Getting started

A home desk set up for remote work

An ergonomic remote desk: screen at eye level, a separate keyboard, side light, headphones, and cables tied so you can sit through the whole week.

Drawn in 6 stages, the way an illustrator fills a field sketchbook. Press play to watch it drawn.

A home desk set up for remote workFreelanceSites sketchbook

Finished sketch: 6 stages, 211 pencil marks

Blocking in the window, the chair and the desk
Outlines, washes and the person
Eye line, cables and the labels
Desk grain and the window mullion
Shading from the upper left
Caption

What the sketch shows

Remote work happens in a chair, and the chair is where a small annoyance becomes a sore neck by Thursday. Set the desk up once, properly, before you apply for anything.

The top of the screen should sit at about eye level, roughly an arm's length away, so you are not tipping your head down at a laptop flat on the desk. A stand, or a pile of books you trust, raises it. Then you need a separate keyboard at elbow height, because the raised laptop is the wrong height to type on for a day. The chair should let your feet reach the floor. If they dangle, a box under them is a real fix, not a temporary one.

Light from a window should come from the side. A window behind the screen turns the display into a mirror. A window behind you throws your face into darkness on calls. Headphones mark the line between the job and the rest of the house, and they make a call possible when someone else is home. A plant and a mug will not organise your work. They are how the desk stays a place you will actually sit. Cables tied, and off the floor, stay out of the chair wheels.

Then leave the chair. A timer you obey, a walk to the window, eyes on something far away: the setup fails if you never stand up. People find the jobs on boards such as We Work Remotely, Remote OK, FlexJobs, Himalayas and JustRemote. The desk is the part you build yourself.

Screen top at eye level. Keyboard at the elbows. Feet on the floor.
Side light, headphones, cables gathered and out of the way.
The break is part of the setup. Put it on a timer.

What those boards charge, if they charge anything, is beside this sketch. The posture is free.

Key points

The top of the screen belongs about at eye level, an arm's length away.
A raised laptop is too high to type on, so add a keyboard at elbow height.
Window light should come from the side, not from behind you or behind the screen.
Tie the cables, put your feet on the floor, and set a timer that makes you stand up.

Real numbers, from our listings

We Work Remotely Fees: Basic browsing free, WWR Pro $14.95/mo with 12-month commitment ($2.95 first month) for unlimited applications Minimum payout: No platform payout Payout speed: Employers pay hires directly See it sketched
Remote OK Fees: Free for job seekers See it sketched
FlexJobs Fees: Job seeker subscription (around 25 dollars per month) See it sketched
Himalayas Fees: Free for job seekers Minimum payout: No platform payout Payout speed: Employers pay hires directly See it sketched
JustRemote Fees: Free for job seekers, optional paid Power Search See it sketched

Figures in the drawing are examples. These are the platforms' own listed terms, checked by our editors.

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