Top Tips to Set Up Your Home Office!
We’re all about your home being as beautiful, clean, and organized as it can be. While we’re in your home, let us do the cleaning; but in our downtime we’re researching and writing articles like these to make your home shine. A well planned-out home office can be a bastion of productivity and efficiency. It can also be a relaxing space where you also happen to get a lot of stuff done. Trying to reach that ideal? Let’s get to it!
- Location, location, location
When setting up that office try to give yourself as much wiggle room as possible! Obviously an office like that pictured above is out of a lot of people’s budget, but the amount of space in that bad boy is stunning! If you’re not feeling crammed and squeezed into your work space you’ll surely feel more relaxed and, as a result, probably get a lot more done. - A GREAT chair
If you’re going to be spending a lot of time in that office, sitting, then you’ll need a good chair! Check out these reviews from GearPatrol.com, their top pick for “Best Budget Chair” is “The Alera Elusion” From Gear Patrol:”[This chair] could be misconstrued as another simple office chair — that is, until you sit in it. The mesh back panel offers supreme comfort and allows for great breathability. The seat cushion features a waterfall edge designed to eliminate pressure on the legs. The Elusion is also infinitely adjustable and even offers forward tilt.” - A nice view
Ok, ok, we’ll admit — we were being a little cheeky including this image as our potential “nice view,” as if this is what you could be looking at outside your window. But, the advice remains the same: try to set up your office in a room with a window, ideally one with a nice view of the natural landscape. Check out this article from the Harvard Business Review (yeah, that Harvard): “Research has found that gazing at something green — through a window, on a walk outside, or even on a screen saver — can help improve attention and performance in the workplace. Attention restoration theory suggests that natural environments have restorative benefits for us. Because nature captures our attention without requiring us to focus on it, looking at natural environments lets us replenish our stores of attention control.” - Plenty of light
This tip and our next one fall directly in line with our “nice view” suggestion. From the “Sustainability” program at NC State University, “Natural light leads to higher productivity:
A study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology found that employees working in natural light recorded higher levels of energy than those working under artificial light. Another study showed 40 percent higher sales at checkout counters located beneath skylights. This data confirms what many studies have shown: natural light leads to enhanced productivity.” - Get a dang plant!
Last but not least, something we could all use more of in our lives — plants! From Rodale’s Organic Life, “In addition to perceived improvements in air quality, concentration, and workplace satisfaction, the researchers found that productivity increased 15 percent. They found that employees with plants in the office reported being more physically, cognitively, and emotionally involved in their work.” Does it get any better than that?!
To round things out we have here a graphic featuring The NASA Guide to Air-Filtering Houseplants, courtesy of LovetheGarden.com. Check it out! Thanks for joining us, and after you’ve got your office all set up, feel free to give us call to help keep it clean!
