My 2023 desk setup

Over the 2002-2023 winter holidays I was gifted with two weeks off. Without any travel plans or other ideas, I found myself adrift in the realms of home-automation Youtube and, well, it is a slippery slope my friends. While I know enough to stop myself from rabbit-holing too far down the HA space, I ended up diving deep into desktop setups. Knowing I wanted to improve the functionality of my environment as well as the quality of my daily meetings, I had some clear targets and even a few guard rails to keep me on-track.

My goal was to increase the functionality and quality of life in my home office, while simultaneously increasing the quality of sound for my meetings. I wanted to do this all without going full-bore pro podcaster levels, and avoiding the associated expenses therein.

What I ended up with, after a few weeks of Youtube research into recommended gear (along with diving into detailed Amazon reviews and comparisons), was a lower-cost but not bargain-basement setup. I think I got about 80% of the way to sounding professional at a serious fraction of the cost. If I’d gone with all the gear based off of recommendations from Youtubers I’d have easily spent 5 times as much for only a minimal extra gain.

Following are the before and after photos of my setup. I recognize to many it still seems cluttered, but it is a grand improvement from where I started this journey. Iterative improvements are, after all, the path to realizing success. 

While I am about 80-90% of the way done, the final stretch is taking me a lot longer than anticipated (especially since this was supposed to be just a 2-week holiday project). The cable management is still a bit of a mess, and the back of the desk is still just as visually cluttered, but the big improvement has been on the worktop. More streamlined, open, and functional, THAT has been worth the effort alone. 

With a bit of additional gear brought into the mix, it feels more efficient and professional, less slapdash and temporary. This entire setup now feels like I can grow into it, rather than feeling like I’ve already grown out of it. It provides me ease of opportunity and transition into a multitude of uses without feeling hacked together. Purpose-built for flexibility, I can more readily pivot to a number of uses based on demand. 

So, what am I using? What cool stuff have I added to make my home office work so well for me? Well, here you go….  I’ve added a table full of (non-affiliate) Amazon links to the major pieces of kit now in use. I either already had these items, or I bought specifically for this updated setup. And in some cases, I purchased multiples where needed:

If you missed Don Quixote in the broader images of my desk setup, you’re not going crazy. He now sits behind my shoulder on a shelf on my wall of ego… standing watch and reminding me every day to be the greater fool and lean into those quixotic ideas.