Inbound Thinking

This is the third post in a series about pain-reducing improvements I’ve made to my workstation. For more detail, read part 1 and part 2.

For the first couple of years working at HubSpot I kept my computer, monitor, keyboard, and mouse all on the same work surface. Our desks were very simple, no monitor mounts or keyboard drawers. At some point I realized that having the keyboard and mouse on the desk might be causing some of my pain. So I started looking for a good keyboard tray to add to my workstation. By moving the keyboard and mouse to a lower position I would have to reach less and my arms should hang naturally at my side.

I had a few requirements for the keyboard tray: I wanted a removable tray that would attach to my existing desk fairly simply; we rent the office furniture so I did not want to make any significant changes to it. I also was looking for a good range of movement: sliding, tilting, swiveling, etc. Additionally, I wanted the mouse and keyboard to fit on the same surface, I don’t like a wobbly separate mouse platform. After some research on Amazon and reading a bunch of reviews I settled on the 3M ATK65LE. It had all the range of motion I wanted, was big enough to hold keyboard and mouse on the same surface and claimed to be a tool-free installation.

As it turns out, the installation was not entirely tool-free installation. The mounting system works by hanging a metal bracket on the front lip of the desk and then attaching the underside with heavy-duty velcro. In practice the velcro sucks and the bottom frequently detaches from the desk. So I drove a couple of 1-inch screws into the underside of my desk and it worked great; the tray stayed in place and there was no visible sign that I modified the desk.

The adjust-ability of the 3M tray is great. It covers all sorts of combinations of tilt, slide and swivel. I would certainly recommend the tray to others. The only down side is that the surface is just a tad on the small side. The mouse and keyboard both fit but there’s limited room for mousing. Not a big deal if you have your mouse speed set high enough. The new working position did help with pain a bit. It kept me from resting my wrists on the edge of the desk and it allowed my arms to hang more naturally. Although it wasn’t a cure, it was a step in the right direction.