With a ton of useful and functional models to 3D print for your home office setup, there's no limit to how much you can customize your working environment with various accessories and interesting add-ons. While these accessories certainly improve the overall functionality of your desk and its surroundings, there's one equally important aspect to tackle when working -- ergonomics. Poor ergonomics can result in fatigue, low productivity levels, and hampered workflow.

If you are facing any of these symptoms, chances are that all you need is a slight ergonomic boost to improve your posture. This can result in a massive improvement in productivity levels since your body will not face any discomfort when working for long hours. Several brands make ergonomic solutions for your desk, but I'm not here to recommend products you can go out there and buy. If you have a 3D printer, here are some cool ergonomic enhancements you can whip up right at home! After all, why buy when you can save money and print at home? Everything from your neck to your wrists to your feet will appreciate these inclusions in your setup.

5 Angled laptop stand

Reduce fatigue in your arms

If you work on a laptop without using an external monitor, you probably place your laptop on your desk, which is a flat surface. The issue with this is that the laptop is usually lower than eye level, which means you have to bend your neck downwards and constantly stare at the screen for hours when working. This can turn out to be bad for your neck in the long run.

Moreover, the angle at which your arms extend to type on the keyboard also isn't ideal, since it's not the natural position for your wrists. In such cases, using an angled laptop stand makes a huge deal of difference. Firstly, it inclines the rear of the laptop, which brings it to your eye level. This way, your neck doesn't have to be strained since you will be looking straight into the laptop screen instead of bending your neck up or down. With the bottom of the laptop tapered down, it also makes it easier to type without straining your wrists.

4 Monitor raiser

Give your neck some relief

Let's say you don't work directly on your laptop and instead, connect it to a monitor. Even then, the laptop stand mentioned above is useful for bringing the screen to the same level as the monitor. But, what if your monitor itself is already at a lower-than-ideal height? Most monitors have adjustable heights, but if yours doesn't, or the highest setting is still too low for your usage, it's time to 3D print a monitor stand or raiser.

The design is extremely simple. It's hollow, so you can use the empty space to store small items like earbuds, dongles, external SSDs, etc. There are honeycomb-shaped cutouts in the structure itself that provide some sort of pass-through for better heat dissipation from the monitor. It's a simple yet elegant design that will both look good on your desk and improve its ergonomics at the same time.

3 Wrist rests for keyboard and mouse

Keep carpel tunnel syndrome away

If you type for long hours like me, it's natural for your wrists to hurt by the end of the day. This is primarily because of the angle at which our wrists are kept when using a keyboard. To fix this and reduce the strain on the wrist joint, it's advisable to use a wrist rest. Now, there are several variations of a wrist rest that you can print, but the one I love the most is the Veronoi wrist rest, printed with two distinct materials.

The chassis is printed using PLA or PETG for structural integrity. There are two similarly sized cavities in the chassis to place the next part of the print -- the cushions. Softer wrist rests feel better when typing, so the cushiony part of the wrist rest needs to be printed using TPU. Once you have the inserts ready, place them inside the wrist rest, and you're good to go. You can also play around with the scaling based on your keyboard layout. If you have a mechanical keyboard with tall keys, a wrist rest is a must-have. Along with the keyboard, if you also use the mouse a lot during the day, I would also recommend printing a mouse wrist rest or wrist glide for additional support. It also helps glide your hand over your table faster when gaming.

2 Footrest for under the table

Rest your feet with ease

One of the key aspects of maintaining a good posture is that your arms must be parallel to the ground, and your feet must always be placed on the floor. If your chair is too tall, or you're not seated properly, your feet may hover in the air, which is far from ideal. In such cases, this 3D-printed footrest comes in extremely handy.

It's quite tall, so you can easily reach it with your legs, ensuring you maintain a good posture throughout the day. The hemispherical base lets you roll your feet around from time to time if you feel tired. Moreover, the footrest has elevated surfaces on the top layer to ensure it's grippy enough for your feet to stay put. It's a must-have for those who spend a large chunk of their day at a desk. You can print two of these and use one at your workplace and one at home.

1 Lap desk for couches

Enjoy working or gaming while relaxing

There are times when you get bored with sitting and working from your desk, so you just want to carry your laptop to a different location and continue. For me, the different location is usually on the couch in front of my TV. I watch a show on Netflix while working, and it helps me relax. However, this means placing my laptop on my lap for a long duration, which is anything but ergonomic. My neck keeps moving since the TV and laptop screens are at different heights, causing pain in the neck.

An excellent solution to this issue is using a lap desk when you're either on your couch or bed. While you can 3D print the entire structure, a designer found a way to cleverly repurpose an Ikea shelf into a lap desk by printing out some essential components for the project. Once done, you can place the desk over your legs when sitting on the couch and use the flat surface to place your laptop. Depending on the size of your lap desk, you can even use a mouse, place snacks or drinks next to you, etc. Once you start using one, there's no going back.

Use a 3D printer to improve your posture

No matter how hard you work, maintaining the right posture when at the desk is vital to ensure you have a long and productive session. This is why ergonomic solutions like a footrest and a monitor raise come in handy. They eliminate preliminary causes of pain in different parts of your body due to poor ergonomics by raising the monitor to your level, keeping your feet grounded, and ensuring you are sitting in the desired position.