As a result of the recent global pandemic, working from home has become more common than it ever has been.
Now that we all have more experience working from home employers and employees alike have realized that there are not many things that you cannot do from home for many jobs.
As a result, people have settled more and more into a working-from-home lifestyle and will avoid having to go back to the office if they can help it.
Many people started off working from their kitchen table, or a desk in a bedroom, and some even inside a closet or cupboard. But many are now starting to establish semi-permanent working-from-home spaces, or at least dual-purpose spaces, that can be used for work and other domestic uses.
If you’re going to be spending 8 hours a day in a certain part of your house you want to make that area as pleasant as possible. If you hate your workspace it is going to be harder to motivate yourself to be there for long periods, so it’s important to do everything you can to make this space both practical and pleasant.
There are many things you can do to transform a workspace and make it into a productive oasis. In this article, we list numerous suggestions you can consider.
Table of Contents
Coffee Machine
A defining feature of any good office space is the quality of the coffee. It’s one of the most talked about aspects of any workplace kitchen and defines whether people can stay in the office or need to venture out to get their caffeine fix.
In your new home office environment, you may well have a kitchen already that has a great coffee machine. If that’s the case then that is great. But if you haven’t yet invested in a decent coffee machine it’s a good idea to get one for your new home office environment.
You may opt for a simple pod machine that you can sit on your desk or somewhere nearby so you don’t need to leave the room. Or you may opt for a more serious machine that has the ability to froth milk and slow brew the coffee.
Either way, make sure your home office environment has got a ready source of high-quality coffee to keep you alert and on task.
Desk Water Feature
When you work in a traditional office there is a gentle hum of productivity and other office noise that you become used to that serves as a kind of background noise. When you are in your home office environment you may not have the same noise.
If your home office environment is too quiet it could actually be distracting for you. Given this, it can be useful to find an alternative source of noise to have in the background.
If you find the sound of flowing water or trickling water to be therapeutic and peaceful then you could consider a small desk water feature that you could turn on when you are working to help distinguish between work time and relaxation time.
These water features are quite cheap, and you put them on your desk, plug them into a power source, then add a small amount of water which is continually recirculated through the water feature.
Light Shade
To minimize the strain on your eyes it is important to have a good quantity of light in your workspace. In addition to the quantity of light, you could consider adding a decorative light shade to add to the ambiance of your workspace.
There are many different light shades you could consider from a simple glass covering, to a bamboo pendant.
There are thousands of different light shades available so choose one which gives you a feeling of peace that will enhance your productivity.
Hydroponic Garden
Many home workers have taken the opportunity to combine their workspace with a more practical gardening purpose. By setting up indoor hydroponic gardens in their workspace they not only get the pleasant aura of the greenery in their room but they can keep an eye on their garden at the same time.
The lighting involved in hydroponic gardening also increases the light for the space, and then you get the nice smell of the soil and the greenery in the air as well. There are many analogies that can be drawn between plant growing and productivity so it is a great thematic addition to the modern work-from-home space.
Floor Rug
Adding a rug or mat to your floor can make a surprisingly large difference. Whether you opt for a carpet rug or another type of rug there are so many different things you can do from both a color and texture perspective.
If you have a hardwood floor then the addition of a floor rug can also minimize the amount of echo and reverb you have in the room. If you do a lot of online meetings or a lot of phone calls, a floor rug can have a fantastic impact on the acoustic qualities of your home office space as well.
Stand Up Desk
Spending long amounts of time sitting down is not good for the human body. We evolved as active creatures that spent most of our day on their feet walking around and doing things. So spending eight hours a day sitting down, five days a week can have a cumulative negative impact on your body.
Stand-up desks are a great way to help you reduce the amount of time you are sitting whilst still providing good access to your workspace.
They not only help you stay working while on your feet but many people find they are actually more productive when standing up and it uses more calories due to the increased muscle use.
Stand-up desks can be configured to have multiple preset heights so you can have a sitting-down height and a standing height. Most people do not stand up all day but even trying to stand up for half the day or even a quarter of the day can have a very positive impact on both your body and your productivity.
Ergonomic Chair
Even if you do get a stand-up desk you will still be sitting down for many hours each day at home. when you first started working from home you most likely started using a kitchen chair or an office chair that you had to use for small periods of time.
But if you’re going to be spending long periods of time at home working for the foreseeable future then it would be wise to invest in an ergonomic supportive office chair.
Even though they can be quite expensive you are likely to save this much money on medical, physio, and chiropractor bills in getting adjustments and support to undo the damage caused by sitting down for long periods of time.
Inspirational Quote
If there’s a particular quote that inspires you or encourages you to be productive then you could consider getting this quote printed or finding a version of it already available as a poster and then hanging it in your office space.
Final Thoughts
If you’re going to spend 40 hours a week in your home office, then it makes sense to spend the time and a little bit of money to make it a very pleasant and productive space for you to be.
Even on a tight budget, there are many things you can do, for little to no money to transform your working environment.
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