How To Create Your Perfect Home Working Space
The pandemic has changed work for many, and more people than ever have adapted to working from home long term. If you’re among them, you’ll know that wasn’t necessarily an easy move, and there are a lot of components to getting a comfortable home working setup just right. From setting a separate, designated office space to help manage your work/life balance, to ensuring you’ll be comfortable and suitably supported with the correct layout and furniture, and able to take comfort breaks when needed - there’s a lot to consider. So, how do you create the perfect home-working office? Let us give you our top tips for success.
Keeping The Balance: Define Your Office
Condensing your living and working spaces under one roof can be stressful. Managing your space properly is the key to success. Even if your home space is limited, don’t worry: a few simple hacks to separate your working space for the kitchen table or sofa can go a long way to protecting your work/life balance.
First, find an area that you can establish as an ongoing working space, that can remain clear from household clutter, laundry piles, or unfinished chores. Aim to section this off somehow from the rest of your home - room dividers, houseplants, or bookshelves may help create a sense of boundary.
Making sure everything you need to work is at hand can help you establish and maintain focus in your workspace. If you’re having to go into the other room to find stationary or documents, you’re bound to get distracted by the dishes you haven’t done yet! Even if your desk space is small, you can utilise various top- and under-desk storage solutions to keep everything at hand, without feeling claustrophobic.
Build A Solid Foundation With Quality Office Furniture
Once you have a suitable space established, you need to find the furniture that works for you. What suits your working practice?
A standard level desk, or a standing desk? Some find a standard, non-adjustable desk to feel more suited to their posture and working habits. However, many people find themselves achieving better focus and productivity by adopting standing or height adjustable desks, allowing them to move, stretch, and adjust posture as needed. Longer term, standing or height adjustable desks can also help prevent chronic back pain problems or spinal injuries, which can be painful and lead to ongoing ailments or chronic stress. Alternatively, if you’re working on a budget or looking to upgrade an existing standard desk to a standing desk, a desk convertor may be preferable.
What chair do you like to work from? We’ve all suffered through office chairs with poor back support and a wonky wheel or broken armrest. One of the luxuries of having your own home office is never having to put up with these again! Investing in an office chair that offers reliable back support is a valuable purchase.
The Flexi-Chair BackSupport Office Chair BS1B, for example, offers a backrest with integrated lumbar-support, fully adjustable height and headrest support, and a padded seat with a breathable mesh for optimum comfort. If you’re looking for a splash of colour for your office, the Oka chair offers some high design, along with excellent lumbar and graduated posture support.
A comfortable, sustainable working space is essential to regulating stress, increasing your productivity, and allowing you to enjoy a successful working life. Take the time to find exactly what works for you.
Create A Space That Moves With You
Whilst it’s important to have a designated working space from home, allowing some flexibility can enable you to work reactively and collaboratively, or adapt as needed to new working situations. If you suddenly need a different space to present a meeting over Zoom or Teams, for instance, being able to alter your desk can be a great help.
Consider adapting your desk and chair with casters, if they don’t already have them, or investing in standing workstation mats if you’re entering into a period of prolonged standing work. Monitor mounts can be another excellent desk hack, allowing full range of motion and maximum viewing flexibility.
Incentivise Yourself To Take Time Out
Having created an optimum workspace, it’s also crucial you create incentives within your space to allow you to take breaks for a cup of coffee, a breath of fresh air, and time away from your desk.
Perhaps a comfortable chair to relax in with a good read on your lunch break is the reset you need for the afternoon. Or would the option of adding a little exercise into your day energise you and lift your mood, ready for the projects ahead? The Cycle Desk Bike V9 Pro, or Sit2Go 2-in-1 Fitness Chair, could be an absolute game-changer for you, not to mention the envy of friends still facing a chaotic daily commute. Now that’s a bonus, right?!
Time To Get Planning!
I know we’ve given you plenty of food for thought - and now is the perfect time to sit down and start piecing together your perfect home working office. Investing this time and planning could make this coming year your most productive yet, and we can’t wait to see what that brings for you. Remember, if you need any more advice, Flexispot is just a click or a call away.
