Most of us have slightly varying opinions on what makes a decent, comfy office chair, but unfortunately not all comfortable chairs are suitable for use all day long. These nine tips on how to set up a home office will help you create a comfortable working environment that boosts your focus. Working from home can be a dream come true for a certain kind of person (i.e. the introverted kind). Beyond getting to work from the comfort of your own home, working for yourself means having the freedom to set your own hours.
Remember Your Storage Needs
An ergonomic mouse is designed to fit your body, promoting a more upright wrist and hand position and causing less strain on the forearms, wrists, and hands. The ideal ergonomic chair features an adjustable seat height, arm height, arm position, and seat tilt. Look for an office chair featuring lumbar support for your lower back.
Monitor Mounts/Desk Shelfs
If you don’t have access to high-speed internet or Wifi in your home, you can still work remotely by connecting to your mobile device’s Wifi hotspot. A prudent suggestion before doing so is to contact your telephone service provider to ask about data caps, other limitations, and possible upgrades. Setting up an efficient workspace in your home environment — as well as the very act of working from home — can be challenging. This is the case even if the power is off so the phone isn’t chirping, binging, or vibrating. It’s easy to become distracted when you don’t have a supervisor or manager looking over your shoulder all the time, and this is especially true if you keep your gadgets with you in your office. One of the many benefits of working from home is reduced overhead, but the initial savings you might realize by sharing a phone line between your home and business can ultimately cost you.
Even if your office has a door you can close, you should still try to organize your space and set up your work processes to be free from distraction. It may help to put your phone on silent, keep it in a separate room, and disable the Messages app on your laptop. If sound is an issue, invest in a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and hit play on a soothing, focus-boosting Spotify playlist. Keep trappings of your personal life—like bills, to-do lists, and books and magazines—off your worktop.
Noise-canceling headphones
- People focus so much on furniture and work surfaces that they forget about where to keep files, supplies and the like.
- A portable home office setup helps reduce many work travel problems.
- We’ve put together a guide that will help you with perfecting your home office setup ergonomics, more important it will make you more productive and healthier too.
- Look for a bare minimum of 50Mbps, opting for a higher speed if possible, especially if several people in your household use the internet at the same time.
- So whether you’re starting a home-based business or got the go-ahead to work from home sometimes, you need to know how to set up a home office that truly encourages productivity.
- To maximize productivity in your home office, consider investing in a good set of noise-canceling headphones to improve your concentration and boost your efficiency.
The biggest space hoggers (apart from your desk and chair) are your tech devices. So, to save space on your desk setup, consider wall-mounting your monitor. You could even have it on a slightly raised shelf – these are ideal for neatly tucking your 10 tips for setting up your first home office mouse and keyboard away at the end of the day. If your home office setup is in a small room or corner of another room, it can feel cramped with just a chair and desk. However, you need to have ample storage space to keep the files and supplies you need on hand and easily accessible.
Have a Way to Keep Time
Unless you’re beholden to your clients’ or customers’ schedules, working from home means creating your own hours—which can be both a boon and a challenge. If you’re working from home for the first time, it may take some trial and error to discover the routine that works for you, which may or may not be the 9-to-5 model you’re used to. And if it’s not, don’t be afraid to discard that notion and build a schedule that’s actually conducive to your energy and attention levels. Plus, a standing desk converter is portable, so you can bring it to any office space you work from and have a standing desk.
With these tech essentials, you can build a workspace that is both powerful and ergonomic, ensuring that you can work efficiently and comfortably in your home environment. At the end of the day, your workspace should be a place you want to sit down and be at. Decorate and personalise your space to inspire you to work more productively. Pictures of loved ones, pets and past memories is a great way to personalise your setup. Paintings and artwork from your favourite artist, prints of your favourite video game or artwork that you’ve created yourself will help complete your setup and give it that final touch of artistic flair.
Your arms should be at your side with your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle. Therefore, your desk should be at elbow height to allow your hands to rest on the keyboard. Quality of ambient lighting is important in any room, but it is arguably most important in your home workspace. Studies show that lighting can have a significant effect on your productivity.
Workers in a home office are more likely to overwork than those in a traditional workspace. Have some way in place to track time in your office, whether it’s a clock on the wall or the alarm on your phone. You might want to keep a plant or two in your workspace as an added touch that can improve your well-being. Research has shown that having plants in an office can increase your productivity and make you happier while you work. Monitor mounts will help raise your monitor to eye level relieving neck and shoulder strain.
Consider an ergonomic desk setup that includes peripheral devices specifically designed to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, and other such injuries. So, maximise the light you already have and position your screen away from the sun – ideally with the back of the monitor facing a window. Next, introduce a second source of light on your desk that faces downwards away from your eyes, but illuminates your keyboard and mouse for easier typing.
A well-lit workspace can brighten the room, and have a positive impact on your mood. Opt for a desk lamp or floor lamp to shed some light on your workspace. You could even consider getting a standup desk so you can alternate between sitting and standing throughout the day.
