Home Office Improvements That Make Working From Home Easier In San Jose
For some, remote work has become the new normal -- and brings its own problems.
Whether you’re a home office connoisseur or looking to carve out a small office area on the fly, the concept of using your home doesn’t have to mean working from your kitchen table. The solution to an effective home office is identifying items that make life easier for day-to-day activity. However, this space should also spark joy since you have to sleep here also.
From slimmed down desks to energy-efficient plantation shutters, check out these five easy home improvements that make work from home easier.
Your Home Office Should Be A Defined Space
While plopping down on the sofa and flipping open the laptop may look comforting at first glance, not delineating “home mode” from “work mode” can become a damper to your productivity.
If you don’t already, make a dedicated work center in your house. This room should be primarily for work, putting other activities for other parts of the house. This should help you avoid interruptions. You don’t need an oversized oak desk with a wall full of motivational posters, but at the very least try to use a table and chair that’s only for work.
Have a small area in your living room that would be the perfect workspace? Create a hidden cubicle in your large room by installing an attractive, elegant sliding barn door or panel track as a room divider.
Pick A Surface That Accommodates Your Things
When a lot of the workday is spent sitting down, you need a surface that has ergonomic posture support while catering to your space needs. And that means using the perfect desk.
Now, a word to the wise: avoid a “fix for now” desk set-up. A decorative table that disguises as your workspace during the day will only become annoying. You should use a piece of furniture that adapts to your work needs. If you primarily use a laptop then a compact desk or work-only table is fine. But if you’re stacking books and papers, or want a two-screen desktop setup, you need a larger surface.
If you rather not buy a traditional desk, just make one from alternative materials. An old door or particleboard on top of two pedestals can become a usable work surface. When you finally find the right work surface, the easier work from home can seem in San Jose.
Balance Sunlight With The Right Window Treatments
Adequate lighting can greatly affect your daily video conference. Not enough backlight and you’re covered in shadow, but an overexposure to sun glare, and you’re flushed out. The amount of sunlight can also greatly affect your productivity.
To make work at home easier, you’ll want a window treatment that can handle natural light. Plantation shutters, for one, have slats that can be tilted so that your home office always has the right amount of natural light without sun glare. They will also help block outdoor noise, like traffic or lawnmowers. And if your interior shutters are crafted from Polywood®, they can also keep your workspace comfortable.
Luckily, interior shutters are an aesthetically wonderful addition to your home office and are simple to clean and operate.
Upgrade Your Seat From That Kitchen Chair
Once you have a few days in your newer work space, you start to realize that sitting in that stiff kitchen chair just isn’t working.
Instead, use an an actual office chair to make you more comfortable, or upgrade your chair with a little extra back support to have it last until you decide on your next chair. Or, you can always get a standing desk, and then you won’t need a chair at all.
It’s OK To Experiment
One of the benefits of work from home is that you can sort your area outside the traditional cubicle configuration. However, sometimes figuring out the best set-up takes time and plenty of trials. That means thinking outside the box.
Always question yourself about what the best way to work. You might find out that you need a couple computer monitors instead of a lowly 15-inch laptop. You might even prefer three. Or you might find you perform best with a wireless keyboard and mouse and one or two oversized monitors mounted to the wall. From standing desks to overstuffed armchairs -- it’s all about you. And if it doesn't work like you thought, just change it all without submitting an expense report.
