I’ve been working from home for over a decade now. Over the course of time, I’ve done a number of things to make my workplace ideal for my own productivity. What follows are the many things that I’ve done, some of which have stuck, some which haven’t (but might be suitable for others). While there are a few conventional things covered here, I think you’ll be surprised to find some stuff that no one else is talking about.
Note that while I’m talking about a home office specifically, pretty much everything can apply to any office or space you work from.
Desktop Computer
I know more and more people are strictly using laptops, tablets and even phones for their work. That’s fine if you’re on the move. But if you have a stable place, as a home office kind of assumes, then I’d recommend using a desktop computer. Your call whether you want a PC, Mac or other option. (I’m one of those unusual people that prefers a PC.)
Or, if you use a laptop, at least getting some external options which could include a monitor, mouse and keyboards. But if you use all three of these you might as well have gotten a desktop in the first place!
In general, you’re going to pay less for more computing power and features than you would on a laptop.
Right now, it’s about time I replace my desktop as it’s starting to run slowly and crash more often. It’s been a solid run of over 10 years. That’s impressive by computer standards. I’ve looked around a bit but haven’t made any decisions.
Monitor
One of the most important aspects is your monitor. This is your visual workspace. Depending on what you’re doing you may want to have multiple windows open to do side by side work.
Previously, I had dual monitors. However, for some reason, certain files wouldn’t work in the second monitor which was aggravating. Then I saw a friend that simply had a single, but very big, monitor. I moved to that and haven’t looked back. My current monitor is 26 inches. And one other tip. The top of the monitor should be at the level of your head. This helps fight against “text neck” as you don’t need to look down, but can keep your head in a neutral alignment.
(This goes beyond home office setup, but with this, you’ll want to learn the keyboard shortcuts that allow you to move windows around to half screen, full screen, etc. rather than having to drag the windows around by mouse. Extremely useful.)
Stand Up Desk
I sat on my ass for eight plus hours a day for years. At some point when the stand up desk trend began, I realized my half hour or so workout each day, didn’t make up for being sedentary the rest of the time. So I got a stand up desk and haven’t looked back since.
Specifically, I purchased a TrekDesk. It’s a bit expensive compared to most, but does give a big workspace. I know others that have even built their own.
Of course, just standing still in one place for a long time is just another form of being sedantary, with different, but still existing, side effects to it. That brings me to my next point…
Treadmill/Wobble Board
For a few years I had a treadmill desk. I used this off and on for a bit. Then it was much more off. After not actually turning the treadmill on for over a year I decided it was time for that to go.
But I still wanted to move more. Enter the wobble board. While you could easily make one of these for yourself, I bought the Uplift E7 Motion Board. This bit of movement and shifting of position allows me to be less sedentary while standing. I really like it.
Nature
I’m reminded of one study that found that hospital patients recovered faster when they had a window that had a tree outside of it, rather than a window looking at a brick wall. (source) Nature is good for us in many ways we’ve completely forgotten about (and that science is only beginning to explore once again).
As you can see in the picture at the top of this post, my computer and desk is right next to two windows that look outside to nature. If you do not have this option at this time, a picture of nature could still give some benefit.
Essential Oils
Here is where another aspect of nature enters into your home office. Research around what is called “forest bathing” shows that it is the phytoncides, or essential oils, of trees and plants that help lower stress, make for better thinking and much more that occured when walking in nature, versus walking in a city.
While you should absolutely go for walks in nature, you can bring a piece of this indoors by using essential oils in a diffusor. Previously I used a unit called a nebulizer, but recently I upgraded to a larger unit that has a 6 hour run cycle. The thing is, I would turn on the smaller unit in the morning but then forget about it the rest of the day after it stopped running. Now I can load it once, when I start my day in the office, and it’ll continue to run throughout. I mix up the different essential oils I use. Recently I even distilled my own douglas fir.
Air Quality
There are other things you can do improve your air quality besides essential oils. Studies show that air quality leads to improved productivity, sometimes amazingly so. Having plants in your offer. Having an air purifier. These are all worthwhile steps.
One study looked at office workers and the air quality in different buildings. They found: “It has now been shown beyond reasonable doubt that poor indoor air quality in buildings can decrease productivity in addition to causing visitors to express dissatisfaction. The size of the effect on most aspects of office work performance appears to be as high as 6–9%. (source)
Music
I play music while I work. Mostly metal and hard rock as that is my genre of choice, but I do mix it up from time to time. This is another reason to have a desktop; higher quality speakers.
One practice that I have found particularly useful for writing is to use the same album…or even the same track on loop. There is something about the repetitive nature that helps me and many others get into the flow zone easier. If I put on headphones while doing this it further drives me into the zone as I don’t hear my fingers typing or other ambient noise.
Dedicated Space
Ideally, you want your home office to be just for that, working. When I started my business I didn’t have the luxury of a space for my home office, so it was in my bedroom, but as I became more successful this became a must.
A dedicated space, even an isolated space, keeps you anchored to being productive (assuming your productive when you use it). This helps to make the container for work. When I’m in my office I’m working. When I’m outside of my office, I’m not working…at least not in the same manner, as there are different types of work.
Anchored Space
Besides the dedicated location there are other ways you can use anchors in your space. As covered before I read a lot. My home office is also where all my books are located. Having all the books in there helps me by being a sign and symbol of my accumulated knowledge and wisdom. Plus, I can easily go and reference any of these books that I might need for my work as frequently happens.
Over the years I’ve used plenty of other things like pictures and quotes that are aspirational. There’s been vision boards and stats I’m tracking on white boards that I would look at each day. Not doing any of that currently, but it was useful in the past.
Tinctures
You’ll notice on the left side of my desk in the top picture that a number of tincture bottles are there. I love herbal tinctures because they’re easy to take (compared to powders, and even capsules in my opinion). The right tincture can help sharpen the mind or reduce stress in the moment. Thus, having them on hand helps support whatever you need in that moment for work. More information on tinctures at Lost Empire Herbs.
That is how I’ve setup my home office for maximum productivity. While I’m sure I could focus in on some finer details, that definitely is the broad strokes. Feel free to share what you do in your office in the comments below.