How To Make Your Work From Home Space Work For You!
Since our office has gone remote we’ve been adapting to the work-from-home life just like everyone else and lemme tell you it is not easy! Whether it’s working near your partner for the first time, not having a proper office space to work in, or having kids home all day with you, learning to change your normal routine and still get things done can be super challenging. But if there’s one thing we do know at TSG, it’s how to make a space, well, work! So here are some of our tips and hacks for how to make your work-from-home office work for you (even when you don’t have one)!
MAKE YOUR SPACE CUTE
One thing that really helps get your mental space in the working mood is when the physical space around you is appealing to be in. Who wants to focus on your professional tasks when you’re sitting slumped on the floral couch your mom passed down to you after college? You need a place that inspires you right now - even if that place isn’t ideal for the long haul, it’ll get you where you need to be until the world goes back to normal and you can return to your ergonomic desk chair at your swanky office. Follow these 4 steps to making your work space cute!
PLANTS ARE YOUR NEW WORK BESTIE
Plants add a touch of colour and freshness to your desk! When stuck inside all day, these babies give you something alive to not only look at but take care of, a task that will both give you a break in your day and give you something to look forward to when you can eventually propagate them and make new plant babies. If you don’t have much sunlight in your space or tend to kill any plant you touch, try a low light plant like pothos or a snake plant that are easier to keep alive. Plus, a cute pot is a great decor touch for those long video conference calls you’re always stuck in.
MAKE YOUR MEETINGS POP (VIRTUALLY)
Speaking of online chats, one way to quickly zone out in conference calls is to keep your camera off in fear of your co-workers seeing your awful work space. To fix this, think about the space that you’re working in and focus only on what other people see. That embarrassing family photo from 2008 stuck on the wall behind your laptop? Leave it - they’ll never know! What’s behind you is more important, so try to tape up or hang some inspiring art prints that are both stylish and not too personal. And when you really aren’t feelin’ the vibes in your room, you could always download or make your own background on Zoom, something we’ve been loving exploring lately - check out our free downloadable ones here!
BECOME A NEAT FREAK
A hack that goes a long way in shaping the design of your space is to simply clean up the one you’ve already got! Break out those rubber gloves, grab your donation bags, and start tidying. Simply keeping the room you work in clean can be so beneficial for productivity, especially if where you work also happens to be where you live. Plus, this is a great time to purge some of the decor pieces you’re not loving anymore or get rid of the straight up junk that accumulates over a long period of time. Marie Kondo doesn’t have her own Netflix show for nuthin’!
GOOD LIGHTING IS BAE
There’s nothing more awful than working in a dark space where you feel tired, lonely, and ready for the day to be done already. That’s why lighting is so important - it literally brightens up your work day! Whether you live in a basement apartment or a sunny California dream home, one thing that is easy to control is the light temperature in the room. Start by switching out the soft yellow bulbs in your lamps to bright white ones - or even better, get some LED smart bulbs that can switch temperatures at the tap of an iPhone. Just by using white light, your body will feel more awake and willing to work, since you associate white light with sunlight. Keep reading on to learn some of our favourite products (including amazing lighting tools) that you need to know about!
Before daylight bulbs
After daylight bulbs
MUST-HAVES FOR YOUR HOME OFFICE
While you can definitely work with what you’ve got around the house, there are some products that we consider to be must-haves for your home office. They can increase productivity, make your space work better, or just make it more fun to hang out in! Use this list as a jumping off point for investing in your work ethic and remember that every space is different, so analyze which you should to add to cart, and which to leave behind.
1. LAPTOP STAND
A laptop stand is exactly that - a place to put your laptop that raises it up to be closer to your eye level. These are great if you don’t have a big setup at home with any monitors to connect to because it’s portable, lightweight and also gives you some space below to hold any notebooks or tablets that you might have. A space-saving, healthier way to work!
2. Ring Light
These aren’t just for beauty gurus, folks! Ring lights are the only thing behind the camera that can help you in video conferences - especially if you don’t have any natural light. Pop one of these in front of you to light up your face and the area around you so you look professional, fresh-faced, and ready to take on the day (even if you’re still in your PJ’s from the waist down)!
3. Webcam Cover
These babies are super inexpensive and will go a long way in giving you peace of mind. It’s a tiny sticker that perfectly fits over your computer webcam, with a sliding door so you can either reveal or hide the camera lens. Noone wants to accidentally flash their co-workers after they forgot about that 1:00pm meeting! So get one of these and wave goodbye to your FBI agent that you always think is secretly watching you (I’m talking about you Frank!!).
4. Lumbar Support Pillows
Do you remember when every single house had a “computer room” where the clunky desktop was kept and you would play Sims to your hearts content? Well those days are long gone and we can’t all be so lucky to have the space or the need for a proper home office now. If you’re someone who is working at your kitchen table or sitting in one of those sleek velvet office chairs that you thought would look super cute but now you’ve become the Hunchback of Notre Dame - this is the product for you. A lumbar support pillow might seem like it’s strictly for dads, but damn do these things really work! Add one to your daily routine and watch your posture resume to its natural only *slightly* hunched state.
5. Daylight bulbs
As we mentioned before, proper lighting is really helpful to work smarter. It keeps you in the zone and helps to focus your attention on the tasks at hand. These LED daylight bulbs are the perfect switch to make - plus they’ll save you money in the long run since they’re super eco-friendly!
6. Blue Light Glasses
You know when you’re playing a video game, you lose track of time, and then you look away from the screen and suddenly your eyes are like Niagara Falls? That’s because you’re straining your eyes while playing and forgetting to blink - the same things can happen when you’re working long hours at a computer. In the office you might be getting pulled away from your desk by co-workers, taking in-person meetings and periodic coffee breaks, but at home, it’s so easy to stare at a screen and not remember to look away for hours on end. Blue light glasses filter out artificial blue light produced by your screen, and while they’re not 100% scientifically proven to work, many people have experienced improvement in eye strain (and they’re also a super cute accessory!). Check out this article to learn more about how they could work for you!
SEPARATE HOME FROM WORK
No matter what kind of work station you have set up in your house, there are ways to make it feel separate from the other things around you both mentally and physically! These next few tips tackle working in unusual environments, and how you can enhance them to keep your work flowing.
DRESS FOR SUCCESS
PJ’s all day long might seem like a fantastic idea, but I always try to remember that I am not my 15 year old self anymore (as much as I long to be). I’m not saying to roll out of bed at 6:00am to put on a full face of makeup and your best designer cardigan for your 9:00am Zoom call, but try to change your clothes and freshen up at the beginning of each day so that working feels similar to your normal routine and different from when you’re using your home to relax. When you look good, you feel good, and whether that’s with hair that is simply brushed and a different pair of leggings on, or a full-on Gucci pant suit and a blow-out, both help you get down to business.
A TABLE IS A TWO SIDED COIN
Kitchen and dining tables are a really good desk in a pinch - they’re big, the perfect height and usually have fantastic access to snacks! But they still need to function as just that - a place to eat and connect with your family, partners or roommates, and that can be especially hard when your work supplies are spread across the entire surface. We recommend mentally splitting up your table: one end is for working, and the other end is for everything else. Never eat lunch at the end you’re working at and don’t start typing at the end you eat at. By designating the table as a hybrid space with clearly defined areas, it will trick your brain into knowing when it’s time to work and when it’s time to chill out.
BEDS ARE FOR SLEEPING (EXCEPT WHEN THEY’RE NOT)
We’ve all heard an influencer say at some point or another “I never work in my bed”, and while that is good advice for those that can take it, many can’t. If you’re a student with a tiny room or someone living in a studio where space is limited, sometimes the bed is just your only option. Some ways to avoid falling asleep amongst the piles of plush are the following: try to sit on your bed in a different way than you sleep, always make your bed before working on it, and for the love of God never, EVER, get under the covers. Try leaning against the adjacent wall or your footboard instead of at the head of your bed when working, and do it on top of the covers where you’re not tempted to snuggle in. Know when your bed is made that it’s work time, and when the covers are off it’s rest time. Best of both worlds!
REDECORATE YOUR DIGITAL SPACE
Digital spaces are too real - the online files and folders that keep us distracted both at work and not. They can be your villain or your boon, so taking the time to reorganize and eliminate aspects that hinder your work is time well spent. Keep all of your professional work and your personal work separate - this could mean using different email accounts, separate laptops, different hard drives or even something so easy as using different browsers! All your professional logins are on Google Chrome and all of your personal logins are on Mozilla Firefox. Also make sure to clean up the things on your phone you don’t need, since these can serve as distractions - gaming apps you never play anymore, old screenshots of recipes you’ll never make, or text messages from years back. All of this can increase the time you spend at work on work and mentally get you ready for the tasks at hand.
If you found any of these tips helpful then let us know on our Instagram here, and make sure to check out our #StayINspired Pinterest board here for more helpful hacks for your home office!