How to Improve Your Home Office in 2021
For many people in the UK, working from home has become the ‘new normal’ since the COVID-19 outbreak forced us into the first lockdown back in March last year. As we enter the most recent shutdown, thousands of employees are working from a makeshift home office.
While the vaccines have given us hope that life can begin to regain some normality in the near future, our home offices are set to stay for a little while longer. With that in mind, it’s important that you have the best equipment and setup to help you stay productive.
Here’s our guide on how to set up your home office for maximum productivity and comfort.
Home Furniture
Having a place to work that’s separate from where you spend the rest of your day is mentally important, as it helps you to switch off from the working day a lot easier. If you’re logging into work from your living room sofa or dining room table, the chances are this currently isn’t happening.
Consider purchasing a small desk and office chair, and find a space in a room you won’t want to relax or eat in when the working day is finished. This won’t only help you keep a positive mindset towards working from home.
Try placing your new office space close to a window if you can, as natural light has been shown to increase productivity. If this isn’t possible, a mirror above your desk can create the same effect.
Equipment & Devices
You probably own a laptop or desktop computer at home, but it’s no use to you if it’s old, slow and ruining your productivity. Whilst it may sound like an expensive purchase, a new laptop or desktop will pay for itself if it helps you be more productive.
Sometimes however, the size of your screen can be an issue. If you’ve been straining at your screen or struggling to comfortably fit tabs, documents and spreadsheets on one page, consider a new monitor. Don’t go overboard on size however, as you don’t want it taking up too much space.
With office meetings being replaced by Zoom or other online conferencing programs, it’s imperative that you have a good quality camera and microphone. You need to be looking and sounding crystal clear to avoid any unnecessary interruptions. If you’re purchasing a new laptop, it’s likely you’ll have a good quality webcam and microphone built in.
Don’t forget the little things you take for granted back in the office such as stationery and a place to store files and documents. If you’ve personalised your workspace in the office with photos, a small plant, or novelty items, why not do the same at home? These small items will go a long way to making you feel more comfortable and at ease working from home.
Connection
If your broadband connection is poor, it could wreak havoc on your productivity when working from home. If you’re trying to upload files to the cloud, it will take an age, and you’ll most likely experience glitchy Zoom calls with colleagues and clients.
You may think an upgrade to faster speeds will be expensive, but it won’t break the bank as much as you think. It’s fairly easy to change providers too! You can use our price comparison checker at Broadbandmoneysaver.com to find a new fibre deal at a price that’s perfect for you.
If you’ve got decent internet speeds, but you’ve set up your home office in an area of your house that isn’t in close proximity to your Wi-fi router, consider purchasing a booster. This will do what the name suggests and ‘boost’ your signal, enabling you to have a stronger connection in the room you’re in.
Where to Order
As most shops are currently closed, the best way to improve your work environment at home is to order products online.
Amazon is probably the best option if you’re looking to efficiently purchase everything from one place. With just a quick search of their listed products, we managed to find these items:
This Essentials Mesh Office Chair for just £64.99
This Noblewell Foldable Desk for just £72.99
This BT Wi-fi Extender for just £36.00
This HD Webcam for just £25.98
As well as having great customer reviews, these products are eligible for Amazon's free shipping. This means you can make huge improvements to your work-space for under £200.
Argos have a section of their website dedicated to everything for your home office. We took a quick look, and found these great items!
This HP 24” Full HD Monitor for just £129.99
This Habitat Laptop Stand for just £20.00
This A4/A5/A6 File Tray Set for just £8.99
Whilst Argos do offer click and collect, we recommend using their home delivery until lockdown eases.
Have a search around on Google too, there are plenty of other options out there for furniture and electronics with home delivery available, such as Wayfair, IKEA, Currys and AO.
Whilst there may be downsides to remote-working, the best thing you can do is to give yourself the best home working environment possible. We hope this article will help you make that possible in these difficult times.
