Working from home? Get yourself a laptop stand and thank me later

Let me lay it out simply: If you’re working from home during the coronavirus lockdown, you should get a laptop stand. Honestly. Your body will thank you.

Anyway, onto my deeply, deeply uninspiring journey.

Here at TNW we were asked to work from home in the middle of March. Now, one of the great things about working here is our flexible remote working policy. When the lockdown happened, I didn’t think my work life would change that much. I mean, I write at home constantly, how different could it be?

Then my body betrayed me.

[Read: Please, won’t someone let me buy a kettlebell?]

About a week and half into lockdown I noticed my neck hurt. I woke up feeling like I’d slept on the floor, my upper back muscles ached and creaked. Basically, I felt like I’d been bunched up into a sea shell and been given a bit of a kicking.

I stretched it out, I did some yoga, but that didn’t really help. Eventually I worked out what was wrong: In the office I have an external monitor lifted up to eye-level, at home I spend all day hunched over my laptop like some sort of digital neanderthal. I wasn’t as equipped as I thought. I needed a laptop stand.

Blessedly, I was semi-prepared.

Ahead of the lockdown I brought a selection of gadgets back with me to review, and I was in luck: Someone had just sent me the Moft Z laptop stand to check out and, on a whim, I’d decided to bring it home. And thank fuck I did.

Basically, the Moft Z laptop stand is this magazine-sized bit of hardware that folds out in different ways. It can function as a standing desk, or prop up your computer at a variety of angles to make it easier to use. And when you’re done? It folds neatly away into something you can easily tuck into your back or put on a shelf.

It’s a pretty nifty bit of kit, but not something I’d necessarily be particularly excited about in normal circumstances. However, with the coronavirus lockdown it’s become an essential part of my working day. And my spine and neck is thankful for this change.

If you want one, you can check out their website here. But, at this point, I’d just suggest getting your hands on anything — something you can do by having a gander on Amazon.

Of course, going on Amazon may not be to everyone’s taste (something I can’t disagree with), so there is a way around it. Put your laptop on some books, or a cereal box — really anything that’ll help raise the thing from your working surface and bring it roughly eye-level.

Will an actual laptop stand be better? Yeah, of course, but the goal here is to not mash up your body and make working from home a bit more comfortable. As long as you manage that, you’ll be okay.