Working from home has become more common over the last decade, but the COVID-19 global pandemic made remote work necessary in many industries. However, experts say that remote work is not likely to go anywhere anytime soon.
Working from home provides a lot of benefits, including flexibility over your schedule and saving time by eliminating a daily commute. But the home office essentials you invest in and your remote work office setup are crucial to your productivity and success. For example, you’ll need to choose the ideal place to set up your office, determine your office layout, and purchase work from home necessities.
Whether you’re just getting started or you’ve been working from home for a while, this guide will help you create the best home office setup.
Choose Where You Want to Set Up Home Office
The first step to set up a home office is to choose where you’d like your office to be. Ideally, your office should be somewhere that provides privacy and a quiet area for you to work in. This is especially necessary if you share your home with a roommate, children, or spouse. Having a private room helps you keep your professional and personal life separate, reduces noise, and increases productivity.
Additionally, some employers may require you to have a separate room where you can close a door due to confidentiality, sensitive documents, or frequent zoom meetings or time on the phone. If you’re self-employed, having a separate room is even more important as the IRS allows tax deductions for home offices that meet requirements. To receive this tax deduction, your office must be your primary place of business and used exclusively for work purposes.
Make Sure Your Work From Home Office Has Enough Light
When choosing a place for your home office, one of the home office essentials that you should consider is the lighting. Adequate lighting can increase productivity and comfort while decreasing eye strain and headaches. Natural light is best, but there are other ways you can provide your office with enough light. If you do not have access to natural light, the use of daylight bulbs can mimic light to an extent. Alternatively, you can also take advantage of warm lighting, such as that from a fireplace, to promote relaxation.
Separate Your Professional and Personal Life
Keeping your professional and personal life separate is one of the work from home necessities that you should strive for. Having a quiet, separate room to work in is a must-have, but there are other ways you should make these clear separations. You can further separate your professional and personal life by:
Having Separate Bank Accounts: Separating your professional and personal bank accounts will help you be more aware of your transactions and home office expenses. This can be especially important when it comes to taxes, as the IRS allows you to take deductions for expenses related to your home office, such as the purchase of home office items.
Setting Up a Dedicated Phone Line: There are a lot of benefits to having a dedicated phone line for your home office. First, dedicated phone lines are more professional, especially if your boss or a client reaches your voicemail. Additionally, it’s easier to take a tax deduction for your business line if it’s used exclusively for your home office. If you have a home phone, having a dedicated line will also prevent other family members from answering the phone. Home office lines can be hard lines or cellular phones.
Identify and Purchase Your Work From Home Necessities
Every work from home office has necessities, so it’s important to first identify what these needs are. The items, furniture, and electronic devices you’ll need is dependent on the type of industry you work in and the tasks you perform each day. Here’s a better look at the home office items you may need to purchase.
Work From Home Technology Essentials
Today, the best home office setup can make it easy for employees and freelancers to work in many different industries to work from home. In most industries, you will need work from home technology essentials to perform your daily tasks and achieve overall success. Depending on your day to day tasks, that may include:
- Desktop or laptop computers
- Monitors
- A keyboard, mouse, webcam, and quality headset
- A printer and scanner
- A dedicated phone line
- Software programs related to your industry
- Paper shredder
Furniture Necessities
Every work from home office needs some form of furniture. After all, what work could you possibly perform in a barren, empty room? Like work from home technology essentials, the furniture you’ll need depends on your industry. You may need work office items like:
- The Right Chair: If you spend much of your time behind a desk, picking the right chair should be your first step to creating the best home office setup. Choosing the right chair will reduce distractions, increase productivity, and improve your overall wellbeing. A good chair will provide back and neck support. Try to find a chair that has an adjustable height. When searching for the right chair to buy, try searching for an ergonomic office chair or gaming chair and explore your options.
- An Adequate Desk: Another common home office essential is your work desk. Work desks come in all shapes, colors, and sizes, so your precise needs will depend on the work you perform. If you have a smaller office, choosing a space-saving desk can help reduce clutter and store all of your home office items and essentials. Choosing an adjustable desk or a standing desk can also have health benefits and provide more comfort.
- Filing Cabinets or a Bookcase: Filing cabinets are great for storage space and sensitive documents. Additionally, a bookcase may be helpful if you work in an industry where you need to reference technical, legal, or medical material.
- Lamps: Invest in the right lighting, even if your home office has windows, as you’ll need other light sources on rainy or cloudy days, or if you’ll be working late.
- Trash Bin: Having a trash bin is a simple, yet effective way to reduce clutter and trash in your office.
Other Home Office Items
Your other work from home necessities will depend on your industry, but you may need to purchase items like:
- Printer paper
- Pens and pencils
- Folders
- Notepads or notebooks
- Sticky notes
Determine Your Working From Home Setup
After you have made all of your home office essential purchases, it’s important to take the time to give your office the right setup. Having the best layout can improve your productivity and make your office more comfortable. When creating your working from home setup, consider the following:
- Place your work desk near a window facing the sun. Doing so will not only help you stay alert and awake, but it will prevent screen glare, which can be hard on your eyes.
- Create a rest area so that you can stay focused, but take your breaks and lunch in comfort.
- Consider adding some plants to your office to improve comfort and air quality.
- Keep items that you frequently use in reach.
