In the past, working from home would’ve been seen as a luxury and if you had a job that gave you the flexibility for home working, you’d be the envy of all your friends. However, in a post-pandemic world, it is now becoming the norm. The common trend for some industries is working from home as a standard option and there is a lot more opportunity for you to carry out your work in a way that suits you best. Whether that’s from home, in the office or a bit of both.
There are many pros and cons of working from home, but it comes down to personal preference and whether you have the room and right equipment for a successful work setup.
So, how do you create the perfect home office setup? Let’s take a look at this now.
Dedicated working space
This is not always possible as you may not have the space to dedicate a whole room for your workspace. Just a corner of a room to fit your desk is also effective. An important thing is to try and make sure you are separate from other members of your household and away from distractions – obviously, this is not always possible.
Ideally, a small room with enough space for a desk and equipment is best, so you can close the door to enable concentration and keep your work/home life balance. Alternatively, if you don’t have the space, investing in some good noise-cancelling headphones can do wonders for being able to concentrate.
Good internet speed
For most people, working from home is only possible if you have a good connection to the internet. Have you ever been in the middle of a meeting, writing up a report and your internet has dropped out? This can be incredibly frustrating and can have an impact on your day-to-day work life.
To support general browsing and working throughout the day, a good internet speed should be 25Mbps. There are many different websites where you can test your website speed – such as fast.com.
If your internet speed is lower than 25Mbps, then contact your internet provider and see how they can improve it. If you can connect your device to a router via an ethernet cable, this will provide a faster connection than working over Wi-Fi.
Alternatively, connecting over 4G/5G could be an option, depending on your location. A common thing is for people to hotspot from their phone, however, if you speak to your phone provider, you may be able to get a Wi-Fi dongle and add a data sim that will give you a separate connection.
Supportive comfortable chair
If you can avoid working off the dining room chair or the sofa, having a reliable comfy chair will make the world of difference. Office workers sit down on their chairs for a prolonged amount of time, this can cause a lot of strain and even injury over time. Some chairs do not encourage the right posture and comfort. It is important to spend time researching and finding an adjustable chair that suits you. Discover more about picking the best home office chair in (our client and experts on this topic) Posture People’s blog here.
Along with a comfortable chair comes the right desk height…
The right desk height
It can be difficult to know which desk is right and provides the best comfort for you. Standard office desks have a height of 73cm, therefore when purchasing a desk, make sure this is the minimum height. Another thing to take into consideration is your height, as this is a huge factor in whether the desk will be comfortable for you. If you are shorter, it is recommended to use a footrest. Anyone taller than 6ft should consider having a slightly higher desk.
Having a stand-up desk is very beneficial for your health if you have the space.
You can read more about choosing a suitable desk here.
Right monitor height
Incorporating the right desk and chair, you also need to make sure you have the right monitor/monitors height too. A large monitor (or two) is recommended to make it more productive when working. It all comes down to preference on which screen size you require, but you can get good high-quality 25-27 inch monitors for a decent price.
When sitting down, your monitor should line up so you look straight ahead. The purpose of this is so your eyes are 25%-30% below the screen and you don’t hunch your back – avoiding strain and injury.
Other equipment
Having access to all tools and equipment is essential for a seamless working-from-home experience. Allowing for a bit more flexibility, a wireless keyboard and mouse will allow you to move around a bit more and keep things tidy.
As we have previously mentioned, if you work in a shared space and there is a lot of background noise, then a noise cancelling headset is something we strongly recommend as it’s good for concentration and it’s good when the dog is barking and kids are off school.
If you use a laptop, a docking station is great – especially for hybrid workers, you can easily plug and unplug to your setup without any hassle. This is also essential if you want to work with external monitors as most modern laptops don’t come with enough ports to connect them to.
No matter where you are working, being productive and successfully completing tasks will only work if you have the right equipment and technology to support you. If you would like to discuss ways to improve your work setup, contact us now and speak to one of our technical experts – they would love to help you. Call 01273 806211 or email [email protected].
