Furniture

• My standing/sitting desk is a $45 adjustable-height hospital bed table. It is sturdy, with a 50lb weight cap. Also consider the max/min height and surface dimensions. I have the tilt version, but I don’t tilt it often. Recently some companies have begun to market them as laptop desks.

• You need a floor pad to go with your standing desk! Otherwise you will likely get low back fatigue. I use an old yoga matt, folded double.
• Chair height is also important. I use a flat bench with a firm foam cushion when sitting. I like having my feet on the floor.
• Your display (either a laptop screen or external) should be slightly below eye level and at arm’s length. I stack books and such to achieve this. Putting your desk in front of a bookshelf helps. See video above.

Input devices

• Kinesis Freestyle 2 blue (mac) with VIP3 tenting accessory, ~$130
• A regular mouse (not recommended!)

Wishlist

Home/office

• I want to replace the mouse with some other pointing device, probably an Apple trackpad.
• I want a better solution for elevating the laptop display. An elevated shelf, attached to the desk surface so they go up and down together, seems ideal. The lift should be adjustable so you can tune it (for me, ~20 inches is ideal). I plan to build one from wood and publish the plans.
• I don’t use an external display currenlty, but in that case a heavier standing desk with an articulated arm clamped to the surface would be a good option. I had this setup on my current desk for a long time, and it works ok, but it’s a bit top-heavy and there is a bit of strain on the desk support.

Mobile

I don’t currently have a mobile setup I’m happy with, but here is what I’m planning:

• The UltraErgo keyboard looks like a very nice mobile alternative to Freestyle 2 (via @kadavy’s review). Wish I had seen it before I ordered the freestyle a few months ago.
• Trackpad
• Some laptop stand (need to research models)
• Many cafés have bar seating which is a good height (for me at least) for standing.

Software

Text editing

As of a few months ago, I use Spacemacs. I am very, very happy with it. The interface is a combination of Vim editing bindings, and fully-discoverable (via delayed hint menus) leader-key based bindings for everything else. There is a global leader key (SPC) and a major mode leader key (,). Check it out, you will be glad you did!

Web browser

I have used the various Vim bindings for browsers, but am not very happy with them since they don’t work consistently. I am very interested in building/using a browser built from the ground up to be keyboard driven, and think this is likely to happen in the next year or so.

Window management

I use OSX. Pretty much I try to drive with the keyboard as much as possible. Not always possible. Might switch back to Linux/xmonad at some point, but fear short-term lost productivity.

Future sections

Rules

• No couch computing!!!
• Breaks, exercise, stretching

Resource links

Feedback

If you have made it this far, you probably have something to contribute. Please send pull requests or open issues with recommended material.