Workplace furniture: Recommendations wanted!

Lauren Kulwicki

Hey all, I'm considering upgrading my remote work setup and would love your recommendations! I've already done my "office ergonomics" (ie. set up my monitor and desk height) so I think the culprit is my office chair. Even with an added memory foam seat cushion, I usually end up with lower back pain and stiff shoulders at the end of the day.

If you have a desk chair that you swear by or another accessory that you love (seat cushion, footrest, etc.), please share!

By the way, here's an article I read recently about setting up your workplace for comfort, and it helped me tweak a few things.

Guido X Jansen

I'm also prone to have back-pain, so also spend some time trying out difference ways of mitigating that. My main (non-professional) advice would be: whatever gear you have, just make sure to mix it up during the day. Sitting in any position for 4+ hours isn't great. I still do it sometimes (when you get in the flow you want to stay in there!) but you often pay a price afterwards. So I tend to mix locations in the house and/or mis sittign with standing up.

Regarding the chair: I don't have a special chair afaik, just went for a boring semi-ergonomic one. I wanted to look-up the brand but seems like they didn't even print it on the chair, that's how basic it is :D

3 features I like about it:

1. the backrest is mesh, that's nice for a good airflow but sturdy enough for good support
2. can set the backrest to a "free" mode where it's not stuck in one place, yet it provides enough pushback. It's a nice combination of support and still be able to move back/forward a bit. I suppose this also requires you to sit more actively, promoting a better posture? But don't take my word for that.
3. It has wheels so I can easily roll it away when I'm going to stand-up desk-mode 😄. When I do I stand on either the Aeris Muvmat or the BoarderKing balance board, both forcing you to move around.

Lauren Kulwicki

Ooo this is great info, thanks a million @Guido X Jansen! You make a solid point about mixing it up throughout the day. This is something I reaaaallly need to work on, and I haven't found my perfect fit yet. I've tried "walking" meetings and standing up while working but my concentration dips immediately. Currently using reminders to get up and move regularly (my watch tells me this but I also often ignore it lol).

For the chair, I will add those features to my now increasing "wish list" - thank you for sharing!