The Monitor

I can fit everything I need on this monitor and it's so much easier to work this way.

My most common workflow involves using a video editing application, a photo editing application, and a desktop publishing application...all to complete one task.

Now, I can have all three on screen at the same time.

This monitor has made it easier to call it quits at the end of the day and transition to non-work activities.

I guess the lesson here is if you create a proper workspace, work will confine itself to that space.

It's so much easier to work off this monster display that I'm less inclined to take my laptop out of my office and downstairs to the couch because being restricted to just the laptop screen is such a downgraded experience.

The Mouse

Supplementing the monitor is the Logitech MX Master 3S mouse I just got which, like the monitor, has proven to be much more than it appears.

It has extra buttons and a second scroll wheel that are all programmable. And you can program the buttons on a per-app basis.

So now in my most frequently used apps, I have the mouse programmed to perform my most common tasks at the click of a button.

Again, being restricted to using the trackpad on my laptop is such a downgraded experience, I'm just not interested in doing it.

Lifestyle Upgrade

All I set out to do was make a relatively minor upgrade to my office and I inadvertently stumbled into a lifestyle upgrade.

This monitor and this mouse have pretty much anchored my laptop to my desk, unless I leave the house, which is a good thing.

Boundaries are good.

Now that working from home is a what work will look like going forward (for those fortunate enough to be able to do it), setting up our workspaces properly and instituting mental health boundaries is something we should all be deliberate about.

Two-and-a-half years into the pandemic, I know I'm delinquent on making these upgrades to my workspace.

If I'd known these simple changes would have had such an outsized impact, I would have done this a long time ago.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this example of how replacing two simple pieces of equipment can have a dramatic impact might give you some ideas on how to upgrade your life by upgrading your workspace.

FYI, I also have a full home studio equipment list available for anyone who works from home and is interested in really taking your professional appearance to the next level.

We're well into "the new normal" now and you shouldn't still be in video meetings looking like a college kid working off your laptop in a dorm room.