CREATING THE PERFECT HOME OFFICE SETUP

Remote Working

Creating the Perfect Home Office Setup

How often have you wished you could work from home? We’ve all had daydreams of working our own hours and not having to deal with office distractions. It isn't what you imagined it to be, now is it?

Let’s face it, working from home takes a lot of discipline, not just from yourself but from those around you as well. You can’t be fetching snacks every half hour or pulling apart overzealous children every 5 minutes. This is why it’s essential to carve out and create your own home office space.

We’ve come up with our top 5 tips to help you settle in:

Claim A Space

It’s important to find a space that’s quiet and will allow you to focus. Before you go stir-crazy trying to find yourself a spot, consider what it is that you need to set up. If you’re working for a company that’s paperless and you only need a laptop, this is a big plus as you don’t need a lot of room.

If you need to connect to a printer or work with dual monitors, then find an area that allows for this. Depending on the size of your living space, this may mean setting up on your dining room table. If you want to kit out your home office properly, there are a few desks that you can choose from to suit your space, such as a standing desk, a corner desk or even an L-shaped desk.

Get A Comfy Chair

You’re going to be working for a good couple of hours in your home office and you want to minimise any back or neck pain. Sit in a chair that offers good lumbar support, relax your shoulders, and make sure that you can rest your elbows at a 90-degree angle.

If you think you need a new chair, order an ergonomic office chair, a kneeling ergonomic chair or use your exercise ball to sit on. These will keep the pressure off your lower back.

Light It Up

Try choosing a nook in your house that’s naturally lit. Natural light is much healthier for you. It will help you concentrate for longer and you’ll sleep better at night.

Using fluorescent light bulbs as your main source of light keeps the room too dim. After 8 hours of staring at your computer screen and straining your eyes, you would be increasing your risk of migraines.

Avoid direct light from behind you as this will cause a glare on your computer. If you don’t have sufficient lighting, then get an LED desk lamp that comes with brightness settings so that you can fine tune your working environment.

Organise

The secret to a successful day working from home is planning and having arranged your space.

Divide what you will do and when you will do it over the course of the day. Prioritise your tasks. If you have a chalk board or a white board, write your top tasks on it. Make sure to set reminders, create events and keep your day interesting.

You no longer have coworkers to distract you. Set yourself some challenges - for instance, when you have completed 5 tasks, reward yourself with a cup of coffee. This will also help you remember to stretch your legs throughout the day.

Keep your workspace clean and organised. Make sure you have all the things you need when your day begins. Having to go looking for a pen, notebook, cell phone charger or headphones can lead to a number of detours, such as fetching a snack or patting the dog.

Schedule your breaks, social media time, lunch break and stick to your routine. This will help keep you focused and productive.

Give Your Workspace Some Love!

It’s time to differentiate your workspace from the rest of your house, and not just with a pot plant or your supervisor of a cat. Get creative! Put an un-officelike, fluffy rug under your feet, light that scented candle and hang an interesting piece of artwork to look at when you take a moment to stretch.

Use the brightest and most colourful mug to drink your morning coffee. Put a playlist together - aside from coffee, music is the best way to match the energy you want to put into your work day.