MY HOME OFFICE SETUP
Recently, I’ve received a number of questions from friends about a few items in my home office. . . especially, my under-desk treadmill and my intentionally-wobbly adjustable stool.
As a result, I figured I would share the full set-up here.
As a disclaimer, I historically haven’t been a “home office” person.
I tend to do my best heads-down creative work from the kitchen counter or the dining room table, accompanied by soft lighting and open windows whenever possible. I wrote most of Expansive Impact between the hours of 5-8 am, at the kitchen counter, by coffee and candlelight.
That said, I often coach executives and facilitate leadership development sessions from home, which means that I need a private, dedicated workspace.
Here are the items that I’m using in my home office.
Adjustable Sit/Stand Desk
This sit/stand desk has been a game changer. As a kinetic person who likes to move around a lot, it has been awesome to be able to raise and lower the desk with the press of a button throughout the day. Other favorite features: the large size of the top of the desk, the light wood, and the white legs.
UNDER-DESK TREADMILL
A number of years ago, a friend and colleague shared that he was averaging over 20,000 steps per day by using his new under-desk treadmill. This little nugget was planted in my brain; I was reminded of this more recently when one of my clients was on an under-desk treadmill during one of our executive strategy calls.
After doing a decent amount of research and reading a number of reviews, I landed on this one.
It apparently resets automatically if we reach 9999 consecutive steps, but I’ve never used it for this long of a time period to find out.
I am sensitive to potential background noise if I’m on a leadership/executive coaching call or with clients, so I typically save the treadmill for when I’m casually catching up on emails or other work in the evenings.
A few friends have since purchased this same under-desk treadmill and have also had positive things to say.
INTENTIONALLY WOBBLY STOOL
I’m not the best at sitting for long periods of time, so this stool has been a good fit. It allows “sitting,” but in a way that is still active and engaged, so there is no slouching back in a chair for hours at a time.
It is not the softest seating element in the world, so I would recommend having an alternative chair or option nearby if you know you’ll be sitting for long periods of time.
Note: this exact stool is out of stock nearly everywhere, but there are some alternative options on Amazon if you search. Just be sure to read reviews, since each one “sits” a bit differently, and some are more comfortable than others. Here are a couple of ideas (note: I haven’t tested these personally).
THIS TARGET LAMP
I have written about this lamp a number of times before and can’t stop writing about it because it has so much utility, and it costs $8. It is the perfect desk lamp (adjustable and small) and can also double as a ring light if you’re on a Zoom at a time of day with bad lighting. In my opinion, it is much better investment than all of the cumbersome and expensive ring lights out there —many of which take up half of an office and require a number of parts.
As a bonus, the lamp is durable and can fold down; last winter, I purchased three of these while traveling for an AirBnB that had only overhead lighting (my worst nightmare) and have taken these around the country, when we’ve traveled in our van.
GOOD PENS
I know that this is a controversial and sometimes heated topic, but here are my favorites.
Paper Mate Flair Pens, in whatever colors you like
Le Pens, for fine-tip, colorful writing
Zebra Z-Grip pens, for what Natalie Goldberg calls “fast writing pens” —good for writing, journaling, or morning pages. Note, I have moved away from these since they aren’t refillable, compared to something like the G2s which you can keep refilling with new ink.
PLANTS THAT ARE HARD TO KILL
Sadly, I have succeeded at killing even the hardest-to-kill plants (RIP to the two snake plants that I killed in my previous office). However, these are fairly resilient and so far are still surviving within my home office:
Snake Plants - Tip: do not overwater —this is what led to me killing not one, but two, of these usually-hard-to-kill plants.
Jade Plants - these aren’t terribly fussy and don’t need a lot of water or attention.
Aglaonema - this is doing surprisingly well right now (perhaps the best of all of the plants I have in my office or home).
OLD SCHOOL WIRED HEADPHONES
A number of my executive coaching clients take our calls while they go for a walk. With ear buds, there is no way for them to block out the noise if they are walking on a windy day. With wired headphones, however, it is possible to “shield” the microphone by holding it with our hands. I know that this recommendation might age me, but after attempting several variations of AirPods, I ended up finding my wired headphones to be more reliable.
And, depending on how you interpret the research, there may or may not be long-term risks due to electromagnetic radiation.
ELECTROLYTES
This is perhaps a strange addition to a home office post, but I’ve found that a big water bottle full of electrolytes in the afternoon is extremely helpful during the final stretch of a long day of calls. My favorite brand is LMNT. If you listen to podcasts, you may also wonder if it’s overhyped via sponsored ads, but I’ve found it to be the best of any brand I’ve tried. They also periodically send samples via mail (surprise and delight!) and run promotions offering a free box with purchase. My favorite flavors are:
Lemon Lime
Grapefruit
Watermelon
a great coffee cup
Drinking coffee (or tea, or matcha, or chai) out of a great mug just makes everything better. Here are a few of my current favorites:
East Fork Pottery (this link offers $20 off your purchase)
Anything that Sarah at Good Day Shop curates (she has the best taste!)
AN AFTERNOON SNACK
My wonderful team member Marine introduced me to these french butter cookies, and they are the best —either with morning coffee, or as a quick-and-delightful afternoon snack between calls. They are simple, delicious, and oh-so-joyful.
Okay, those are a few of the key items that make up my home office setup.
What are your favorite items for your office? Feel free to leave a comment to share.
Note: a few of the links are Affiliate links, meaning that we might earn a tiny commission if you purchase something from these links. Thank you very much for reading!
