This guide outlines several ideas for the perfect home office setup for busy professionals and entrepreneurs.
A home office can sometimes be seen as an indulgence. Somewhere you can comfortably retire to when needing to work on projects of somewhat relevant importance, but certainly not a place you’d occupy if you had to get any real done, or communicate with anyone important in your field.
Then, when the pandemic hit, this all changed. All of a sudden, home offices became accepted more and more as a place where you could exercise the fullest extent of your professional capability, no matter how high on the ladder you were. Furthermore, those that have made businesses from running their own consulting firms, online platforms, and home enterprises know the value of constructing a worthwhile home office, and have plenty of insight to offer.
It’s important to keep that in mind, because taking the time to achieve a home office as more than just a desk and a computer with a somewhat sit-able chair is not necessarily good enough. It’s important to think of the range of professional sources you need each day, and what your daily working schedule can do for a specifically-designed home office. Let’s consider some of that advice, below:
Ideas for a great home office setup
Ergonomic Furniture
Ergonomic furniture is always important to get right for your home office setup if you’re sitting down for long periods. This might sound obvious, but many people choose to opt for cheap furniture they can pick up and sit on for some time, but the truth is, this can hurt your posture, your back, and your working productivity due to slouching.
A more expensive chair can be an investment, but it will also help your health in the long run. This means that sitting for long periods won’t cause pinches in the back or pain in your legs, while allowing you to move around a range of sitting positions over the course of one day. It’s no wonder why this is considered such as useful idea. The most popular companies for these types of office furniture include Steelcase and Herman Miller. Your milage may vary.
Excellent Desks
Desks are now included in the term ‘ergonomic furniture,’ thanks to a range of adjustable standing devices you can now purchase for a reasonable price. Sitting over time can have limiting effects on our bodies, which is why being able to stand up during some hours of the day can be so fruitful and helpful.
With a desk that you can bring up and enjoy working from in your home office setup, or installing a shaped option, such as an L-shaped desk within the corner of an environment, you’re much more likely to flourish and feel comfortable there, with plenty of storage space for documents, monitors, keyboards, and specialist office equipment if you need it.
Amazing Shelving
Any cutting-edge professional will often have a plethora of files, documents, books and other printed material in their home office setup. Sure, much of this is being digitized to the cloud, but a range of resources such as books on your industry, memoirs, and other insightful retellings can help you keep your place at the top of your field, and also decorate a working space in the best possible way.
For that though, you’re going to need proper shelving units that work for the space. But why install any old shelving unit when architectural shelving installations can be designed for the space in particular, crafting a perfect balance between lightly adorning the space and providing appropriate storage and decorative versatility within? We may have answered that question for you.
Privacy & Light Levels
Of course, most people work best when they’re able to work in a focused, undistracted manner. You’ll no doubt feel the same. This means that ensuring a basis of privacy is key towards enjoying your time in front of the desk, or avoiding people looking in through your first-floor window.
A good set of blinds can do the trick here, wooden, and fitting with the rest of the space. A good door you can lock will help you divide family and working time as appropriate. Installing a good overhead lighting fixture and desk lamp will also work wonders – because it will give you the chance of illuminating you well during video calls and also preventing headaches that may otherwise come from working in low-light conditions.
Sound Proofing
While sound proofing may not be necessary for every home office setup, a small excluder next to the door can help you avoid being distracted by the movements of those in your house. Additionally, foam placements on the wall can prevent your voice from echoing in a larger room, which is fantastic for keeping your voice clear during those long conference meetings remotely.
Tips for working better in a home office setup
Keep the door closed to avoid noise
An office of your own, in which you can lock the door and not be disturbed, is essential, especially for those who work with videos , lectures and training recorded in their home office. In addition to the closed door preventing someone from ruining a recording or even a live broadcast, also think about investing in soundproof windows. Thus, it will be possible to record your contents with much more tranquility and confidence.
Invest in virtual tools
We’re talking about setting up a home office, but don’t forget that inside your machines and laptops there is a whole virtual world that will help you become more productive. They are software and tools of the most diverse types, from task management and business management, CRM, digital marketing, video editing and many others. Best of all, many of these tools are free. We separate these tips from some of them:
- Tools with free versions to set up a home office:
- Team and Project Management: Trello and Asana
- Financial: QuickBooks ZeroPaper and Bkper
- CRM: Agendor and Hubspot CRM
- Email marketing: MailChimp and SendGrid
- Scheduling Social Media Posts: Buffer and Hootsuite
- Video Editing: iMovie, Windows Movie Maker and Shotcut
Also don’t forget to have a good drive to store and share files. By the way, if you opt for Google Drive, you will have free text editing, spreadsheet and slideshow software as well.
Have a kitchen timer
No, we are not referring to digital entrepreneurs who stream recipes and need one of these devices during preparation. This is to use the Pomodoro Technique, which means tomato, in Italian, and was inspired by one of these tomato-shaped timers .
The idea is to set the timer to set 25 minutes during which you are fully focused on your task, not answering your cell phone or reading an email. After that period, set the timer to 5 minutes and check your emails, messages on your cell phone or take that walk on social media you wanted. After the deadline, come back for another 25 minutes of focused work.
Every 2 hours (4 cycles of 25 + 5 minutes), set the timer for half an hour of “rest”, dealing with more complicated emails or even getting distracted, with a book, for example, or listening to a podcast of yours. interest. If you prefer, you can already set an alarm clock to ring at all these times. This saves you from wasting time setting the timer every 25 minutes.
Summary
With this advice, you’re sure to design the perfect home office for your cutting-edge professional needs.
