Top tips for working on a laptop in the garden

[TR888]

Hi,

I'm stuck in my office while the sun shines outside. I want to be in the garden, but I can't because:

• the glare from the sun doesn't let me see my laptop screen.
• my garden chair/table arrangement is not ergonomic, to put it mildly. I need to type at my laptop for long periods at a time and it's important to be comfortable.

Do you have any tips to resolve this, or to make working from your garden easier?

I thought this'd be the kind of thing mumsnetters know...

Following with interest as I am desperate to start working outside

My PA put her laptop in a box turned sideways to reduce the glare!

Honestly, it doesn’t work. The glare is a nightmare. Your laptop will overheat. Flies will buzz around you. You will get a headache from the sun. If you need reading glasses you won’t be able to wear shades. Your wifi will drop. Your mobile signal will cut out. You won’t hear the doorbell and miss your delivery. Your neighbour will spot you and want to chat. You will notice a hedge that needs shaping.

Take regular breaks from the screen with a cuppa in the sun is my advice!

I find working in a hammock pretty comfortable, but tricky when I have to jump up to go inside to take a confidential call.

@SergeiL

Honestly, it doesn’t work. The glare is a nightmare. Your laptop will overheat. Flies will buzz around you. You will get a headache from the sun. If you need reading glasses you won’t be able to wear shades. Your wifi will drop. Your mobile signal will cut out. You won’t hear the doorbell and miss your delivery. Your neighbour will spot you and want to chat. You will notice a hedge that needs shaping.

Take regular breaks from the screen with a cuppa in the sun is my advice!

My god, you've literally just summed up my day today 😂

I sometimes work from my garden table but sat in the shade so as to avoid glare on the screen. Couldn't sit in the sun with it.

Parasol where the head tilts, box trick explained earlier, only go out for short stints to avoid overheating and back pain. You can also get cushion things you add to make computer chairs more padded for people with bad backs so it depends if those could go on your outdoor chair.

@LindaEllen

It really doesn’t work. I was on a call with someone last summer who had set up a very elaborate contraption involving cardboard boxes over her screen but then the wind blew and the whole thing came crashing down.

I sometimes work under the gazebo but it’s not really the point because I want to be in the sun!

I am now wondering whether maybe an apple crate on its side might work...

Tried and failed all first lockdown to achieve this nirvana! Sun tempting me to have another bash.

Buy a laptop sunscreen adapt contrast and brightness.
Wear darker coloured top.
Use parasol above the table and add booster for a good signal.
Take your office chair outside or use your cushions on your garden chairs.

I got a screen protector from Amazon that was anti glare. About £20 and works a treat.

Doesn't stop me getting sunburnt and a headache and losing all motivation....

I mean...the sun is shining but it's bloody freezing outside at the moment if you're in the UK?

So an anti-glare thing from Amazon and a snowsuit?

I manage !! I put my (empty because I’ve just pegged it out) washing basket on it’s side on the table with an old towel pegged over it (pegs nearby, see above!) and put the laptop in front or just inside the basket. I don’t squint relentlessly but maybe have half an hour out, then go back in for a bit. Many of my calls are not video and not laptop tethered so I take those outside too if I can.

Great idea for a thread! I have struggled with this since the start of the original lockdown!

I sit under a big sun umbrella (I hate sitting in actual sun) and my garden table and chairs are dining table style so they are fairly ergonomic. We have a wifi booster in the kitchen which covers the garden and I don't take confidential calls so it doesn't matter if the neighbours are in their garden. The one problem I haven't solved is the breeze blowing my papers around.

I sit facing the sun and prop a large cushion up against the laptop. It’s large enough to reduce glare and just the right weight that it doesn’t blow away or put too much strain on the laptop. I use my regular garden table and take out my desk chair. I keep the back door open so that if I get a video call I can answer (speaker only) then move back to my normal desk and then switch the camera on as I think my boss might not approve!

I bought a laptop with an anti glare screen for this exact reason. It has a matt screen and there is no glare at all - a bit like the kindle reading screens. I think you can buy antiglare filters for normal laptops?

I need reading glasses - I bought 'sun readers' on Amazon (would not be seen in public with them)
I am not ergonomic though. I sit with my feet up on an outdoor sofa

I know what I am buying this weekend!

Wear sunglasses outside too

Thanks for all the ideas! The laptop anti glare screens sound interesting. If they get your screen to read like a kindle, I'm sooooo buying one.

@SergeiL

Honestly, it doesn’t work. The glare is a nightmare. Your laptop will overheat. Flies will buzz around you. You will get a headache from the sun. If you need reading glasses you won’t be able to wear shades. Your wifi will drop. Your mobile signal will cut out. You won’t hear the doorbell and miss your delivery. Your neighbour will spot you and want to chat. You will notice a hedge that needs shaping.

Take regular breaks from the screen with a cuppa in the sun is my advice!

Well that’s just ruined my life! lol I’m desperate to work outside too. 🤣