How to Create a Perfect, Quiet, Calm Home Office

If you are working from home full time, or even just the occasional day when required, you need a good space to set up a desk. Not everyone has the luxury of a spare room or office desk, so how can you be comfortable and productive? In a perfect world, you’d have a spare office. One wall would be inspirational business books in intentionally haphazard shelving—your teleconference background. Then, you’d have an ergonomic desk, salubrious swivel chair, and it would be soundproofed to keep the kid’s noise to a dull roar. But, it doesn’t always happen like that. In fact, it never happens like that.

Where does the office go?

If you have a spare room, then that’s the obvious spot for your workstation. It’s rarely occupied, you can set it up how you like, and shut the door to the outside world when required. However, a spare bedroom or dedicated office is not something everyone has.

The main lounge area is good as there’s usually good lighting, it’s close to the router and close to snacking facilities. However, if there are others at home, it’s noisy, full of distractions and often chaos. You can’t leave things on the table and you definitely can’t have a conference call.

The bedroom is quieter, but it’s not great psychologically. Bedrooms are for sleeping. Adding an element of working/ computers to the space isn’t great for sleep patterns. 

If you have a warm climate, then a caravan outside could be good (a wifi repeater will be needed). Often a small nook is all you need, so find a cosy space, a nook in the corner out of the way somewhere.

Lighting

While you don’t need to go all-out on the lighting, you need to make the space usable. Facing a window can be difficult due to the brightness of the sun and having your back to a window can mean glare and reflection in your computer monitor.

Natural lighting is important to keep natural circadian rhythms so you sleep at night and stay awake during the day. Sunlight is important for productivity, mental health and physical health, so sitting in a darkened room with the curtains drawn is a bad idea. If your room is glaringly bright, consider installing a cheap glare-blocking blind so you can turn down the sun when required. 

If you work at night or the room is too dark, a desk lamp may be all you need to scare away the darkness and allow you enough light to work.

Internet

You need a high-speed internet for everything. It’s not just frustrating, but it hobbles your productivity levels as you attach files, wait for emails to send, upload, download, or try to join a call. It’s estimated that employees burn through an entire week every year, just waiting on their internet.

Find a high-speed service provider. It may mean you have to switch. Consider having a data stick for an opposition company, so if one fails, you have a backup. If your office is a long way from the main router, get a repeater. This means your signal isn’t a pathetic one bar that drops in and out, but a full-force strength connection that allows you to do what you need.

Power supply

Home offices can demand a lot of power points. Computers, printers, monitors, lamps, chargers, there’s no end to the tech. You need to invest in a high-quality multi-power plug with surge protection. Overloading plugs is no joke- it’s a huge fire risk (make sure you update your home insurance if you do insist on overloading a power point) or even considers getting some extra power points added, especially if you’re running off a long extension cord.

Desk options

If you can’t afford to buy a flash desk with perfectly height-adjusted ergonomics and space for a keyboard, then that’s ok. You just need to make sure whatever you are using is comfortable and at the right height. Use a laptop riser, which is super cheap, to ensure the keyboard is at a comfortable angle and the screen isn’t too low. 

The other option is a standing desk. This is better for you than being seated uncomfortably, and you can buy a standing desk option that’s relatively cheap and stable—or get your DIY inclined family to construct a box that sits on top of an existing table.

Clear a workspace

At home, this can be incredibly difficult. Desks are often dumping grounds, and even if your desk isn’t, the area behind you is. Try and get rid of the clutter and throw out all the junk—you really don’t need ten dead AA batteries. When setting up the room, ensure there’s clear space behind you so that when you’re on video calls, your customers or colleagues see something other than a pile of laundry.

Office chairs

If you’re not a full-time standing desk kind of person, then you will need a chair to sit on. If WFH is short-term, then re-purposing a dining chair is OK, but in the long term, it’s not great for posture or comfort. There’s no way around this; if you are full time working from home, you’re going to have to buy a comfortable ergonomic chair.

What else do you need?

This is different for everyone. Depending on your business, think about:

• A printer
• Filing cabinet
• File/ organiser
• Whiteboard

Boundaries

The single most important thing in your office is boundaries. If your husband, children, flatmate or spouse is constantly interrupting you, you will get frustrated and angry. Every interruption means a loss of more than 20 minutes of productivity. Set up a plan with the family where you’ll be available for certain timeframes, or if the door is closed they need to manage a situation themselves.

Probably the person you need to maintain the strictest boundaries with is yourself. Being at home can be a very tempting waste of time. To avoid problems, take a few simple steps:

• Make sure you have everything you need in your office. Grab your coffee and you are ready to rumble.
• Have a clear workspace. Get rid of clutter.
• Manage your time. Some people love the Pomodoro technique, others allow themselves breaks between set tasks. Reward one piece of work completion by allowing yourself to hang out the washing.
• See these tips on fighting depression at work.

Enjoy the ability to WFH. It can be the best thing—or the worst thing—in the world. Often, simultaneously. Maintain your rules and boundaries, make yourself a comfortable, productive space, and enjoy the ten-metre commute!