Home Workstation: How to Set One up
Although many places are beginning to open up one year after the pandemic upended the world, remote work looks like it is here to stay. With that being said, many have gotten creative with the way they decorate and design their home offices. Since remote work will only grow from here on out, here are several creative tips to decorate your home working station.
Where to Set Up
Home offices should be a space where a person can focus on their work and nothing else. The office space should encourage productivity, creativity, and critical thinking. Because of this, home offices should be free from as many distractions as possible. It sounds ideal, but not everyone has the same access to space that they would like. Compared to someone in the suburbs, someone in the city is less likely to have a spare room in their home to call an office.
However, a lack of space doesn’t have to mean you must compromise the creativity and efficiency of your home office. If it’s available to you, set aside a room in your home free from foot traffic. This eliminates the distraction of people passing by and making noise, both of which break concentration. It also allows you to go into “work” mode since you know that it’s time for critical thinking once you step into the room.
If you don’t have a spare room for an office, don’t worry! You can still create a productive and personalized space with the space you currently have. Pick a corner in your bedroom or living room and dedicate that space for work. If you don’t have them already, we recommend investing in some noise-canceling headphones for working in this space. That way, even if there are people around, you can still keep your focus on work. As for what music to listen to, experts suggest feel-good, classical, ambient, chill vibe, instrumental, or even video game background music. Music with lyrics tends to be distracting and can pull your focus away from the task at hand.
How to Set Up
There are elements to every home office space that help with productivity. For example, although it sounds nice and like a dream scenario, working out of a couch or bed is not recommended. In addition to proven decreased productivity, it has other negative effects. Working out of bed in your bedroom makes it harder for you to fall asleep at night. It also blurs the line between work time and leisure time. This can affect your mental health, which leads to other problems. The right set up will help you focus when it is time to focus. It will also help you unplug when it is time to clock out for the day.
For every home setup, it is recommended to have a desk, an office chair, and a computer monitor. These three basic elements will provide you with a productive-friendly workstation. The chair and monitor will keep you comfortable and focused on work. The desk helps define the limits of the workstation. Here you can store your work documents or anything else you may need on a daily basis for work. Also, you don’t have to spend a crazy amount of money on each of these items either.
In addition to these basic elements, personalize your space! Many people don’t like bringing work home, and now, many are having to work out of home! Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean your workstation can’t be personalized and fun. Put some toys or trinkets on your desk that make you smile. If you are inspired by nature or the energy of the city, face your desk toward your window. Hang some pictures near your desk! These pictures can display dream destinations, personal goals, or family. Paint the walls a color that encourages thinking and productivity. If you want, invest in some good headphones as well. These will help eliminate distracting sounds, whether you are in the suburbs or the city. Each of these personal elements will add a touch of inspiration and human connection to your home workstation.
If you don’t already have a workstation set up and are planning to work from home, there is no better time to start than now! Since people spent more time indoors this past year, the demand for home remodels and projects have gone up, and the trend is still continuing. This includes the addition and reorganization of rooms for home workstations and home gyms. This past year, we have helped homeowners with their painting projects for remodels of all kinds. If a painting project is something on your to-do list, please don’t hesitate and reach out! We are professionals who take pride in our work and have helped thousands of homeowners create amazing home spaces through our painting services.