The colors of your room will impact your mood, so choose ones that align with you working style. Some prefer bright colors such as red and orange to stay energized, while pastels like sea-foam green or light blue can be more calming. Ideally, your home office setup should be in a quiet area with some level of privacy—especially if you share the home with a spouse, roommate, or children. It’s important that you’re able to separate your working space from your living space in order to minimize distractions and stay focused.
Use What You’ve Got
Just setting the right music can help get you in the right mood – and you’ll need to do that at some point. See this NREL report on the effects of natural lighting (pdf from nrel.gov. So why is it so important to have the right choice of office chair and office desk? This only really applies to a height adjustable ironing board, but you can often change the position so it can double as a sitting and standing ironing board. When you’re working at any job that requires you to be stationed at a computer screen, you’re sitting for a long time, so it’s important to think about your health while you’re sitting.
- Whatever you can do to prepare your space to handle all of the needs of an office at home will go a long way towards making the transition to working from home easier.
- If your family members aren’t used to you working at home, ask them not to disturb you.
- There are a few other things that you will need for setting up your home office – a keyboard, a mouse, and a web camera.
- This monitor is versatile enough for showcasing the work applications you frequently use, with features that make it ideal for gaming in your downtime.
- You may wonder whether you should really invest in a new mobile phone for work when you already have a personal phone.
- With the EcoFlow Glacier Portable Refrigerator, you can keep a stocked fridge within arm’s reach to ensure you stay hydrated and fueled at all hours of the day.
Have a Way to Keep Time
Basic wire management can go a long way towards improving your office aesthetic. It’s also fairly cost efficient as well — you’ll just need a few clamps and zip ties to manage messy wires. Here’s a great article from Lifehacker on managing wires with some cheap tools. The Levoit LV-H132 is our top pick for the best air purifiers due to its impressive coverage and sleek look. This device filters up to 129 square feet of space and features a HEPA filter that removes 99.97% of particles, including dust, pollen, smoke, odor, mold spores and pet dander.
Tower computers and monitors don’t usually come with speakers installed, and laptop mics and speakers aren’t always ideal either. So, make sure you invest in some smart speakers that sync with your devices. That way, you’ll improve your remote setup with clearer audio on all your zooms and online chats. While this may seem obvious or unnecessary, don’t forget to hang a clock in your home office that can be seen from your desk.
- Prices can range from a basic chair priced around $50 to a high-end Aeron chair setting you back at least $1,000.
- Buy something with a dash of design flair (say, a brass lamp) to add some warmth and personality to the space.
- This comfortable office chair boasts an adjustable seat, armrest and lumbar support, offering a truly customized seating experience.
- You might not have to spend anything to get the basics set up in your home office.
- You might require both a small desk for your computer and a larger table or workspace for your artwork if you’re a graphic artist.
- If space allows, incorporating shelving for storage and a printer can be beneficial.
- I organized my supplies using drawers, shelves, and organizers to keep my workspace tidy and clutter-free.
Alternative Desk Options
If you can’t access files, documents, and business apps or communicate with your clients, coworkers, or managers, working from home can turn into one big frustration. But it’s especially important for people who work from home to actually get out of the house—otherwise, it’s literally possible not to leave your house for days at a time. Of course, your schedule has to work around your personal responsibilities and preferences, too. But the 10 tips for setting up your first home office great thing about working from home is that you can prioritize those aspects of your life—whether it’s dropping your kids off at school every morning or heading to your favorite 3 p.m. Spin class in the afternoon—and build your work life around them.
There is a growing body of research that show that sitting for extended periods of time is bad for your health. This explains why the new generation of workers are embracing standing desks. The first step in building a comfortable office is getting comfortable equipment. You’ll spend long hours at your desk and your computer; the right equipment can make the difference in improving productivity and comfort. The 360 Lighting Flynn LED Desk Lamp—our top pick for the best desk lamps—has plenty of features to enhance your workspace. This lamp boasts a 12-inch head that rotates 240 degrees, providing expansive illumination.
This means that once you’re done, you can simply slot the desk into a small nook in your living room and it won’t take up a great deal of space. Standing desks can also come in a range of forms, some designed for treadmills, and others that can actually be used with a stationary bike or treadmill. These desks are usually roughly 30 inches tall, and this works fine for most people. With that being said, it’s not always a suitable option for taller people. You also need to think about whether the chair has adjustable height. We aren’t all the same height, and maybe a chair’s standard height is too high or low to allow you to work properly.
A Sleek Oscillating Space Heater With A Remote
Home offices are quiet and you can design them in such a way that will allow you to concentrate the best. 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. Ideally, your office should be in a quiet area that allows you some privacy. This is especially important if you share the house with a spouse, children, or roommates. Your employer might have specific requirements about the equipment you must use if you’re telecommuting, such as dedicated electronics or industry-specific equipment. Our team is here to help you thrive during this crisis and provide our members with constant support during this unprecedented time.
As many people consider how to work from home, most of us don’t realize what we take for granted back at the office. After all, the spaces there are typically tailored for productivity and give us everything we need to do our job well. Creating a healthy work-life balance at home is key to thriving in remote work.
Pair your desk with a chair that provides optimal lumbar support. Therefore, it is essential to invest in a comfortable and ergonomically perfect home office chair. We bought two excellent office chairs with adjustable heights, tilt, seat, and back positions.