12
votes
My company offers a stipend of $150/quarter to improve my home office
It's six months and I haven't spent it yet.
What do I need that I don't realize I need?
I already have multiple monitors, keyboards, etc. Separate headphones (that I don't use because I don't need to shut the door often), microphone (doesn't make a difference), and other obvious tech toys. I bought a new UPS right before I started the job.
It's a nice problem to have: "I don't need anything." But surely I should spend money on SOMEthing?
If you're at a loss, potted plants and some grow lights (if no sunlight).
It's the OG air freshener and a natural humidity regulator.
Just got a couple plants myself. I put it off because I didn’t have any desk space, so now I got some shelves.
Any recommendations for plants? I’m going to try not to kill mine (I tried to pick resilient ones), but in case I do…
Succulents are always a great choice. If they get a bit of light and you add a few drops of water (maybe fertilized) periodically they're very hard to kill. Sometimes even if they look dead they can come back.
In that same vein, a spider plant. It can do well as a hanging or on a shelf (though keep out of cats reach to avoid spillage). We've had multiple 'die', but they came back with a vengance after watering again then pruning the dead bits. Here is a half-decent intro. You can also propagate it easily to make more spider plants.
Shop multiple garden centers if you can, it took us awhile, but eventually we found a place near us that sold plants for well under half price what everywhere else was selling. At < $5 a plant, killing one off hurts a lot less.
I've killed many plants (even the hardy spider plants, aloe vera, and succulents). However my pothos and sansevieria have outlasted everything else. They've been accompanying me for years. Last year I even had a baby sansevieria bloom. The office smelled fragrant for days!
Seconding pothos—very tolerant of neglect, very attractive, and if it gets a little leggy after a while you can always cut it, root the cuttings in water for a week or two, and replant them to get a fuller look or even restart completely.
Peace lilies are also great. There are cultivars of all different sizes. They don’t need much light, have nice foliage, will even grow pretty white flowers without a strong scent, and they make it extremely clear when they need water—the leaves droop dramatically and then bounce right back after a good soak.
Overall, I would avoid any plant that has special humidity requirements, like ferns and crotons.
Succulents are alright but have a hard requirement for full sunlight, and often respond extremely poorly to overwatering.
I’m a big fan of most trailing viney plants—of which pothos is one. Others include Tradescantia (“wandering Jew/wandering dude”) and certain Peperomia species. All are tolerant of neglect and easy to propagate.
How's your chair?
And if you have a standing desk, how's your shoes?
I still like my chair!
I almost want to say "I still like my chair!" isn't good enough. If you're sitting on it for many hours a day, invest in it.
Here's what I'd look for:
I think this one cost $1200 when I bought it new. So it's a good thing that I still like it!
Alright, yeah. That sounds more like it. I feared for a moment "I still like my chair!" meant "this one cost 50€ from Ikea and it's not broken yet so I'll keep sitting on it." Cause in that case it's a race between your spine and the chair, whichever breaks down first.
I was gonna say, see if you can save it. Good ergonomic chairs cost a lot more than $150.
Air purifier? Would they let you give something to a co-worker?
I can also recommend an air filter. I find the white noise of the filter is really beneficial to my concentration, but keeping the air circulating feels like the room is staying fresher for longer. This might be a placebo, but I'm in the process of building a CO2 monitor for my home office to confirm it :D
Interesting. I would have thought you needed outside ventilation to remove CO2? Or lots of plants.
I bet they're be okay with an air purifier but I'm not sure I want one.
Dunno about regifting this stuff. Right now I'm trying to find the best way to spend it on ME. After all, their intent is to make MY home office perfect!
If you got standing desk, I can recommend a walking pad. It's basically a tread mill, but without the piping for the arm handles, just the bottom part. They're generally more compact and can be folded to be put away. This way you can get some exercise while having the desk up (also reminds/motivates you to actually put your standing desk up...) for example when you're listening to meetings. The 150 probably won't cover for the whole thing, but at least a decent chunk of it :)
/me nods
Except I don't have or want a standing desk.
My cat requires a lap, you see. And we know who the real boss is, here.
OK, now you are just rubbing it in, you already have the worlds best office, but a lap cat as well???
I'd see if you can get away with buying cat toys. You know. Productivity gain?
Get a baby carrier and strap your cat to your chest.
Another Cat? Or would that be a work detriment?
LOL
According to the cat, only one cat is permitted.
I suspect you already have one but: monitor arm ? More real estate on your desk for stuff (like a cat bed ?), and depending on the arm you can flexibly go from sitting to standing.
Hmmm. I've never used one, so I'm not sure what I'd think of it.
I like the suggestion. This is helping me think!
Are you allowed to stack the stipend? $150 doesn't get much in tech these days, especially since it seems like you're pretty well kitted out anyway, but if you can wait until end of year, $600 all at once can buy more than a metered out $150 can.
Honestly I'm not sure. But it'd be easier to ask if I knew what I wanted!
(Because of the conversation here I have been saying HMmmm to Sonos gear.)
Acoustic treatments.
Upgrade your acoustic environment.
Less reflected sound, Less outside sound makes for a less stressful environment.
Also, I notice many people on Zoom that have excessive reverberation and makes it hard to understand and fatiguing to listen to.
:)
NAS enclosure, maybe? Backup and sync sorted indefinitely, plus whenever you get low on space you can use that quarter’s $150 to add another 8TB!
[Edit] Or a high end WiFi AP? I’m guessing your actual work machine is probably wired, but it still seems officey enough to qualify! Switching to Ubiquiti has saved me a ton of the low grade hassle I used to have with flaky speeds and signal. Another one you can add more nodes to with later stipends if that becomes useful, too.
I was been a telecommuter professionally for decades, as is my husband.
That's rather why the "upgrade your home office" option is problematical. I'd set things up the way I wanted, already!
We still run our own mail server. So we pay for high-end cable access. (And happily the company pitches in on that with a stipend too. As well as health club membership. Have I mentioned I like my company?)
This is SUCH a good problem to have. :-)
Haha that makes sense, definitely a good spot to be in! Honestly both of those ideas came straight from the big list of things I bought for my own space in mid-2020 one it was clear I was sticking around here for a while, and even with just that one off round of setup I'd struggle to think of anything much I'd want to change.
I'm not sure how far you can stretch your funds, but I'd absolutely save a few quarters up and get a home trainer for my bike. See what qualifies!
I got a stationary bike from when I was working at home. It helped me think.
What about getting the best chair you can afford?
Better speakers? Better lighting? Pay a cleaner to come in once a quarter and do a deep clean of the space?
I have no idea if they'd chip in for cleaning. (I already have a housekeeper once a week because I am a slob.)
And I like my lighting. Though Hmmm I was thinking of paying an electrician to fix the ceiling fan; that might qualify!
I like the speakers idea, though. I don't listen to music that much while I'm working but hey, for $150 I could get a sweet setup.
If not music, white (or other color) noise or nature sounds can be good for productivity.
You can also get a natural water feature or other relaxing non electronic thingies, like a Zen garden and other stuff that are good to touch and/or look at.
I'd love a hamster labyrinth to have some life where I work :P
I have a nice Buddha statue at my office.
My cat would like a hamster labyrinth too.
For about 10 minutes.
Then I would need a new one.
If you keep them enclosed they'll be safe. But it'll be a fragile peace :P
LOL.
One of my coworkers has parakeets in her office. I really enjoy listening to them, just as a background sound.
Those, too, would not survive the cat.
If you're into the hobby I'd suggest an aquarium. It can be made to be totally safe. But it's a very laborious hobby and it might be a bad idea to have large volumes of water around electronics.
For what it's worth, you could also apply some effort into making your hamsters completely cat safe as well. But again, it'd only make sense if you're into the hobby.
What about a terrarium with ants? They're pretty cool as well! But maybe your bosses won't allow spending their money with that :P
I'm reasonably sure that they'd paid for a aquarium. But the cat would be more interested in it than I am. (I am REALLY good at killing plants, mostly because I disregard them. My husband takes care of putting water into the aerogarden.)
I really like this idea! Something calming and natural would be such a good addition to the office, and it’s not one I would have thought of at all.
Yeah, given how much your setup sounds like it's already working for you I was trying to stretch the scope of improving your home office, but since they'd pay to keep the space clean if you were in an office, assisting with the cost of cleaning a home office seems like a reasonable step.
Oh I appreciate the help! And I like the idea of stretching the definition. ::warm smile::
A good web cam? A printer? Someone to come in and assess the ergonomics of your WFH setup?
I actually already have a decent webcam. Hard to justify another one...!
I also have a printer. But even if I didn't, I'm trying tot think of the last time I printed anything that was work related. And not much personal use!
Maybe an iPad if you throw some work compatible stuff on it, or a Kindle? Possibly a Roomba?
I have the iPad and Roomba already. Now I'm wondering if I can make a case for the Kindle. That's a possibility!
If it's on the company dime, you could try to go for a BOOX or the Kobo Ellipsa instead. They are more expensive but have larger screens than kindles, and are also more open in terms of their software, so are probably better for viewing PDFs and other work related material.
Reading your replies, it sounds like you really do have almost everything you need already (which is amazing!). Some minor stuff that comes to mind:
Now, you say you have multiple monitors already, but perhaps you could share the models you have. Some of us might be able to suggest an even better one. I got a new 4k monitor a couple years ago after having the same old HD ones for a long time, and I still think it's the best tech investment I've ever made.
Swinging sticks or some other kinetic desk sculptures, like a Mezmoglobe, are pretty cool too. I really want some for myself! They're mesmerizing. :)