A home office can be a wonderful addition to any home. Home offices allow people to work remotely in comfort. A home office can take the obvious distractions of life and push them away. The modern home office is a productive and attractive location in the home that lets anyone get their work done.
Setting up a home office doesn’t need to be particularly difficult. Getting one working at optimal efficiency can be another story altogether. It’s very easy to set up an office at home that encourages you to never manage to finish your work in the time allotted. The best option for one person isn’t necessarily the best option for another home office. If you want to set up the perfect home office, get everything you need to set it up, then follow our tips for setting up your office.
Items Required
There’s quite a few things that you need to set up a home office. Long gone are the days when you could stack a plywood sheet across some cinder blocks and run a phone line into a room and then call it an office. A home office needs to provide a sense of calm. The most important aspects of a home office include:
- Desk - Most people using a home office are working from a computer these days. Even if you’re not, then you’re probably doing something that will require an open space to organize and allow yourself to work. The desk tends to be the center of it all. Standing desks are becoming more popular at home as well.
- Chair - Not just any chair will work. Ask anyone who’s had to use a dining chair at a desk for an extended time how their back is feeling. The response is not likely to be good. A good home office chair should be ergonomically correct and set to the right height. This should go in tandem with the desk.
- Internet Access -This is usually not an issue, as most homes have internet access at this point. The key is to make sure that the access in the office is strong. In some cases, wifi may be weaker in certain areas of the home and need a boost.
- Computer and Monitors - Many home offices have moved from simple to complex. Many may feature between two and four computer monitors now. This can make multitasking so much easier. A home office computer needs to be powerful for any task that can be asked of it. Many people still like desktop computers for their home office, since it’s not going anywhere. Others prefer the versatility of laptops.
- Lighting - Don’t underestimate how important lighting is to a home office. This can also mean good blinds or drapes so that you're not dealing with powerful glare from the sun. Proper lighting helps eyes that are focused on computer monitors all day long.
- Storage and Safety - This actually accounts for several different items. Backup drives can properly store data to ensure no serious losses occur in the case of hardware malfunction. The same can be said of a basic file cabinet to keep paper copies. A fireproof safe can help as well. Surge protectors will provide safety to all the electronics plugged in.
Tips for Home Office Setup
Setting up a home office can be tricky. The best case scenario is having an entire room that can be dedicated to being the office. However, in many apartments and houses this just isn’t the case. If sharing the room with other aspects, point the desk away from televisions, beds or kitchen appliances. Minimize other aspects of life to stay on task.
The hardest thing about a home office is the potential for distractions. If you have children, you know they are often running in to talk about something or other while you’re trying to work. If not, there’s still television, books and the internet beckoning to take up your time instead. Minimize potential distractions by keeping it completely professional. Even the personal items you might keep at a desk at work should be moved out.
A couple of plants can make a home office far less frustrating. Many people consider home offices boring locations and tough to be in for long periods of time. By adding a couple of plants flanking your desk, you’re giving yourself just enough of a taste of the outdoors to make it through the day.