By Sally Norton
One of the effects of COVID-19 is that a lot of people were forced to work from home. For the people who already worked from home, this was hardly a noteworthy change. But, for the people who previously worked in offices, working from home presented quite a challenge.
So, seeing that COVID-19 is going to stay with us for a while, we are going to take a closer look at how to go about setting up a home office during COVID-19. Hopefully, the tips we’ll give you should help you make the most out of home quarantine.
What to keep in mind about setting up a home office during COVID-19
To properly help you with setting up a home office during COVID-19, we are going to assume that this is your first time working from home.
Sure, you may have tackled a project or two before. But, for all intentions and purposes, daily work from the comfort of your home is something that you are unfamiliar with. So, with this in mind, here is how to approach it.
Do get dazzled with comfort
People that don’t work from home sometimes have an idealized notion of how it actually plays out. Sure, the fact that you don’t have to struggle with traffic or makeup sure sounds nice.
But, there are numerous issues that you need to either avoid or tackle in order to properly function in a home office. So, we would first advise you to keep doing what you already are, which is to keep on researching what working from home is all about.
Do not go overboard
Now, when it comes to setting up a home office during COVID-19, the first tip we have for you is to not go overboard. A newcomer to working from home will see their home office as if it is full of potential. There are no bosses here to tell you what you can and cannot put in your office. And you have no clients to entertain.
So, you should use this freedom to decorate your office as much as possible, right? Wrong. A good tip is to start small. Get the bare minimum of office supplies that you need and work with that.
Grow as you go along
The main reason to start small is to avoid clutter. Home offices are notorious for being cluttered up with useless items. And, while you can always hire a storage company to declutter your home that will even help you speed up the packing process with ease, it is usually best that you avoid clutter altogether.
It can be surprisingly hard to pinpoint which items you need and which ones you don’t if you are surrounded by a ton of them. So, the better course of action is to start small and then slowly grow. Incorporate necessary items once the need for them arises. That way you’ll be able to monitor your home office and save it form becoming cluttered.
Making your home office more productive
Now that you have the right mindset to start small and slowly build-up, we need to go over some home office design tips. Right off the bet, we should note that there is no such thing as a perfect home office. Every person enjoys a different working area, which is why no single home office can be suitable for everyone. Instead, every home office worker needs to develop their office to fit their work and their temperament.
So, the following tips should only serve as a guideline on how to orient your office. And you shouldn’t shy away from altering or outright ignoring them if you feel that a different approach to home office design makes you more productive.
Proper lighting
The first thing we advise you to tackle when setting up a home office during COVID-19 is the lighting. Every productive home office has plenty of light so that it encourages awareness and concentration. To tackle it properly you need to consider:
· Natural light and how to functions with the items in your home office.
· Blue light is necessary for focus and concentration.
· Yellow light is necessary for a more natural feel and a relaxed atmosphere.
Home office workers that manage to do most of their work during the day often note how this is essential for staying healthy. And, if we take things like exposure to sun and sleep cycles into account, they surely have a point. Unfortunately, a substantial number of home office workers work in the evening or at night.
And for them, it is absolutely vital that they organize the lighting in their home office so that it suits their needs. Blue light is necessary if you want to stay awake and alert. While yellow light is more suited when working on a computer and you don’t want to sit in the dark.
Ergonomic furniture
Getting ergonomic furniture is the smartest investment you can make when setting up a home office during COVID-19. Even though your kitchen table and chair seem comfortable enough, they are far from suitable for working long hours.
So, if you want to avoid chronic back pain get quality, ergonomic office furniture.
Final thoughts about working from home during COVID-19
Even though a lot of people are hoping that COVID-19 is almost but gone, the actually is that it is going to stay. What we are experiencing now is merely the first wave.
And, if the Spanish Flu, the Asian Flu, and the Hong Kong flu can teach us anything, it’s that these flues like pandemics have at least three. So, even if you are going to go back to your regular office soon, except that you’ll be forced to work from home again.
Our advice is to use the situation to learn both about yourself and about working from home. Know that if you tackle it properly, you might even grow to like it.
