As we’re all adapting to the new normal of the global pandemic situation, for a lot of people this meant working from home. In the beginning, it might have been just a laptop they had in their lap while sitting on the couch, or even working from their phone. Many people welcomed this change, glad they can save time on the commute and spend time at home. But over time, without a proper home working space, productivity falls, you become less motivated and your work and personal life probably blend into one. So, let’s see how you can set up a home office that can be your long-term solution to working from home.
Find The Right Space
You should never set up shop in a place where you usually spend a lot of time in your personal life. If you like to relax on the couch and you think you can set up a work environment around your couch, that won’t work, because you’ll feel like relaxing, not working. If you don’t have a separate room where you can set up, you can transform a part of a room you’re already using, like redecorating a corner of the room to become an office. Lastly, if you already have a computer desk where you do both work and personal things, you can slightly transform it when it’s a “workspace” like moving everything personal from the desk while you’re working or changing the height of the chair or table. Anything you can do to make the separation of work and personal life.
Get The Right Chair
You’re going to be spending a lot of time sitting on the computer and working, and without the extra exercise that you’d usually get from a commute, your back is going to be suffering. You’ll need to find the right chair that will give your back the support it needs. What you want to do is get the right ergonomic gaming chair – even if you’re not a gamer! Gaming chairs are some of the best on the market and they will make sure that you are sitting well. More importantly, of course, is how you sit, which is why these adjustable chairs are important. The rule of thumb is that everything should be at a 90-degree angle. Your back should be straight, your chair at the height so your legs are at a right angle, and your arms, resting on the table, should also be at a right angle at the elbow. This way, you will protect your back and the rest of your body.
Keep Organized
Whereas you might have had a whole office or at least a desk with plenty of drawers at work, you have much more limited space now. This means you need to be very organized in order to keep up with everything. You might want to get some extra filing drawers, shelves, and other accessories to help you stay on top of things. Bonus points if you can pop to your office and take your drawers or shelves from there, so you feel more like you’re at work.
Take Care Of Your Eyes
If you are working more on the computer now than you did at work, you’ll need the right monitor. Not all screens are the same and some will damage your eyes much more than others. So, try to see if your company can provide you a monitor you can set up and work on. More importantly, if you’re only working on your laptop, you will need to either add a monitor that you can place higher to support your neck, or you need to get an extra keyboard and lift your whole laptop up because you don’t want to be constantly looking down.
Stick To Your Shift
Sit down at the beginning of your shift, don’t do personal things while you’re on the clock, and when your time is up – leave the area. You need to be strict with yourself about this because otherwise your whole days will blend into a work-life nightmare and you will be less productive at work and stressed when you’re not working. You should also set clear boundaries with your employer and colleagues not to contact you outside of working hours unless they’d also do it before working remotely from home.
Setting up a long-term working space is important for both your mental and physical health, and once you take care of that, you will feel one step closer to a “new normal”. So take your time to organize the space and follow these tips for a healthy, productive work environment from home.