With lockdown in full swing, there’s a good chance that you’re starting to get quite familiar with working from home. Whether you’ve managed to find relative peace or you’re in a constant battle with noisy children, making sure that your home office is set up correctly is absolutely essential to your long-term productivity.

With this in mind, in this article, Arc Business Interiors are going to go through exactly how to set up your home office for success.

Desk and chair

While everyone’s home offices will differ, what will remain constant is that everybody needs a good desk and a good chair. This is the backbone of your home office and if you can’t get these right, then the rest falls apart.

Let’s take a look at what you need from your desk:

– Stability
– Plenty of leg space underneath the desk
– Adjacent drawers to store things like stationery and files

Here’s what you need from your office chair:

– Comfort (in a way that promotes a healthy back)
– An adjustable height
– Arm supports
– Wheels (if wooden floor)

A good desk and chair are worth investing in for the sake of your comfort and health while working from home. Arc Business Interiors sell high-quality office equipment that is ergonomic and built to last.

Lighting and greenery

Biophilic design is one of the biggest trends in office design at the moment, and for good reason: studies demonstrate that plenty of natural light and the presence of plant life can enhance our mood considerably and, in turn, our levels of productivity. So, to help maximise your productivity at home, we would suggest setting up your office close to a window, and why not invest in a plant for the window sill?

Separating work and home life

Working from home might seem like the dream, but if you fail to properly separate work and home life, this can take a real toll on you mentally. That is, we’re often able to deal with the stresses of work by physically removing ourselves from the place where those stresses originate, which then allows our brains to start naturally associating home with relaxation. However, if we work and relax in the same place, our brains will struggle to relax.

With all of this in mind, it’s important to find, if possible, a separate area of your home to work. Have a spare bedroom? Setup your office there. The chances are, you rarely ever go in this spare bedroom, making it a sort of blank canvas for your brain’s work/stress associations.

Exercise

Of course, exercise is important regardless of whether you’re working from home or not, but it can also be used as an excellent tool to help us separate work life from home life. For example, if we go for a run at the end of our working day, this can act as a buffer between work and rest, and the ensuing fatigue can help us unwind into the evening.

Want to talk more about offices and interior design? Arc Business Interiors are trusted suppliers of first-class office fit-outs, including flooring, ceiling & lighting options, and furniture options for customers in Leicester, Nottingham and Derby. From small spaces to major spaces, there’s no project too big or too small – get in touch with us today to find out more. We’d love to hear from you.