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What's on your desk?
"What's on your desk?" is one of my favorite recurring features on The Verge! So I guess I'll jump on the bandwagon today.
As Ho Chi Minh city slowly emerged from the pandemic, we, People @ atWare, are also getting back to our exciting life at the office. I enjoyed my time working remotely but I've always loved the idea of having a dedicated space to anchor my works.
A little bit about me
I'm a Software Engineer @ atWare. I joined the company in March of 2020, right at the beginning of the pandemic. At the time, we were all struggling with the whole "working remote" thing. I was pretty disappointed when I didn't have a desk to call my own at our beautiful office. All I had was a laptop and a lot of encouragement from my senior colleagues & leader.
The remote working went on for almost 9 months and you can imagine my excitement when I was finally able to work at an office. Lots have been put into creating the best desk setup that fits my needs. We have gone back to remote work and changed offices quite a lot since then, but my setup stayed relatively consistent.
It's not much but let me show you how it is and my failed attempts to keep it somewhat organized.
Desk & Chair
It's always funny to me how the desk and chair are often ignored while reading these kinds of blogs.
We work in a private office at WeWork. The desks and chairs are provided and I think they are the same across WeWorks all around the world.
The desk is big, made out of wood, has holes for my cables and most importantly, it works. I quite like it.
The chair, on the other hand, not so much. It looks cheap, doesn't have a lot of features, and to be frank, pretty uncomfortable. Mine even has a hole on the right armrest. Not sure if I can order a new one or not, but let's move on.
My partner in crime «MacBook Pro w/ MOFT Stand»
I'm using a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) in silver provided by the company. Before I was using a 15-inch 2017 version with the infamous butterfly switch, and a Japanese layout. My generous leader saw how troublesome I was with it and bought a brand new one for me right away. (Geneさん, ありがとうございます。)
I propped my MacBook up with a MOFT stand (Artist Edition because why not). It gave my screen the needed height and angle. I was really surprised that it holds up even after 2 years of heavy use.
I'm not saying macOS is better than Windows or LINUX, but I can't imagine myself using another operating system for coding any time soon.
Monitor «Dell P2419HC USB-C 24 inch≫
At atWare, you can choose your own accessories/devices needed for the job, as long as the team agreed and it's not a big stretch on our budget.
My needs were simple: at least 24 inches, Full-HD, and most importantly has USB-C support. I still can't deal with Apple's imagination of the "dongle life".
It's not a beautiful display (even though it's IPS) but it's cheap, and I can power my MacBook without the need for a charger.
All of my keyboards and mouse can be plugged directly into the monitor. It works like a big adapter for all of my accessories.
I would recommend it but I think Dell doesn't sell this model anymore.
Keyboard «E-DRA EK384W»
I like mechanical keyboards but I refuse to spend a fortune on them.
E-DRA is a really affordable branch with considerably good quality. This keyboard cost ~1.300.000 VND (~55$) and for me, it was worth it.
I bought a RED switches version for the silent feature but they still make a lot of noise when I type fast. (Sorry!!).
Oh-, and it's pretty, no RGB light stuff. The grey-white coloring and its keycaps' font are pleasant to the eyes.
Mouse «Logitech G103»
It's a gaming mouse. I'm not sure how much it was back then since I "borrowed" it from one of my colleagues and never returned it to him.
I do have a Logitech M585 but I lost the receiver and I hate the Bluetooth connection on this mouse. It's unreliable and has a noticeable delay.
For day-to-day usage at the office, I would recommend sticking to a wired mouse like this one. I always set the mouse speed to max and I love the "back" - "forward" buttons on the side.
The mouse does have an RGB light and I've always wanted to set it to one color. But I'm too lazy to do it now. So for now sometimes it's green, sometimes it's red.
Headphones «All 3 of them»
We're living in a post-pandemic world where remote work, especially in the tech world, is still the norm. Even though I'm working at the office now, most of my teammates or clients are still remote. That requires me to be on Zoom 8-hour a day and having a good audio setup is still necessary.
I use 3 headphones interchangeably.
Sony EXTRA BASS™ MDR-XB55AP This will almost always be plugged into my laptop. I use it mostly for the mic.
Airpods 2 I use it for more than 2 years now. The mic is broken and the battery life is really bad. But it still works and I don't have the fund to buy a new one yet.
A knock-off Airpods Pro I use it when my Airpods are out of battery. The sound quality isn't great but it's cheap so I have no complaint.
I'm still considering purchasing a better audio setup. Maybe a dedicated mic and better Bluetooth headphones. So please do let me know if you have any good recommendations.
My "babies"
Well, last but not least, my GREENs. I have 1 plant and 3 succulents (used to be 4, she left us last week 🥲).
I don't know their names. I'm not familiar with how to take care of them. But I do water them often.
We stare at our screens for more than 8 hours a day. That puts a lot of strain on our eyes. I think it's important to have some green beside our desks to help relieve that pressure.
But mostly, I think they look cool.
Ending
I love my desk and it was a fun experience sharing my space with you.
I also follow and love the "What's in my bag?" series, maybe I'll do one in the future.
So, everyone, especially the People @ atWare, 「What's on your desk?」