Home Office: Take Comfort in Your Home Office

Computers can be a real pain. No, it’s not about the overwhelming flow of spam or buggy software. You know all the headache, backache, wrist pain, and red eyes you get after long hours of work in your office? Blame the poorly designed PC equipment. Fortunately, there’s a bunch of superb utilities and gizmos that will make you more comfortable and productive in your home office.

Wireless headsets

Many people rank phones as one of the top pain-inducers in their office. Cradling your handset between your ear and shoulder as you type may lead to neck, back, and shoulder pain. Save a trip to a chiropractor with a phone headset, which allows you to switch between your phone and PC’s audio at the click of a button?

Refresh rate

Many people just don’t realize it, but a properly adjusted PC monitor helps reduce eye fatigue. Staring at your display all day can also lead to headaches. To avoid this discomfort, try to raise the refresh rate. You may want to use RefreshForce, a free tool allowing you to set your the refresh rate of your monitor in a blink.

Multiple monitors

Even if your monitor has a good refresh rate, staring at it can still strain your eyes. That’s why experts recommend users to look away from the monitor at least once in 15 minutes.

A more intriguing solution is to have multiple monitors, which can save you keystrokes and mouse clicks. This saves you from jumping between screens on a single monitor. You’ll be surprised that this slight change of focus can keep your peeper muscles from cramping up.

Display’s font resolution

Switch on ClearType and you’ll see a significant improvement in the font resolution of your display. You can turn off ClearType by default. If you’re switching it on, just right-click the desktop, and then click properties, appearance, and effects.

Check "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts," then from the drop-down list, select ClearType. Click OK twice.

Keyboard drawers

Try to visit an office and you’ll see people desperately needing help – they use keyboards with their hands and elbows not properly positioned.

If you’re like them, then you need keyboard drawers. Kensington’s Adjustable Underdesk Shelf allows you to adjust the shelf so that the keyboard is at the correct height, with your arms bending at 90 degrees. It comes with an adjustable mouse tray attached on the right or left side of the shelf.

Mouse

Finding a mouse that perfectly fits your hand comfortably can be tough. You may want to replace your old mouse with Perfit Mouse Optical by Contour Design. This model looks like a steam iron, which comes in different sizes.