p pov pack 60hz you certainly dont need any more resolution or frame rate unless your job needs it. For office/internet its perfect.

    I also ran a network cable into office.

    Decent keyboard/mouse i just ordered (through work) an indentical to my work set up.

    i also found a super cheap sound bar i had sitting arround its was $50 kmart job. Sounds adverage at best but adds a bit of fullness to watching lectures online. Headphones annoy me (i use ear buds at work only to indicate i dont want to talk, please leave me alone im trying to look busy)

    a decent phone charging set up i use a 4 way power brick nothing worse than having to slow charge using laptop.

    Chair is those cheap officeworks gaming ones adverage at best but better than a kitchen chair would buy again for the time i use it.

    my desk is one of those plastic tressle tables from bunnings its 2.4m (there longest non folding) cheap and works why spent 10 times the price a pretty rgb strip. This allows me to run both monitors a laptop and pc and have room for storing crap

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