Work From Home Easier In Riverside With These Home Office Improvements
For many, remote work has become the new normal -- and brings some unique obstacles.
Whether you’re a home office connoisseur or want to make a small workspace on the fly, you don’t always have to use your living room couch. The key to a productive workspace in your home is using items that make life better for your daily grind. But this place should also be aesthetically pleasing since you have to sleep here, too.
From slimmed down desks to energy-efficient plantation shutters, we’ll offer five quick home improvements that make work from home easier.
Your Home Office Should Be A Defined Space
While cozying up on the sofa and flipping open the laptop may feel nice at first, not splitting up “home mode” from “work mode” can become a damper to your productiveness.
If you haven’t yet, make a committed office space in your home. This space should be yours, separate from day-to-day activities. This may help you keep away from distractions. You don’t have to have an executive oak desk and a wall full of motivational posters, but at least try to dedicate a small table and stool as your home office.
Have a nook in your family room that would be the perfect home office? Create a private office by adding a simple, elegant sliding barn door or panel track to divide the room.
Find A Desk That Accommodates Your Work
As a lot of the workday is spent seated, you should consider furniture that gives ergonomic posture support while catering to your spatial needs. And that means setting up the perfect desk.
However, here’s one pro tip: don’t go for a “that will do” desk set-up. A decorative table that poses as your workspace during the day will only become frustrating. You should use a surface that conforms to your workplace rituals. If you primarily use a laptop, a mini office desk or work-only table can work. But if you’re constantly shuffling paper, or prefer a complicated PC setup, you want a larger desk.
If you don’t want to buy a conventional desk, just make one from scratch. An old door or particleboard on top of two pedestals can become a versatile work center. The more you can make your home office fit your needs, the easier work from home can seem in Riverside.
Balance Natural Sunlight By Choosing The Right Window Treatments
It’s no surprise that adequate lighting can make or break your daily video call. Not enough backlight and you’re bathed in shadow, but try to talk while dealing with sun glare, and you’re looking like a ghost. The amount of outside light can also be the difference between a efficient workday, and one that finds you making numerous trips to the kitchen.
To make work at home easier, you should install a window covering that can handle natural light. Plantation shutters, for one, have large louvers that can be angled so that your home office always has the correct level of outside light without harsh sun glare. They will also help block outdoor noise, like passing cars or playing kids. And your chosen interior shutters are made of faux wood, they can also help with energy-efficiency.
Luckily, Polywood shutters are a wonderful addition to your space and are easy to wipe down and operate.
Upgrade Your Seat From That Uncomfortable Chair
Once you have some time in your new and improved work from home space, you start to realize that working from that uncomfortable kitchen chair just isn’t doing it.
Instead, use an ergonomic office chair to make your life easier, or upgrade your chair with a little extra back support to make it last a bit longer. Or, you can opt for a standing desk, and then your current chair could suffice.
It’s Alright To Experiment
One of the advantages of working from home is that you can organize the room outside the ordinary office configuration. However, sometimes figuring out the optimal order takes time and plenty of experimentation. And sometimes it takes thinking outside the box.
Always question yourself about what works and what doesn’t. You might find out that you need two monitors instead of an underpowered 15-inch laptop. Maybe you want three. Or maybe you perform best when using a wireless keyboard and mouse and one or two larger screens mounted to the wall. Standing desks, sound system speakers, and overstuffed armchairs -- it’s how you like it. And if that doesn't work, you can change it out without submitting an expense report.
