Staffsource: Ars's most coveted homeworking software

At Ars, we have a unique work situation: instead of getting together in a cluttered office amid the sweltering offices in a big city building, everyone works in the comfort of their own home. Some of us have been doing this for decades, while others have only a few years of homework. It's a fit to move from an office environment to your living room, your bedroom or your home office, but each of us has found unique ways to make it work and make a difference. to ensure that our motivation and level of productivity remain high (most of the time).

This could not happen without key elements to which we are attached in our homes. For most of us, it has been crucial to modify work spaces at home to maintain our mental and physical well-being. Some of us have discovered that they can not live without some of the things we already use regularly, but others of us have invested in things that improve our homework life. Find below some of our essential homework articles.

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Steelcase Gesture, Breville Temp Select Kettle

I'm sitting at my desk. A lot. I work every day from 7.30am to 5pm or 5pm (with a break for a walk around the block and a lunch in the middle). Then, after dinner, I often come back to do my personal work in the same office. For a long time, I was reluctant to spend $ 1,000 or more on a chair. It even seemed ridiculous. But when you think about it, my chair is one of the most important things I have. It is therefore logical.

Last year, I finally bought one of these fancy chairs. I've tried the chair that presidents geeks (yes, that's one thing!) Swear by – the Herman Miller Aeron – and that did not work for me. The Aeron is trying to impose a certain posture, which is supposed to be good for you, but staying in the same position 14 hours a day does not suit me at all.

Instead, I bought the Steelcase gesture. It has many features of an Aeron and the same comfort, but it is designed to better adapt to more of a sitting position. This is not given, but it did wonders for my comfort. I also recommend that people working from home get a high quality chair.

When I tell people that I work from home, they often say, "Wow, that must be great!" And that is it, but there are also serious disadvantages. The biggest danger for me is that it's far too easy for responsibilities at home and working to blend in with overwhelming and intimidating stress.

For this reason, I try to establish daily traditions that firmly separate work and everything else. When I go back to my office after my day working in Ars to write or code my game development projects, I always drink a big glass of cinnamon tea and the Breville Temp Select kettle is a good choice for this routine. simple and easy. (I also drink tea in this Mysterious Science Theater 3000 A cup of glass my fiancee bought for me.) After a while, preparing and drinking tea took the psychological impact of changing my brain so that it would not "write for Ars" the rest of the evening.

Maybe tea is not the thing for you. If not, find something else that separates the day job and everything else. I think it's important

-Samuel Axon, Editor-in-Chief of Journals

Herman Miller Aeron, bamboo floor mats

When I became a full-time employee at Ars Technica, a few years after my first play was broadcast on Ars, it meant more movement. Instead of taking the L train every day to downtown Chicago, I went to my office at home. I had the desk, the computer and the monitors I wanted; I just needed something better to sit for nine or ten hours a day than the el-cheapo chair I bought at Costco – and something to stop it from happening. damage the floor.

The first choice was easy: the Herman Miller Aeron chair. The Aerons are not only perfectly ergonomically designed, but they are incredibly durable. I always use the same chair.

The flooring was harder. The first one I bought was plastic, and it looked bad. When we moved to a new home 11 years ago, I decided to find a more aesthetic solution. I installed myself on a bamboo floor mat that completed the floor stain on my desk. It bends, is lightweight and, more importantly, it prevents the ground from being scuffed when I move in my Aeron.

-Eric Bangeman, Editor-in-Chief