If you are reading this article, you are probably new to the work from home lifestyle. Now you may be looking forward to a morning free of traffic jams and constant honking. You may be lamenting that you would not see your favorite colleague every day, but the one thing that must be bothering you the most is how you will set up your new office at home. Do not worry. You are not the only one.
The COVID 19 pandemic, which made offices worldwide switch to work from home mode, has put people around the world dizzy. Now, it may seem an uphill task now, but we at SurveySparrow want to make it easier for you. So, hop in with us to understand what consists of a perfect office setup at home.
Office Setup At Home: Getting the Essentials
Before you go on and start buying every office supply on offer, remember to make a list first. Make a list of things that you require in the office on a usual working day, and then make a separate list of things that you require on rare occasions. Generally, your regular essential items list will consist of items like pins, a computer, an office chair, etc., while your regular non-essential things may consist of things like printers, scanners, or other items of this sort.
Once you are finalized with your lists, you can easily evaluate your office setup expenses. This will help you to evaluate your needs and set a price limit for each of the items. Once you are done with finalizing the expenses, it is time for you to finally buy your stuff.
Finding the Right Place
There are some spots at home where you just feel “home”. Ideally, that is the spot you want to choose for your office setup. If you do not have such a place to fall upon, you ideally need an airy and well lit place. You would also need that place to be soundproof, but feel free to skip this step if you reside with your family. Go for a place that feels the most comfortable to you, and is spacious enough to put your belongings in.
Getting Everything Sorted
Always ensure that your office is well connected with WiFi. Not that we do not want you to be hooked to social media in the middle of your work breaks, but since you are working far away from your office you may be required to connect with your colleagues anytime. Even if it is not the case, it is often recommended to be well connected in case you need the internet for something. Make sure your internet is fast, and the data limit is set according to your needs. You can never predict in advance when you need those extra five minutes of internet, so better be stocked than sorry.
The other thing you need for a frustration-free home office setup is the constant availability of electricity. No one really wants a power outage just before you are about to save an important file. Therefore, it is always recommended to have electricity backup with you where your workstation is situated. You can probably use an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) machine to solve this problem.
Making it Move
No matter how much you may like it, your home office is not a permanent feature of your home. So, you may want to (or in some cases have to) shift it in the future. Make sure your workstation is set up in such a way where it is easy to move. You can opt for a table with wheels and small portable equipment that go with your computer. You can also opt for a separate cabinet to store your important files or hardware, so you have can shift with relative ease. Anyway, you should preferably not opt for something that is bulky and hard to carry around with modern devices.
Getting Something Extra
Once you have all the items you need for the office setup, you may realize that you require a few things extra. Your office setup would be more prone to disturbances from both the outside world and inside in your home. Therefore, you may be inclined to buy a headphone for yourself, which is preferably a noise-canceling one. You may also use it for jamming to your favorite songs when the work gets a bit too monotonous.
The other thing relates to your home office chair. Now, we are not saying that a normal professional classic office chair would not do it for you, but since it is your home, you can treat yourself with some adjustments. You may buy a height-adjustable chair, which goes as back as you want. You may have to sit for long hours on the same chair. So, it is always preferable to buy a comfortable one.
Office setup at home is easy to deal with if you have the right accessories. So make sure you get all your office cabinets, pen holders, etc. in the right order. It is always preferred if your workstation is aesthetically pleasing as well. So do not shy away from the internet before choosing the right design for your furniture, and choosing the right accessories along with it. Your work from home setup (WFH setup) could match with your house designs, or entirely customized. It all depends upon your wishes and ideas.
Tips while setting up a home office:
A home office setting often requires a lot of work. Therefore, you can always take help from your friends or family while setting up the office. Always consult the internet and experts before putting in big sums of money on a device or a machine.
Although it is very important that you create a disturbance-free workstation for yourself, it is even more important that the people who reside with you in your home are not disturbed by your work. For ensuring this, you may choose a close room or a barrier that separates you from the rest of the house. Some people also choose to work in their garages to entirely separate themselves from their houses, provided they have one.
Precautions (the serious stuff)
- Make sure that you are protected from any electrical shocks or mishaps. Do take basic precautions while building your workstation. It is always good to be safe than sorry.
- If needed make sure that your workstation is kid safe. There a lot of kid-safe office furniture available in the market, but if you can not get hold of one, there are a few parts that can be attached to your office furniture to make it kid-safe. Work from home desk setup accessories can easily be bought from the internet.
- Never put your workstation near a fireplace or fire of any kind. Make sure that you are not near an electrical machine, other than the ones you need for your work. Avoid any smoking or drinking near your workplace, and do not allow others to do so either.
- Try to place your workstation as far as possible from the kids’ room. Take extra care that kids do not come near your workstation, especially if you are working with something that has a sensitive nature.
Working in the New Home Office
Now you may well be thinking, you have set up a beautiful workstation, where you are going to work day and night, but how are you going to take time out for leisure. Admit it, you do not work for every second even in your offices. It is not just humanely possible to do so. You would need your short breaks, and deservingly so. Even some of the new researchers have suggested against sitting long hours. Sitting for long hours can be injurious to your body, and can have a bad effect both on your physical and mental well-being. Therefore, if you may like so, you can also keep with yourself a game, a crossword, or something else to keep you entertained during these short breaks.
Although you may be inclined to go back to your non-working space in your home, that is not recommended. Your office work requires some serious concentration, so just try to pretend you are still in your office, only leave it when necessary, or in your interest to do so.
We at SurveySparrow have always been encouraging people worldwide to work from home whenever possible, especially in these wretched times. As we accept this new normal, and start working from our home, it is important for us to make the best use of the resources we have on our command. SurveySparrow is a leading company in the world for online surveys, and our services can well be taken from your house – yes, even from your newly built workstation. Just visit our website and you will know everything about building and designing an online survey. As a trusted brand for many worldwide, SurveySparrow encourages you to start working from your home and make full usage of every resource you have. Here’s a remote employee engagement survey created using SurveySparrow..
To create similar employee engagement surveys, you can create a free account on SurveySparrow.
People all over the world have accepted this new normal. With our recommended home office setting you can also be part of this new normal and start with your journey of productivity. Now we know that working for long hours from home can lead to serious fatigue and stress, but we also gave you some suggestions to have some fun while you work. Make sure that when you set up your home office, you come to this blog again to check if you missed anything.
Wrapping it Up
We seriously hope that our blog helped you develop the right ideas on how to set up a home office. An office setup at home can be easy if it is well planned and researched. We also recommend you to find ways to reduce stress while working in your home office. Since now your workplace is situated inside your home, you do not need to carry the stress to your home, it will always be there. Therefore, make sure you do not overwork yourself, and leave all the fatigue to the workplace itself.
Make sure that you maintain the sanctity of your workplace, and is not perturbed by your job. We hope that this blog helps you in some happy work hours, in your newly built office at home.
Also, do not forget to use Survey Sparrow’s services for conducting online surveys in the comfort of your homes (or in your newly built office setup at home). Just visit our website to know more. Till then, we congratulate you on your new adventure ahead and wish you all the success.
Happy Working!
