What Is a Flex Room?
Laura May writes for Just Another Magazine, an online publication featuring lifestyle trends and tips. Find out her at-home office advice below!
As the many professionals around the globe who were thrust into it in 2020 can attest to, adjusting to working from home can be a difficult task.
For so many, productivity and work fulfillment comes from going into the office each day, exchanging conversation over the coffee machine and enjoying all the accoutrements of a modern office.
Moving into a new home presents a lot of challenges for remote workers, but also a litany of opportunities to improve their productivity and create a space where they can achieve everything they want, despite the circumstances. In today’s world, the dream home, more often than not, features a lovingly assembled home office.
In this post, we’ll outline how to create a harmonious working environment when you’ve just moved into a new home, from the tech to assist your productivity to the atmosphere that helps you through challenging moments.
Establish a Comfortable Desk Setup
First and foremost, a great working environment needs a brilliant station to do that work from. Your desk should be at the top of your list of considerations while developing a home life that can support remote working.
Ergonomic desks and standing desks are a brilliant starting point for a more comfortable environment. Not only will this keep your posture proper as you spend hours in your inbox, but it will also make your desk a place that your mind associates with comfort rather than demanding work.
Find the right space in the house for a home office, position your desk in the best spot, and then build around that. Depending on your line of work, you’ll need to ensure you have enough space to do your job properly For example, designers need space to sketch out initial ideas on paper; marketers need multiple screens to analyze data properly.
Flexibility is essential at your workstation, even if you are two meters from your bedroom. This is so often achieved by investing in the right technology. Use tools such as the Thunderbolt 3 hub to make your station more flexible (a Thunderbolt hub can give you more ports for access to more screens and devices). Being able to integrate the monitors, speakers and headsets you need for maximum comfort is essential.
SAD lamps are another popular device that create a comfortable desk environment, without actually contributing to your work. They can provide vital illumination in the winter months, allowing you to perform to your best at any time of year.
Build Around Your Health and Senses
A home office might not sound like a particularly therapeutic setting, but it’s important to listen to your senses and take your health seriously while working from home.
Yes, there are physical health considerations such as having the right back support and ensuring you’re taking regular screen breaks. However, we’re here to talk about building harmony between your home and work life when the two become meshed together. This can have detrimental effects on your wellbeing.
Build a home office that appeals to your senses. We touched upon SAD lamps in the previous section, and while they’re a great compromise, nothing compares to natural light. Position your desk next to a window and let your workstation be bathed in warm glows throughout spring and the soft golden hours of autumn.
This position will also offer you fresh air throughout the day, another crucial ingredient to the perfect work/life cocktail. Fresh air keeps you refreshed and alert, helping to connect you with the world around you and avoid being sucked into your monitor for too long. Equally, the views from this window view will give you something to distract yourself with during those vital screen breaks.
Taking inspiration from platforms such as Pinterest isn’t a totally absurd way to plan your new home office. While it may lead you down a rabbit hole to an idealized life, it can help you to picture your dream space rather than carelessly setting up a desk the night before.
Add Quintessentially You Touches
You can’t hope to achieve a harmonious working environment in the home if you aren’t adding touches that are unique to you.
While many of us are used to bland grey walls in bland grey office buildings, a little touch of the things we love can massively improve our moods and make us feel more comfortable, leading to increased productivity and job satisfaction.
Surround yourself with the things that make you comfortable or, alternatively, the things that push you to be your best.
Are there certain aromas that create a sense of comfort? Try incorporating incense sticks and candles into your spare. Change them as the seasons shift, helping you to avoid a sense of stagnation you might otherwise get by not traveling to a conventional office every day.
If music helps you work, fill your home office with sound. Low-fi playlists have become incredibly popular among both students and remote workers alike for their relaxed, repetitive and atmospheric sounds. If you like to move around while you work but want to keep the music flowing, invest in wireless headphones that make you one with the music.
This is a space for you and a space to work. It’s not your work life shoved into the corner of your home. Give it room to breathe.
Avoid Negative Routines and Mindsets
Negative thinking doesn’t just affect you on the inside, it can also seep into your home life and disturb a carefully curated harmonious atmosphere.
Don’t throw away all the good work done to create your finely balanced working environment by delving into negative thinking.
Ensure you have a set routine that’s easy to stick to. Trying to dive headfirst into six a.m. starts and daily yoga classes will only frustrate you. Try something that pushes you ever so slightly, but isn’t impossible to follow. Even something as simple as showering and having your morning coffee at the same time every day can build a sense of harmony as you head to your home office.
Avoiding complaining too much, as well. Try not to make your home a space for frustration, especially not your home office. If you’re feeling negative, go for a walk, and get that anger out of your system somewhere you don’t associate with work. It allows you to step back into your working space refreshed and ready to tackle a challenge.
Achieving harmony between a work and home life can be difficult, especially considering the current situation. Hopefully, these tips will inspire you to create a balance that plays to your sense, personality, and ability to work. Don’t compromise and allow this new home to be something so much better than your regular old cubical or bedroom desk.
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