The current public health crisis has many professionals shifting to a home office setting quickly. During normal times working from home has many advantages, from avoiding the daily commute to the option of spending the entire day in your pajamas. But creating a productive environment for getting work done can be challenging.
Here are 5 simple things you can do to help you stay productive in your home office.
1. Choose the right desk and chair for comfort and space.
The first thing most people think of when they consider creating a home office is their workspace. You may be wishing for a huge mahogany desk with a leather presidential chair, but that may not be in your budget and honestly it may not even be needed.
While aesthetics are important the primary focus when creating your workspace should be adequate space and proper ergonomics. Both can be accomplished no matter what your budget is.
First find out how much space you will need. Do you normally operate with a single large monitor, do you use a dual monitor setup, or can you get by with only your laptop?
Whatever your setup is you will want to make sure you have enough space for your primary screens as well as writing space. For most people a 4-6 foot desk should be adequate.
You don’t have to spend $1000 on the perfect desk. You can find many budget friendly options online for $250 and under.
Just make sure your desk is assembled correctly. You don’t want it to topple over with all of your electronic devices.
Choosing a good office chair is also important. You will spend a lot of time sitting at your desk and it is important that you’re comfortable or you will spend most of your time distracted by discomfort. Thankfully most office chairs are made to be adjustable in height giving you the ability to find the perfect height for you.
2. Make sure you have adequate lighting.
No matter where you are, having quality lighting can increase your productivity. Poor lighting, on the other hand, can dampen your mood, decrease your morale, sap your energy and cause headaches and eyestrain.
If you can take advantage of natural lighting by opening your blinds and letting the sun in do so. But if that isn’t an option here are a few tips for choosing the best artificial lighting.
Avoid working directly under harsh overhead lights. Too much light can cause just as much eye strain as insufficient light. Instead keep the lighting indirect and diffused throughout the room.
Pay attention to the placement of lights. You don’t want your light source to be directly behind your workstation where it is bound to cause annoying glares.
Because of the many different tasks accomplished in your home office space it’s best to start with warm ambient lighting and add additional lighting such as floor lamps and desk lamps where they’re most needed.
If you can, place your ambient lights on a dimmer switch, so that you can adjust them throughout the day.
3. Color matters. It may be surprising to hear but the colors in your office have a great impact on your level of productivity. There have been many studies over the years that illustrate how color can affect our mood and productivity level depending on the type of work at hand.
For instance red is a great color for a physically intensive workspace but it can cause feelings of anxiety in an office environment. If you live in an apartment or a new home your walls are more than likely white, which isn’t the best color for creating a productive environment. White feels both clinical and intimidating which aren’t the best emotions for having a productive day. By contrast yellows can induce creativity and a feeling of happiness, blue inspires focus and compliments mind intensive tasks, and greens can help create a sense of balance and calm.
Think about the type of work you do before choosing the color that will most encourage productivity in your office setting.
4. Hide wires to decrease clutter.Another area of aesthetics that can affect your mood and productivity is openness and clutter.
Cluttered environments can make it impossible to think. One common source of clutter in home offices is the tangle of wires and cords connected to your many devices.
To reduce clutter you can create a hidden charging station in a desk drawer in a few easy steps.
First simply select a drawer. Next drill a hole in the back of the drawer, place a power strip inside and attach it to the side of the drawer with adhesive. Finally feed the power cord through the back of the drawer.
Now you can simply plug in your electronics when needed and hide the cords within the drawer when they are not.