How to organise your home working space

When working from home, it is essential to remember how vital our environment is to our well-being. It helps to create a working space dedicated to our job, as this space will:

• Draw a clear, healthy line between our working and private lives
• be an ergonomic space, designed to keep you healthy
• Helps us to work more efficiently

In this, the latest in our series of home working tips, we look at the best ways to organise your working space.

Feeling good while home working.

The first thing you need to consider is your furniture. Hopefully, you’re not trying to do all of your work from bed, it’s a bad idea so you really should avoid doing that. Instead maintain your usual professional working attitude to stay healthy.

When working at your computer you should be using either an ergonomically designed chair (ie. has adjustable parts that we can alter suit our posture) or a suitable standing desk (preferably with an anti-fatigue mat placed underneath to help reduce pressure from standing).

Ultimately the preference is yours, however, switching your position from sitting to standing (for even 5 – 10 minutes) can help you to generate new ideas and spark your creativity.

YOUR CHAIR

When you started home working, you might not have had the chance to take your office chair with you. If so, try and find a chair that is a close match, preferably having:

• A backrest
• A padded seat
• Armrests

Adding a footrest will also help you find the right posture and reduce fatigue.

It’s worth remembering, even the best ergonomically designed chair won’t make any difference if you slouch on it. Change your position regularly to ensure that you continue to promote healthy circulation and maintain a correct posture.

YOUR HOME WORKING DESK

When setting up your new desk, try using a table that’s large enough to house everything you’re going to need throughout the working day, for example, computer/laptop, keyboard and mouse, pads, pens etc. Ideally, your desk will be able to hold everything you need whilst providing enough space for you to sit comfortably without being crowded.

Not everyone has the space for a new desk system so if you’re one of the many of us who are having to adapt what you already have in the home, a dining room table is a great option, giving you plenty of room to spread out. The downside to not having a dedicated space is that you’re going to need to pack everything away at the end of the day however it’s important to make sure you continue to segregate your home and working life.

YOUR LIGHTING

It’s often overlooked but still vitally important, you need to consider how lighting will impact your home working environment. Ideally, the best thing you can do is sit by a natural source of light rather than relying on artificial lights/ lamps. It’s also worth remembering though that on nice days you might find yourself blinded by the sun or, if the light is behind you, it may reflect on your screen and make it difficult to see.

If it isn’t possible to sit somewhere with ample natural light, make sure that what you use is bright enough that you can see without being dazzled and also of the right type of light that won’t cause you any headaches or discomfort.

An efficient home working area.

You might find that you need to get some other, less crucial, equipment in order to help make home-working more comfortable. For example:

• Whiteboards for jotting down notes and ideas;
• Cable tidies to prevent dangling/ tangling wires;
• Monitor stands to help raise your screen or laptop to a comfortable level;
• An ergonomic mouse or mousepad that helps you prevent injury to your wrist.

A quiet space.

If you are fortunate enough to have a room you can dedicate to home working, you should find it easy to get enough peace and quiet.

If not, there’s nothing stopping you from personalising your workspace a little. To make your home working space feel more like your own zone, why not try screening it off with:

• Green plants
• Another piece of furniture
• A screen

To create more of a working atmosphere, try adding:

• An aspirational work poster or some artwork;
• Storage boxes to gather up your letter trays, filing boxes, and other office supplies, so that you can tidy them away at the end of the day.

Ultimately, if you can find a way to ensure your home-working layout makes you feel comfortable, your performance and productivity will continue to be as high as it was in the office.

Find everything you need to work from home here. Alternatively, you can call our customer service team on 0800 652 6000.