[ebg13]

This is well and good, but our apartment which is great to live in is not large enough for two work spaces. Nor can we afford to lose the space for as many monitors. And it's not like we can suddenly move in the middle of pandemic quarantine to a new place with more room. When we weren't working at home we did not plan for our living arrangement to also be our working arrangement.

Your advice is great, but only if you can arrange your home around being one or more offices in addition.

[nostrademons]

Definitely follow c) then.

I've been working from home for almost the past 6 years. My home is not huge - we managed to have an extra room for the 3 years between moving in with my now-wife and having a kid, but I was in a small 1BR before that and the kid consumes all available space (like literally all available space) after that. I don't have an external monitor, and I usually work from couch/bed/floor. My posture is terrible.

What has so far saved me from serious occupational injury is that I don't stay in one place for long - usually no longer than 5 minutes or so. I might shift positions, or stick my laptop on my lap, or start lying down, or get up and have some water. You can get away with pretty contorted working positions if you're only in them for 2-5 minutes and go do your thinking while pacing around.

Humans weren't made to sit still. Don't.

[odshoifsdhfs]

Yeah, I understand that and I mentioned not everyone can do it. At least, if possible, try to get a small desk from Ikea or something and put it in the living room or a corner of the room if you can. Sure it will be cramped but your back will thank you for it. Again, I know it isn't a possibility for everyone, but during these times, and hopefully temporary ones, just try to re arrange as much as possible to keep healthy. Sure you have to go jump over the bed to reach for the wardrobe, but remember, it is temporary only. Move the dining table/sofa against the wall and setup something in the corner.

I know the difficulty for a lot of people with small apartments with kids + partner + themselves now at home all the time! Was just trying to get people to think a bit about their long term back/body health (because even 1-2 months of this may bring you pain for a long time)

[fragmede]

I find it hard to believe you live in an apartment that is too small to accomodate two work spaces. I can believe you live in an existing space that you could not have two workspaces added to it, but that's not the same thing. It may take sacrificing the normal living room/TV/kitchen/common area, but these aren't normal times we're living through.

Whether you want to, is a different matter.

[nine_k]

I lived in apartments that had hard time accommodating even one work space.

If you're a couple without kids living in a dense city like NYC or Chicago, you can rationally choose to live in a tiny apartment with 10-15 mins of commute for both of you, and with everything within easy reach from home. I lived like that. But if suddenly both of yo have to WFH, your optimizations backfire.

To be fair, we now live in a 2-br apartment and only have one school-age kid, and still getting three proper workplaces for all of us is not easy. Good thing I can oscillate with my laptop between my kid's desk and the kitchen table. I'd love a large monitor, and would even shell out unplanned $300-400 for it, but I have little idea where to install it.

[ebg13]

> It may take sacrificing the normal living room/TV/kitchen/common area

Because the best way to avoid losing your mind is to completely eliminate the only relaxation space in your home, yes?

[WWLink]

Folding tables always work.

[anotheryou]

Monitors and furniture all cost money though, but I agree, this thing would be sweet: https://media.manufactum.de/is/image/Manufactum/750s_shop/se...

If you got the funds: 1 high res monitor and the laptop folded or under the table or anything is also already better.

[mycall]

> lose the space for as many monitors, or maybe projectors

You can hang monitors from above.

[ebg13]

What are you going to do, work on your back?

[cardiffspaceman]

I am sharing an "office" with two desks and chairs and we have 23-inch monitors. Which is not great. I could get some screen goo reflective paint and paint a square on the wall and hang a projector pointing at that spot from across the room. With the reflective paint maybe it would work with the Sun leaking in. As long as beams of light don't interfere with each other as they cross (that's a joke physics fans), we could have a beam crossing the room the other way too.