It’s now been a week since Sarah left the office to work from home. What initially seemed like a great idea for increasing flexibility and reducing travel time to and from work has quickly descended into chaos. The home office set up in the dining room has turned into a complete mess. The space is so small that the pile of papers, pens and other bits and bobs that normally reside on her desk have spilled over onto the table, with oddments like paper clips and Post-It Notes rolling off the edge. The laptop charger has become entwined with the mouse cord, and every time she moves her wireless mouse she has to pick up the mouse and move it to a different areas of the standard-sized mousepad. To make matters worse, the desk surface is scratched – presumably from the rubber feet of her laptop. It’s a scratch that has quickly appeared on the beautiful, but unforgiving wood finish of the table.
I have a beautifully finished wooden desk. I have already scratched it in less than a week with my laptop and mouse.
An answer to Sarah’s problems came from her colleague and graphic designer, Heather. In a video conference meeting with a few colleagues, Heather mentioned that she was using oversized desk mats. The simple function of oversized desk mats immediately piqued Sarah’s interest as it seemed to provide an answer to her chaos of pens and equipment on her dining room table surface. Little did Sarah know that oversized desk mats wouldn’t just provide a surface for her equipment but that they would fundamentally change her workspace to provide her with an effective working space.
The workspace boundary effect
Work surfaces enable us to perform work activities and create a workspace boundary. This defined surface area is critical for organizing materials within that boundary. Transfering a professional work space such as Sarah’s to a dining room table enabled her to continue to be productive in her home office. Instead of all of the typical disorganized supplies found on a typical table surface such as pens, books, papers, Post-It Notes, and packages of office supplies to name a few, her entire work surface now resides within the bounds of the desk mat.
In addition to automatically clearing any loose items such as papers and stationery from around the perimeter of the work area, there is no end of items that can be kept within the confines of a large desk mat. Whether you have work spaces set up for professionals or students, a large desk mat is a simple solution that creates a lot of organized work space without taking up too much of your room.
Typical mousepads are small, 8 x 10 inch or so surfaces that you place your mouse on. They can be placed on the side of your desk, or in the corner, but they generally are not large enough to allow for much movement of your arm while you are using the mouse. Oversized desk mats, on the other hand, are large, typically 24-48 inches wide and longer, surfaces that you place on your desk. These mats are large enough that your mouse will never hit an edge, whether you are moving the mouse to the side or pulling it back towards you.
Mouse movement without restrictions
Removing these restrictions to mouse use can have a profound effect upon how one works and it is only by removing the restrictions that the full effects can be appreciated. Firstly, there are many people who restrict their use of a mouse due to the small surface area of the standard sized mouse mat. This can lead to large amounts of stress being placed upon the wrist and/or shoulder, which in turn can cause a great deal of pain and lead to conditions such as repetitive strain injury. The user is forced into a position which involves large amounts of strain upon their arm, in order to allow them to complete tasks at the desk. This can involve bending their elbow and placing large amounts of strain upon their wrist, or holding their arm in an unnatural position for long periods of time.
Using an oversized desk mat will allow you to move your mouse in any direction, without worrying about it falling off the edge of your desk. This allows you to work comfortably with your arms in a completely natural position. Your shoulder and your elbow will be able to move freely to help support your wrist and hand, rather than being placed under strain to work in small circles.
But the solution is perfect for the graphic designers, and other power users like the accountants. They work in long hours, with lots of focus. An oversized desk mat is perfect for them, because it provides a large surface area, for them to work on with great precision and speed, without any restrictions that a normal size desk mat would bring to them.
Most oversized desk mats are designed for optical mice, therefore are made of the suitable materials and with the correct surface texture to allow the precise control of the mouse on the mat surface – without any of the ‘dead zones’ that some surface types can cause, resulting in the mouse suddenly losing its position.
Surface protection that pays dividends
Protection of Work Surface – Over time any furniture which is used frequently can get scratched or scuffed on the surface, particularly if it is a smooth surface such as finished wood. Large desk mats can be of great value as they can be used to protect your work surface from marks caused by equipment such as your keyboard which can often have sharp edges. Better still is that should the desk mat get dirty or worn then it can be simply and easily replaced before any damage is done to your work surface.
An oversized desk mat can be described as a ‘sacrificial area’ on your desk. That area of your desk surface that would normally be prone to getting marks on from equipment such as laptop feet down to pens, papers and also hot items with liquids in them such as coffee cups. The best quality of desk mats are scratch resistant which also means they are easy to clean and maintain. Even when a mat does wear, it would cost less to replace a mat than trying to remove marks from your expensive desk surface. Many items such as laptop vents can also leave heat marks on surfaces made of certain materials. The mat creates a boundary which stops this type of deterioration occurring.
Another consideration when choosing a desk mat is how it will perform in relation to heat from laptop vents. Many finishes can be affected negatively by heat, causing them to become discolored over time. A good quality desk mat can act as a heat barrier to protect your desk surface from such damage.
Customization meets function
Home workspaces are often set up with professional grade office furniture. However, most of these items are designed with professionals in mind and as such, typically come in standard sizes and configurations. Our custom desk mat can be of extreme value in these circumstances. We can design a custom mat that perfectly fits your unique work space, as well as your work with you to create the ultimate mat for your work space. We can include your company’s logo as well as other design elements that reflect your company’s brand identity. This will allow your employees to work in professional-grade work spaces that they can take pride in.
There are individuals that require to use a whole desk mat and others that will only require to use a mat that will fit within their work space. A custom made desk mat will enable professionals to have a mat that will allow them to work on non-standard size office furniture, carry out work in different locations and even enable them to brand their mats and hand them out to their employees with their logo printed on the mats.
Comfort through consistent support
On the other hand, working with a high-quality desk mat can make for very comfortable work from the very start. A thick cushioning is included in high-quality desk mats and, on the one hand, this cushioning reduces pressure on your arm. On the other hand, cushioning on the surface of the mat also relieves pressure on your wrist and hand when placing your wrist or hand on the edge of your desk. You will not even notice any discomfort or pressure on your arm or wrist after a few hours until it has started to cause you problems.
In addition to the benefits of a well-sized desk mat, you must also consider the type of surface that your arms and hands will be coming into contact with. In an ideal world, this would be a surface of cushioned material, which would provide the necessary support to your arms and hands without placing too much pressure on them. A good quality desk mat can also aid in regulating the temperature of your arms and hands on your work surface, providing a far more comfortable interface than cold metal or stone.
The compound effect on productivity
These improvements will make a large difference in your pursuit of creating a productive workspace. Reducing the amount of friction to your mouse movement will save a few seconds per task. Having a workspace that is organized will save you time looking for lost items. Lastly, having the correct support for your arms will allow you to work for longer periods of time without feeling tired. All of these small improvements will create a very productive workspace.
The end result of these little changes is to bring about large increases in productivity. The seconds saved by the reduced friction in your mouse movement, the time saved by having your workspace organized and the increased period of time you are able to work without taking a break are all best shown by an example of a person using these mats for work. Sarah works in a small converted bedroom and she loves her new oversized desk mats.
These little things can make all the difference between having a job and really excelling at your work. Thank you for the review, Sarah.
