Nowadays, working from home – and that too via an ergonomic home workstation is a very convenient thing to do if you want to save your time and comfort. To begin with, you don’t have to waste time commuting.
Also, you are able to work from the comfort of your own home –without anyone bothering you. You can pick your own chair, your own desk, your own spot to work in – simply put, you can arrange your office in whichever way you see fit.
However, you can’t just randomly place a few office items here and there and hope that they will work for you. You have to arrange everything properly and decorate it accordingly to ensure that your productivity is enhanced. Here are a few tips for you to make that happen.
1. Choose a Good Desk
Your desk will likely be the main workspace in your home office. You don’t have to go for anything fancy – but you do need to go for something of an appropriate height to ensure that you maintain a correct back position.
The ideal desk should allow you to type with your arms approximately parallel to the floor, and your legs comfortably fitting under your desk. Avoid desks that have big shelves installed. The extra storage space is not worth sacrificing your long-term comfort.
For better productivity , you may want to go for an adjustable-height desk for an ideal home workstation. This way, you can turn it from regular to standing – which means you will not have to interrupt your activity simply because you wanted to stretch your legs.
2. Get an Ergonomic Chair
Once you pick your desk, the chair should be the next thing to focus your attention on. Since you will probably be sitting in that chair for quite a long time, you need to ensure that it’s ergonomic enough to provide you the comfort that you need.
If it’s uncomfortable, you will waste a lot of time getting up, trying to make yourself feel better.
Look for an adjustable chair that allows you to keep your feet flat on the floor, and properly adjusted armrests to ensure that your shoulders are not hunched. Lumbar support is also mandatory, as it protects your back through working long hours.
3. Keep Your Desk Organized
No matter if you are a minimalist who likes as little clutter on the desk as possible or you like to be surrounded by your paperwork, you still need to ensure that the place is as organized as possible.
According to Forbes, about 57% of the people working through a home workstation believe that the productivity of their work correlates directly with how tidy their office is.
In the end, if your desk and office are messy, you will also be messy. Clutter is also responsible for undermining motivation and productivity, which is why you need to ensure that your office is clear of it.
4. Go for a High-Speed Internet Connection
How many times have you felt your productivity lowering simply because your brain tends to work faster than your Internet connection can? Not only will the lag time slow you down, but it also gives you the perfect window to be distracted by something around you .
A slow Internet connection is not only highly frustrating, but it can also reduce your productivity. While you are waiting for the attached files to transfer, download, or for the web pages to load, you could be doing something more productive.
People waste about a week every year simply waiting for their Internet connection to work – and you can imagine how much work you could have done during this period. You could have used that time to go on a trip, making money while overlanding with a good Internet connection.
5. Keep Distractions Away
You can’t do anything about the temptation of the Internet (unless you install some software that blocks access to social media), but you can take away all the other temptations . Make sure that aside from your work tools, there isn’t anything else in the room that you can be distracted by.
Ideally, when setting your home workstation, you should ensure that you place it in a room with no TV – and also, no refrigerator. When you become aware of the food next to you just waiting to be eaten, your productivity is bound to take a hit.
6. Set Proper Lighting In Your Home Workstation
The lighting quality in your home office can greatly affect the productivity of your work. If the lighting is done poorly (no matter if it’s too dim or too harsh), it can lead to eye strain, fatigue, and stress. This applies even more if you are using fluorescent lights, as it can be rather harsh on the eyes.
To ensure that productivity is increased as much as possible, you should arrange your room to allow natural light to come in.
If you can’t do anything about the actual size of the windows, try maximizing the existent light with mirrors and other tools that can reflect light. If you have control over what room to use as your home office, go for the one that gets the most natural lighting possible.
Make sure that the lighting sources are also positioned correctly. You may want the light to be uniform so that you can work without squinting. You should also make sure that the lighting is not causing any glare to your monitor.
In this regard, you might want to avoid sitting with your back to the window unless you have some curtains that can shade them. Also, don’t face it straight either, because you will only end up tiring your eyes .
7. Deal With the Noise and Sound at Your Home Workstation
You may think that sound and noise are the same, but here’s a news flash: they aren’t. You have good sound, and then you have noise. Noise is the kind of sound that distracts you from your daily work. At the office, it might be the constant typing and chatting of your co-workers – and at home, it might be the constant barking of your neighbor’s dog.
While it might be difficult to drown the noise while you are working, investing in a good pair of noise-canceling headphones can be quite helpful. If you can’t stand pure quiet, you should pair the headphones with good sounds such as nature sounds and ambient music to increase your productivity.
Final Thoughts About Setting Up an Awesome Home Workstation
Setting the perfect home workstation involves more than finding the right spot on the couch to sit with your laptop.
Still, it’s not that difficult of a task either. It’s just a matter of arranging furniture and removing distractions so that you may remain productive throughout the day.
The post How to Set Up Your Home Workstation: 7 Tips for Productivity appeared first on Productivity Land .