RE: Spending My Own Money for Office Comfort?

Posted on 2022-09-02

This is a short entry after reading ew0k's post « Spending My Own Money for Office Comfort? »¹. In which he asked:

How much is worth spending on stuff like this?

I can't say "how much" it is worth as it obviously depends on everyone's situation, budget and needs… But I can definitely say that investing in a comfortable work station is worth it!

As someone working for home almost 100% since March 2020 (I've been to the office 3 times since) and who has been partially working for home for the past 10 years, I've seen the impact of having improved my "office" over the years. I'm putting office between quotes because when I started working from home, I worked either seated on my bed or on my couch without a real place to work. It was fine for remote working a day here and there, but when I started to do it a bit more regularly I saw the negative impact on my health (heavy neck and back pain mainly).

Over time I invested piece by piece into improving my working from home situation. Of course it started with a desk and an ok+ chair. Adding 1 external screen quickly became a must… And 10 years later, I have a great setup and it would be very hard finding a better one in an office. Even more so having it fully paid by my employer.

My office right now is composed of an adjustable standing desk, a good chair and 3 screens… It took some time and money to get from nothing to there, but each improvement made my long work days a lot more pleasurable with a lot less neck/back pain. It still a bit here, but I guess this is a mandatory thing for us nerds spending too much time behind a screen anyway :).

I understand ew0k's concern to invest in not your home office but for stuff at the office… A place you don't own… It's not your place so why would you put money there? Well, for comfort and well being :). As said, I have seen the impact enough now that I couldn't go backward to a "bad" setup (of course I don't need the 3 screens and standing desk, but a decent chair with a desk not too low and at least 1 external screen is my bare minimum)… We spend so much time working (wherever) that in the end, improving your situation while doing it would be highly beneficial for most part of your day.

I did invest in office (meaning not my home office) furniture too, and seen many colleagues do it, each at our own level. For example, I bought a mechanical keyboard for the office (red switches for the office to reduce noise, but blue at home), a mouse, an additional laptop charger so I don't have to move the one from home to the office, a laptop support, etc… We also purchased with some colleagues our own coffee machine as the one in the office was disgusting… I had a colleague bringing his own chair because of back pain and I think he was right to do so. He has one back and one life, so he takes car of them.

In term of decoration, I don't care too much about it, but I have seen people put more pictures and plants on their office desk than I have at home… And it's fine if it helps them feel better during the day… Again, working days can be long, so do whatever you can to make you feel better during that time.

Should your company pay for it? Well they should… But for some items, I'd pay myself if my employer was against it because they are an investment for my health and well being… And when I leave the company, everything would come with me to my new job… So it won't be lost money :).