Short People Problems
Tags: ergonomics, womenintech, workspaces, tips
Published: 2020-01-29 09:56:07

---
title: Short People Problems
published: true
date: 2020-01-17 06:35:36 UTC
tags: ergonomics,womenintech,workspaces,tips
canonical_url: https://www.jcmc.xyz/ergonomics/womenintech/workspaces/tips/2020/01/17/short-people-problems.html
---

As an exactly average height person, I have always struggled in jobs to find a comfortable way to work. Desks are always too high, chairs are too low, monitors never adjust enough… I’ve always had to beg for special stuff like foot rests, adjustable chairs, monitor arms etc so that I could sit comfortably and see things.

So now I am an official remote only person and have my own home office I finally have the opportunity to actually make a workspace that fits me.

I would love to take a beautiful photo of my setup but I’m missing a few key parts at the moment, like a monitor. The HDMI port on my work laptop is bust so I’m refusing to buy one til that’s sorted. Also I’m kind of hoping something miraculous will happen and the price of the one I want will fall dramatically in the next few weeks….

I’ve only bought 2 things so far, but they are arguably the most important things and I spent a LONG time researching so here they are:

* * *

**Office Chair for Exactly Average Height People**

I read a lot of articles and ended up deciding on the [Sidiz T50](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07NYV38DG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1). It’s super adjustable, has customisable lumbar support and has that active leaning back thing that I liked from chairs a few jobs ago. I found that I had to have it at the maximum height when I was using it at my normal desk, so it may not work if you can’t also change the desk height, but it was still super comfy for a full day with a [footrest](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Footrest-Density-Ergonomic-Improved-Home-Black/dp/B07RW43C46/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=footrest&qid=1579251616&sr=8-7). The colour matches my walls, both laptops and shitty old monitor, because that kind of thing IS important.

* * *

**Office Desk for Exactly Average Height People**

I agonised over the desk for a long time. I knew I really wanted a sit/stand desk but wow, they are expensive. I considered the manual [Skarsta](https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/skarsta-desk-sit-stand-white-s49084965/) from Ikea for a while, but it didn’t come in the colour I wanted (it’s my office, dammit!) - I hate white desks. The other important factor was the min height of this desk is 70cm, which is right on the edge of comfortable for me, so there’s a chance that after all that it still wouldn’t be _quite_ right.

Then purely by chance I came across a brand of desk in a Reddit thread that I’d never heard of, who are US based but deliver to the UK and just happened to have a sale on, so I just went for it and bought myself an [Autonomous Smart Desk 2](https://www.autonomous.ai/standing-desks/smartdesk-2-business?option1=1&option2=5&option16=37&option17=41) in walnut and black. It’s min height is 66cm which is nice and low for an Exactly Average Height person. It’s programmable so I can work out exactly what feels right and save it for next time, and it’s very pretty. I also got a cable tray for tidiness and they had a giveaway on as well as the sale so I ended up with a free monitor arm, which will come in handy later. Building was a challenge in my small room, and crikey it’s heavy, but so far omg, totally worth it.