How To Set Up The Perfect Home Office

Many businesses now allow or even insist that their employees work from home, which means that, if you are one of those employees (or if you run your own business and don’t want the expense of business premises), you need to have a home office. Simply sitting at a dining table or kitchen counter on a chair that is convenient but uncomfortable is not how a home office should be. You need to take time to think through what you really need and get it right before you start to work. With that in mind, here are some of the ideas you need to take into consideration.

• Lighting

No matter what time of day is best for you to work, you are going to need the right kind of lighting to help you work as well as possible. Natural light is the best way to light any room, especially a home office where productivity and the ability to concentrate will be improved with the addition of sunlight. However, not all rooms can benefit in this way. There might be no windows, for example. In this case, you could consider a daylight lamp. This mimics the effects of daylight, giving you the best chance of working as well as possible.

Whatever you choose, the lighting needs to be enough so that you can see without straining your eyes, but not so bright that it will give you a headache.

• Desk

The first thing you might think of when setting up a home office is the desk you are going to use. It is a hugely important part of the room because this is where you are going to be spending the majority of your time! The desk needs to be the right height and big enough to fit everything you need on it, while also fitting into the room without taking up all the space (you’ll feel cramped and uncomfortable if this happens).

However, not everyone feels at their most productive at a desk, so if this is not the right kind of office furniture for your needs, don’t feel as though you need to buy one just because it might be expected in a home office. If you do work better from a couch, for example, then a couch is what you are going to need.

• Chair

Perhaps even more critical than your desk is the chair that goes with it. Having a chair that will support your back, neck, shoulders, and hips means you can be more comfortable for longer, and in turn, you will be more productive. The term used for a chair like this is ‘ergonomic,’ and it is what you need if you want to do your best work and be safe and comfortable too. Something like the Wobble Chair, which is designed for exactly this reason, would be ideal.

• Personal Items

Although it’s true that your office space needs to be a professional place within your home, that doesn’t mean that you can’t have personal items dotted around the room. A family photo on your desk, kids’ drawings on the wall, prizes and decorations and objects that you have collected during your lifetime. All of these things can actually make your office a better space to be in. If you surround yourself with things that make you happy, you will work harder because they will be a constant reminder of why you are doing what you do.