So, the pandemic has been shall we say a bit of a downer! But one positive has come out of it! And that is that more businesses are seeing the benefits of allowing employees to work from home and the employees are gaining a little more ‘work-life balance’. That work-life balance can be great, but with the rush for everyone to work from home, some people would have found themselves lacking a proper working environment!

Here are our top tips and ideas on creating the ideal home office setup.
First up avoid using the kitchen, kitchens tend to be high traffic areas in the home, and you’ll quickly get distracted by other members of your household wondering in for a snack or drink. Even if you live alone, the temptation to make another cuppa or raid the fridge is also likely to make the kitchen unsuitable.

Space can be limited for some, and not everyone has a spare room they can convert into an office. In these situations, our advice would be to find a room that you can quickly and easily transform from a living space to an office and back again so that it has a multi-purpose function. A bedroom usually works best as during the day they aren’t utilised as much as sitting rooms and dining spaces. However, if you do have space, try to dedicate a room that becomes ‘your office’. A designated office will provide a more productive day, and at the end of it, you are able to shut the door and ‘leave’ work, in the same way, you would when leaving the office.

Planning
Step one in creating your workspace is to PLAN an office that will make you happy. If your office or workspace is inviting you’re more likely to want to use it and your productivity will in return grow. Think about the layout of the space, lighting and personal items that you’d like in your office to make it your “happy place’.

Lighting
Ideally choose a room that has as much natural light as possible. Natural light is proven to help improve mood, which in turn makes for a better working environment. You may also want to look into window blinds or coverings and ceiling facing lampshades as sunlight and overhead lights can cause glare on screens which could hinder work, especially when it comes to video calls.

Ventilation
If you can open a window regularly this is ideal, as there’s nothing like fresh air to refresh the mind and blow away the cobwebs

Communication
Most office work tends to involve phone calls or participating in video/conference calls; Ideally you want your office to be as quiet as possible and have the right acoustics. If your finding your room is too noisy or you can hear echoes, you may want to look into solutions like acoustic panels or soundproofing. Alternative you could invest in a headset that will help eliminate background noise while on calls

When it comes to video conferencing, ideally, you want your background to be uncluttered and appear professional, those photos of you in Ibiza in 1995 probably should go somewhere else in the home! Lighting can be troublesome for video conferencing so make sure you check before joining a call that you haven’t plummeted into shadow.

Throw in some plants!
There’s a host of studies which have identified the benefits of indoor plants in reducing stress levels, cleaning the air, a reduction in sickness and enhancing creativity!

Office chairs
Your office chair will be one of the most important purchases and one to spend some time on getting right as it will impact your posture and getting it wrong could lead to back aches and neck strain.

Desk

Ideally, you want a desk that is at least one metre in width and 600mm deep. What style you pick is down to you, but you do want to ensure the desk is big enough and at a comfortable height.

When positioning your desk avoid sitting opposite a window as it will become distracting and the sunlight will become bothersome at different points throughout the day.

If you have a relatively ample office space, a comfortable chair or even a small sofa allows you to have another place to take calls or read but where possible keep furniture to a minimum.

Technology
Most home broadband is usually comparable to that of company’s offices. However, if yours is not fast enough, this will undoubtedly become frustrating at best, and unworkable at worst! There are some things you can try to help this, such as bringing the hub closer to your home office or by using a signal booster.

If this still doesn’t resolve your wi-fi issues, you may need to consider running an ethernet cable connection to the office space. This will maximise download and upload speeds and ensure consistency of signal, which is extremely important particularly if you are participating in video/conference calls.

Most people nowadays have a work laptop, but it is worth considering a bigger monitor , this will help to position the screen at a more ergonomically suitable height and help reduce eye strain especially in those doing detailed work on design or spreadsheets programs.

Your home office is likely to be a place where you will spend a lot of your time; it’s essential to ensure you set yourself up for success. Ultimately it should become a comfortable, productive environment. keeping it clean and tidy as well as changing the layout occasionally, by moving your desk or other items of furniture around the room will help ensure the space feels inviting and continues to remain a productive environment and a “Happy place”