How To Improve Your Work From Home Setup?
2021 sees us continuing to work from home, most of us may have just gathered the next available desk and monitor in stock on Amazon. Some of us might still be using our dining tables as our desks. Here are some things to consider when improving your workspace and up your productivity.
Desk
Having a reasonably sized desk can help you to work more efficiently by providing enough space for you to write notes, use your computer/laptop, and organise stationary. Choosing the correct desk will provide the perfect foundation for you to work more efficiently. When choosing your next desk, it is worth to consider the available space you have. Take into account the width and depth available and make sure you have enough space for you to sit and move around with ease. There are several desks available for you to order. A good starting point to look at is the Office Hippo Professional Office Desk, the desk comes in different sizes and different colours for you to match your interior colour scheme. If you are looking for a more modern look then you should take a look at the desk by UMI. The desk provides a more modern look while providing reasonable workspace. For those who are building a dedicated office, you may have enough space to buy the FITUEYES L shaped desk.
Office Chair
Working long hours at home means you will be seated in meetings and completing tasks for long durations. A well-suited office chair can help maintain correct posture, relieve back and shoulder pains when working. Many options are built to help support the back and shoulders such as the Comhoma desk chair, which has been ergonomically designed to provide lumbar support with an added armrest. By choosing the correct office chair, you can concentrate on long tasks without causing pain to your back or shoulders.
Monitor
If you are just working from a laptop, you will find that hooking up your laptop to an external monitor will help you to improve your workflow and become more efficient. Adding a monitor will enable you to show more applications at once.
There are three types of monitors to choose from:
Normal Monitor
Adding a reasonably sized monitor such as the 28-inch LED Monitor from Samsung will add more digital workspace and decrease eye strain.
Ultra-Wide Monitor
Pairing up your laptop or desktop with a 29-inch ultrawide LG monitor will enable you to view two applications side by side on one screen which will increase productivity.
Curved Monitor
Curved monitors such as the 27-inch Samsung curved display helps improve your field of view. Curved monitors are designed to decrease ocular exertion as your eyes can cover a large field of view with ease.
Please note: Before purchasing any monitor, do check the connections match the display port on your laptop or desktop.
Monitor Stand
Neck strain can be due to the height of your monitor. Ideally, the top of the monitor should be slightly below eye level so you look slightly downward when viewing the middle of the screen. Monitor stands can also add more function like the Vaydeer monitor stand which adds more USB ports as well as a wireless charging pad to charge wireless charging enabled smartphones. You could also consider a monitor mounting arm which will allow you more freedom to adjust the height and free up desk space.
USB-C Docking Station
Especially for laptop users, you have found that there are a lot of wires connected to your laptop which might be annoying as you will need to unplug all the cables to be on the go. One solution is if you have a laptop that has USB-C and is Thunderbolt (Lightning Symbol) enabled you can use a USB-C docking station such as the Fitport docking station. A docking station can be plugged into the USB-C port via one cable and all your peripherals such as keyboard, mouse, and monitors all connect to the docking station. This way you can quickly change from deskbound to mobile bound in a matter of minutes by the removal of one cable.
Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
You may have discovered that your workspace is cluttered by cables, one way to eliminate cables is to go wireless. By adopting a wireless keyboard and mouse will free up space for you to utilise for productivity as well as keeping your desk clean. Some wireless keyboard and mouse combo such as the Jellycomb wireless keyboard and mouse do not require batteries and is recharged via USB.
Webcam
Many of us have been attending virtual meetings with colleagues which means using the low-quality laptop webcams. The quality of these laptop webcams tend not to perform well in low-lit environments and are grainy. It is time to upgrade your webcam by purchasing a new webcam. Adopting the highly-rated Logitech C920 webcam will certainly up your virtual meeting game however the price might be out of your budget. Alternatively, you can take a look at the Aukey webcam to improve your webcam game.
If you already have a decent webcam, however it’s still looking grainy, then it could be your lighting conditions. Try considering purchasing an external lighting source to get that professional look, great for when you have virtual meetings with clients.
External Hard drives
You find that you are using a lot of your hard disk space on your laptop and your laptop is asking you to delete your files. One solution is to have an external hard drive from Western Digital will increase your storage space. There are plenty of memory options out there depending on how much storage you will require. There are also SSD external drives available which can provide quicker transfer and download speeds. I highly recommend the Samsung T5, you will be able to save and access files within seconds when using an SSD external drive.
Office Decor
To promote more creativity you can brighten your workspace by adding plants or Funko Pop figurines. By personalising your workspace you can promote more creativity and make your workspace your own and enjoyable to work at.
Moving your workspace
One simple way of improving your workspace is to move it completely to another location if you can. You can move your workspace to a brighter room with a better view. By having an airier and brighter workspace you can find yourself being more productive and you may find creativity flowing out of you. Working in a well-lit room as also decreases the strain of your eyes as well as increasing your health and wellbeing.
Summary
Looks like this year we will continue to work from home, might as well invest into your workspace. Small adjustments to your workspace can help you in the long-run in productivity and health. Remember your comfort is important and you are responsible for your workspace. If your company is slowly going back to the office, you can use your new workspace for a new hobby or a study space for yourself or your children.