Laptop Ergonomics Mistakes That Quietly Wreck Your Neck

When you edit photos on a laptop, tiny desk decisions can quietly wreck your neck, your wrists, and your attention, even if the machine is fast. This helpful video will improve your working life.

Coming to you from Matthew Moniz, this practical video walks through real reader-submitted desk photos and calls out the fixes that actually change how a setup feels. Early on, Moniz points out a common trap: treating a laptop sitting alone as a “setup,” when the desk has no real workflow around it. The critique is less about buying more stuff and more about placement, especially when a screen is shoved far to one side and your head has to twist to use it. You also get a clear example of how a floating monitor can look great, yet still feel cramped when speakers and a laptop stand compete for the same tight space. The advice stays grounded in small moves that reduce visual clutter without turning your desk into a showroom.

The most useful thread is ergonomics without the usual lecturing, and it shows up in several different ways. One setup uses a Lenovo Legion Slim 7i in a spot that forces constant neck rotation, and the suggested fix is simple: close the laptop and relocate it so the main display sits where your body already faces. Another setup leans on a MacBook Air but leaves it parked off to the side again, and Moniz repeats the same core point with zero patience for “I’ll get used to it.” A third submission has a lot going on, including extra audio gear and cables across the front edge, and the recommendation is to reroute everything behind the desk and reduce the number of objects your hands have to dodge. He also brings up the chair, bluntly, as the one upgrade that outlasts any laptop cycle.

A few moments are going to hit close if your desk also doubles as your gaming corner. One setup includes a PlayStation 5 sitting on the desktop, and Moniz argues it’s burning valuable real estate when it could live in a cabinet below. That change matters if you are trying to fit a laptop next to a main display without pushing everything into the edges. Moniz also likes the idea of a vertical second display, especially when the heights line up cleanly with a main monitor, but he still pushes for angling the screens so the desk wraps around your seated position.

What you do not get is a single “best” layout, and that is the point. Moniz keeps circling back to three pressure points: where your head turns, where your hands land, and where cables live. He likes setups that hide the laptop and run a single connection through a Thunderbolt dock, and he calls out when lighting crosses the line from mood to distraction, suggesting a monitor light bar instead of stacking multiple lamps. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Moniz.