The Perfect Home Office For Remote Workers!

Working remotely is becoming more popular as a result of the pandemic that forced many of us to leave our offices. Many businesses are now seeing the benefits of remote working. If you are now working from home, you’ll need a perfect home office setup. A home office with everything you need can help you keep the same efficiency and productivity that you had while in the office.

For a perfect home office setup, you’re going to need several work-from-home office essentials. From obvious equipment such as a computer, desk, and chair, to less obvious items that can help keep you on track during workdays.

However, working from home has its challenges. Many people find it difficult to adjust to it because it typically requires working alone and being surrounded by the distractions that our mostly comfort-focused houses bring.

If you currently work from home, are planning to relocate to a home office soon, or simply want to make extra room at home for more projects, this post is a must-read. We'll go over all of the requirements for the ideal home office below, as well as some other items you might want to consider for better productivity. Read on!

1. A Desk

Your desk is an all essential element of your home office. As a result, you should devote some time to finding one that completes the setup for a perfect home office. When choosing a desk, make sure it's ergonomic. An adjustable standing desk is a great option – as a bad desk can cause body aches and pains, resulting in decreased productivity and fatigue.

According to several reports, sitting for lengthy periods of time increases the risk of weight gain, back pain, and other problems associated with inactivity – more reasons why you should consider purchasing an adjustable standing desk. Your aim should be to move around as much as possible. This is where your adjustable standing desk comes in handy since it lets you alternate between sitting and standing positions during your work sessions.

If you can't get one for some reason, you can make do with a table, counter, or other flat surfaces. In any case, you must have a workspace large enough to accommodate all of your work documents and equipment.

2. An Ergonomic Chair

Your desk chair is arguably the most important component of any office. Yes, even more important than your desk. So also take time and care to select and invest in a good one that fits your personal needs. You want to be sitting comfortably during long stints in your new home office. Many standard office chairs lack the required support to keep you comfortable and in the proper position for long periods of time.

Ergonomic chairs, on the other hand, are designed to provide extra support and comfort to identified areas of weakness and pain in the human body. Before purchasing an office chair, be sure to conduct your own research. Everyone has different areas of weakness, so all chairs will perform differently for different people. Despite the fact that they are larger and have more sophisticated designs than a standard office chair, investing in one is definitely worth it.

3. Proper Lighting

Proper lighting is another important aspect of a productive and comfortable work environment. It is, however, often overlooked. Many people just work with the light available in their rooms, work with very little light, or even work in the dark, relying solely on on-screen light. An inadequately lit workspace with screens as the primary source of light strains the eyes and can cause fatigue and headaches.

Alternatively, too much glare can cause you to work in highly uncomfortable situations. People react to light in different ways depending on the tones and intensity. This is why task lighting is so useful. Task lighting allows you to choose where your light source comes from and how powerful it is. You may need to experiment with the brightness, but you should strive to have a well-lit workplace. However, try to avoid extreme brightness on your screen and experiment with the placement of your light until you find what works best for you.

4. A Reliable Computer

For a perfect home office, you need to make sure you have a computer that can keep up with your busy working day. Besides, few, if any, small business owners who work from home can complete their tasks without the use of a computer.

When it comes to your home computer, a laptop gives you significantly more flexibility than a desktop. Laptops allow you to work from any location, such as your house, a coffee shop, or while travelling. You should consider getting one if you want to set up a mobile office in addition to your home office, or if your job requires you to go to clients' or customers' locations frequently.

If you're looking for a new laptop, consider the demands of your job on a daily basis and look for important laptop specs that can successfully or adequately handle your business activities. For example, if you work remotely yet travel frequently, you might want to consider obtaining a portable laptop to take with you on your travels. Also, if you're a graphic designer who has to run multiple large programs all at once, consider getting one with a better graphics card, RAM, and processor to handle all of your necessary software efficiently. A slow laptop that lags through your everyday projects can leave you feeling frustrated and prevent you from getting things done on time. So make sure you do your research and choose one that matches your specific requirements.

5. Computer Monitor

If you work from home using a desktop computer, a computer monitor is a must-have. It could also be a simple necessity that makes working from home a lot easier because it may boost your productivity and save you time during the day.

If you have to work with multiple programs at the same time, having a second screen can make working remotely much easier and save you a lot of time and stress because frequently switching between them may become confusing, and lead to mistakes. In addition, if you need to cross-reference, having two screens will save you time and frustration, making multitasking much easier, especially if you need multiple tabs active at the same time.

Monitors come in a variety of shapes and sizes, as well as varied specifications. So, before you buy a monitor, make sure it’s compatible with your computer or laptop.

6. Keyboard and Mouse

An external keyboard or trackpad won’t necessarily be required on your laptop, but the harm to your wrists and posture caused by using a laptop's keyboard and trackpad, on the other hand, only becomes worse over time.

Using a laptop touchpad and keyboard for lengthy periods of time might be unpleasant and uncomfortable. On the other hand, an external mouse and keyboard can help you work more productively by allowing you to position them wherever you feel most comfortable.

If you work on a desktop, investing in a high-tech keyboard and mouse that matches your needs could be a little investment that pays off big time. There are many different brands and models to pick from. Some products are specifically designed for different needs, and these are the ones to search for. For instance, wired options feature more tangled wires and can make your workspace cluttered, but you'll never have to worry about running out of batteries and having to run to the shop. Wireless options, on the other hand, offer greater flexibility, but you'll need to keep batteries on hand. You should also consider the keyboard's angle and the curvature of the mouse.

7. High-Speed Wireless Router

Without a doubt, a dependable and fast wireless router is an essential component of any productive working environment, and dealing with a slow internet connection is one of the most aggravating aspects of working from home. This can prevent you from doing your job in time and it can also disrupt your video calls. And believe me, the last thing you want is for your video call to be interrupted during important meetings, or your file download to take hours when it should only take a few minutes.

The majority of people who are new to working from home tend to overlook the much higher level of speed required to complete work tasks when compared to your typical online browsing and shopping. It's worth finding out about your internet provider's options and upgrading to a faster package because it will save you time and a lot of frustration later on when you have a lot of tasks that require fast internet. You should also consider getting a high-speed wireless router if you have more than one computer that requires internet access, or if you have multiple computers located in different parts of your home.

8. A Multipurpose Printer and Scanner

Without a printer, your home office is not necessarily complete. You may be able to do without a one, depending on the nature of your business, but you will almost certainly need to scan or make copies of documents at some point. Since you never know when you'll need paper copies of important documents, being without a printer can cause you unnecessary stress when you have to search for one.

Investing in a compact but dependable multipurpose machine capable of handling all of these tasks provides you with peace of mind in those moments. A simple portable printer with all the functionality of larger printers and scanners can be a lifesaver when working in remote locations and knowing you have one on hand in case you need it will also contribute to the satisfaction of having a perfect home office.

9. Surge Protector

A good surge protector is an item that is frequently overlooked, but it should be a must-have in any home office that uses multiple computers. You'll be surprised at how quickly your work-from-home setup expands. You'll keep adding new tools as you get more comfortable and improve on the layout. Naturally, many of those technological tools will require power from somewhere.

Surge-protected power strips are crucial for your work-from-home office. When you have multiple devices plugged in, these will help keep power at a safe level. They also come in a variety of configurations, including those with both a socket and a USB port. So you won't have to worry about multiple devices running out of power.

10. Personal Server or Backup Drive

Once your home office is up and running, you'll need a plan for backing up and securing your data. So when something goes wrong, you'll be in a better position as a result of your many data backup methods. You can utilise a cloud-based backup server to back up your files automatically, but it's also a good idea to have a backup plan in place in the form of an external backup.

You must also implement strong security features to protect computer data from malware attacks and prevent data loss. External hard drives and personal servers are reasonably inexpensive and can save your business in the event of computer problems.

To be more wary of potential danger to your backups, consider adopting a centralised backup monitoring solution to continually monitor, control, and manage backups from a distant device and to ensure your business runs smoothly.

11. File Cabinet

Storage space is always an important consideration when planning a perfect home office setup. Despite the fact that your home office may begin with an empty desk, documents will soon start to quickly pile up. Having a lot of paperwork lying around will cause you to get unorganised, frustrated, and waste more time looking for needed documents. Also, no matter how many documents you wish to shred, you'll always need to save some hard copies, and filing cabinets are the best place to keep them so they can be conveniently accessed when needed.

Filing cabinets can help boost productivity by reducing clutter and making information more accessible. They store a lot of paperwork in a little amount of space and keep important business documents safe from damage or loss. You can simply select one that meets your demands and home office style thanks to the wide variety of options and designs available.

12. Paper Shredder

Working remotely may require you to handle sensitive and confidential company information and papers, depending on what you do, and with so much sensitive information in your home office, you'll need a way to properly dispose of it when the time comes.

Carelessly disposing of documents with your personal information such as bank account numbers, bank statements, national insurance numbers, or sensitive information about clients and workers, can be quite risky, as that information can be exploited for identity theft. Hence, it’s always a good idea to invest in a paper shredder to help you destroy those documents completely. For secure shredding of common confidential documents, choose at least a DIN P-3 cross-cut shredder. However, for shredding extremely confidential information, at least a DIN P-5 micro-cut shredder is advised.

13. Quality Headphones

Good headphones, preferably with noise cancellation, can help you stay focused and feel more productive by removing distractions from the environment, especially if you live with others or work in a shared space. Working from home may also require calls and virtual meetings with your team or clients, and good headphones will provide high audio quality while also reducing background noise.

Headphones with a Bluetooth connection allow movement up to about 90 feet distance while staying connected to your calls or even listening to music. Speaking about music, they also allow you to listen to your favourite work music, which can help you concentrate better. So whether you're planning on making important calls, listening to your favourite work music, or creating a silent and tranquil working environment, the multiple features of quality headphones make them an absolute essential for a perfect home office.

Final Thoughts

After putting all these home office essentials in place, you should be set for a productive working environment at home. Having everything you need will help boost your motivation when working remotely. Now, there will definitely be other items you'll need in your home office, depending on the type of work you do and how much space you have available. But you'll be on your way to creating the perfect home office if you use this list to get started thinking about the essentials.

Also, keep in mind that your home office should be more than just a place to work; it should be a reflection of your personality. Make it your own and inject some individuality into it with a variety of unique and personal items for increased comfort and productivity.

Find remote working opportunities today by visiting Remote Worker