Working from Home 101: Your Guide to a Better Home Office Setup

The pandemic has rocked up our world and has brought about significant changes in our lifestyle. While the outbreak has been most detrimental to our society, a silver lining among the murky clouds in the way, the pandemic has influenced our work culture.

Amid the uncertainty, an unexpected number of companies moved their operations to work remotely. As a great number of employees logged in to their office devices from their homes, their productivity was unexpectedly high, which helped strengthen the faith of the senior management in a work from home setup.

While most of us are already pros at work-from-home, we cannot ignore the idea that there’s always room for improvement. Whether you already work remotely year-round or have been forced to for the anticipated future, there are a few things you can do to make your home setup more productive and pleasant. From the essential devices, you need to get things done to the subtlety that keeps everything running smoothly, these items will help keep you in flow.

Wi-Fi and Connectivity

For the "WFH generation," Wi-Fi networks are more important than ever. And honestly – they've already got enough to be stressed about. The last thing we need is an internet connection that isn't up to snuff.

And yet, that's exactly the problem most of us are dealing with. In fact, the mobile and internet plan-tracking website Whistle Out examined hundreds of users who had recently transitioned to working from home and learned that more than a third complained that a poor or non-existent internet connection had prevented them from getting things done.

The best way to avoid that is to make sure you have a solid internet and Wi-Fi connection. You happen to work from a one-bedroom residence or a studio, a single router equipped with multiple antennas should do the work and easily blanket your living room and working space with a steady wireless connection. Among our top suggestions for mid-priced routers for this area are D-Link DIR-867 and Asus RT-AC66U B1. Both should provide sufficient coverage throughout a moderate-sized space without excessive mesh access points around.

For home-workers with known issues, dead spots, and a bigger home, however, a wireless mesh system can remove that frustration. It will certainly cost you more than one router, however, it shouldn't be any harder to install.

Desk and Workspace Solutions

Working from home isn't really a vacation, despite how much you may feel like it sometimes. That said, it's a smart move to work at a table or desk as you might at the office, but not everyone has one at home or neither enjoys a normal or a standing desk. Why not choose a lap desk, then? One which can help you stay comfortable and focus. Goodbye lounging in bed or on the couch, a lap desk will accommodate your mouse and other office essentials in an upright position. Given their name, laptops aren't the best when used on your lap all day.

The added advantage of an averaged sized lap desk is being able to store it under the bed or in the closet when you're not working from home. Most lap desks should be light and portable so you can carry them from one room to another throughout the day.

Comfort and Ergonomics are Key

Find your computer chair; it really pays to invest in a quality chair to protect and prevent long term injury. And an important reason to choose an ergonomic solution is that they are explicitly designed to offer lumbar support, whereas regular chairs are not. It might sound counterintuitive, but it's still an important feature that should be a top priority when choosing your chair.

Since you've been out and about to switch to a healthier chair, most likely, you've heard about perching. Thanks to the leaning chairs we sell as Ergo Impact, you can work from a perched posture, ensuring your pelvis is tilted slightly forward, opening both the chest and hips, and enabling a more neutral posture.

Since perching isn't considered a full sit yet not quite a full stand, science people consider it the happy space between standing and sitting.

A healthier desktop solution: Standing Desk Extenders

For a healthier back, better mood, and less stress, consider an adjustable desk. The issue with sitting at a desk and working constantly is that it adds to the sedentary lifestyle, which is negatively affecting our health.

Our body wasn't designed to sit, and the long-term aftereffects involve bad posture and even back and spine injury. According to the WHO, sedentary people are more at risk of developing non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

Natural Lighting and Plants

Natural light is imperative for home-workers, so make sure you have access to natural light in your room. One of the best ways to do this while also keeping your office roomy is to place your desk in front of a window. Even studies have shown that being exposed to natural light has multiple benefits, including increased productivity.

For example, natural light constricts our pupils, which boosts our eyes' function and reading ability. The thing is that our eyes aren't exactly meant to work at their full capacity with artificial light, but rather under full-spectrum light. This means that exposing our eyes to natural light can help improve our vision and productivity.

One study done by Northwestern University's neuroscience department proved that there's a strong connection between daylight exposure in the workplace, mental health, quality of sleep, productivity, visual acuity, and physical health.

As for plants, they not only aesthetically improve your new office but will maintain a fresh vibe altogether.

Having a few plants around your office will allow fresh air, refocuses energy, manage stress, and exhibit a therapeutic experience. One studied conducted shows that having indoor plants in your office can increase productivity by 15%.

There you have it, a small guide to a better work-from-home setup for boosted productivity. Since we're all caught up in our pajamas, we might as well start setting up a working space that pays.