Home office comfort | Home Office Base

Last week I visited my friend to work on a project together at her place. First time in her newly set up Home Office and we actually struggled to concentrate on our work. We started brainstorming and making a few changes to make her Home Office more comfortable and more conducive to proper work.

So, how to make your Home Office more comfortable? Three must haves are: proper lighting, good chair and adjustable desk. Beyond that: use ergonomic accessories, have a flexible office layout, ensure you have the right temperature, a good organization system, a way to hide unwanted wires, have some plants and personalize your décor.

We started on this project to making her place more comfortable. Before long, my friend definitely felt that her new home office put her in the right mood for work. She would work for hours and be more focused on her work… In the paragraphs below, I’ll get more in details into how we did it.

Proper lighting

The first rule to make your home office comfortable is to ensure that you can get plenty of natural light. Multiple studies have shown that workers who get natural light have better sleeping patterns than those that do not and are up to 40% more productive. Perhaps you have realized that in the work offices, most workers prefer sitting near the window as they work…

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA – belonging to the US Department of Labor) recommends that the light be directed away from the line of sight, so you need to have your windows running alongside the monitor, not in front or behind it.

Other pieces of advice: have additional desk lamp shining down on paper rather than on the screen. Use overhead lighting as well as desk lamps. Have your overhead lighting run parallel to your screen / monitor…

Invest in a very good chair

Extremely important as you will spend hours on the chair. This is the second step towards creating a comfortable home office: get the ideal chair. For your back (health wise) and for your comfort as well. Also, you can’t be productive if you are seated on a chair that makes you feel tired within two hours of working.

Go for an ergonomic chair. As alluded to earlier, long hours seated improperly can be do a lot of harm, especially to your back.

Choosing the right chair is the challenge because you will definitely want to try it. My research online shows that you absolutely need to try the chair, however good it may seem in a picture. If you buy it online, make sure you can return the chair if it does not work for you.

Make sure all the components of the chair are adjustable: lumbar support, armrest and height. Again, based on my research on the web, you also need a chair that rotates 360 degrees and can rock and bounce as well. Prices? Well, a high-end Aeron chair will be a minimum of $ 1,000. You can find other ergonomic chairs for less but be wary for going to far on the low side as you will pay for it… With your back or neck aches!

Adjustable desk

So… I never used to have an adjustable desk until I was given one at work and it does make such a huge difference…! You are not seated for part of the day at least but it still feel much more comfortable! The fact that I can change position throughout the is what makes it more comfortable.

Digging into it, I did find articles comparing fixed and adjustable height desks and all point to the fact that fixed height desk actually cause more back pain. There is a growing body of research that lists all the health benefits associated with the use of an adjustable desk but what I can personally attest to is that I do feel reduced back pain and higher energy levels.

I would recommend the adjustable desk which goes up and down with simply pressing a button (the one I have at work..). You can precisely adjust it to your most comfortable height and bring it all the way down so you can sit in your chair. I did some research online and those cost around $ 800… Again, I would pay for it…

Ergonomic accessories

So, after all of the above, there are a few other ergonomic accessories that you would need to consider: anti-fatigue mat (when standing) and a footrest (when sitting). The anti-fatigue mat helps reduce the stress on your joints when you are standing on a hard floor. Not only that but it also helps with blood circulation in the feet and legs. The footrest will help especially with the posture which in turn, helps with back pain (I tend to suffer from that one most). Footrest is also good for blood circulation. These are just two of the benefits you get by using a footrest and there are many articles that talk more about a number of other benefits. In short: consider both anti-fatigue mat and a footrest.

Second monitor. Not an accessory per-se however, it’s so much more comfortable to work with two (or more) monitors. In some cases, you can get an extra wide monitor: two monitors side by side but already built together. The number one benefit is that you don’t juggle with windows anymore (or a lot less). Also, a second monitor is not that expensive but makes an immediate impact.

Lastly, I need to mention a padded wrist rest and an adjustable keyboard or even a keyboard with two sections to allow the wrist to remain straight in their natural position while you type. The two combined will help with wrist aches associated with typing for long hours… I must say that getting used to the sectioned keyboard is not as easy as I thought it would be but the benefits for the wrists are undeniable. Oh, and tilt your monitor so that your neck is straight!

Flexible office layout

Bottom line: your work may change and your body will change, so best is to have a modular layout so your home office can change with and adapt to you and / or your new work… What may have worked for your business (and yourself) last year may no longer work now.

The best thing to do is to get furniture that is easy to move around: Modular furniture tends to be more lightweight and easier to disassemble/reassemble and is often on wheels (even easier to move).

Also, make it such that nothing is fastened to the walls and have your shelves such that they can easily be added or removed.

Finally, when you must re-arrange your furniture because, you know, your work has changed for example, a modular layout with save you money as you can re-use those modular items (or at least some of them).

Right temperature

The right temperature makes a world of difference! We can work when the temperature is slightly above or below what we can handle but it seriously impacts our work. We may still be and act fine for a period of time but the wrong temperature will catch up with you: it’s so much better to work with the temperature with which you feel comfortable.

The first factor that influences the temperature is how insulated your home office is. If not well insulated from outside, it will be more difficult to keep the right temperature. And even if you feel comfortable, your heating system or A/C might actually be “over-working”, which means that you’ll pay it with your electric bill. Insulating your room could be very costly as well, so you may want to run the numbers… The simplest thing to do here: find a better insulated spot to make it your home office.

The next factor somewhat related is where your home office is in your house: is it a corner in your garage? That will be difficult to control the temperature there… Or do you have a proper spare bedroom? Temperature control will be much easier… Where exactly your home office is located in your house will greatly impact your ability to control the temperature. Admittedly, I can understand that your choices may be limited in practicality.

The last factor in how to get the right temperature, is what heating / cooling system you have and the thermostat you use. You will need a thermostat to regulate the temperature for you. It’s hard to tell what the temperature should be as I personally prefer it to be on the colder side but I do know people who likes it better on the warmer side. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) recommends 68 to 76 degrees Fahrenheit or 20 to 24 Celsius. I prefer 19 C (65 F)…

Good organization system

The biggest issue with home offices is that papers and other documents end up on top of one another due to lack of space or, if your home office is large enough, that the papers end up taking too much (if not all the) space. More so than in a regular office as presumably, you work alone in your home office, so no one will remind you to keep your document and your work space organized.

A good organization system will help you have your papers organized and, most importantly, help make your home office more comfortable. The most important thing is that everything must have their place. Use filing cabinets and bookcases is a first good step to get papers and other work documents in a proper place.

What is used regularly should be easy to reach and grouped together logically (all files for client A for example or for a certain type of research). Where possible, use color codes as well. Have your filing cabinet within arms reach also so that whatever has been filed can be retrieved quickly.

Organize your filing system to mirror the workflows you naturally use: create a meeting folder with info for all your meetings, another “reading” folder for what you need to read at some point. Likewise, create a “magazine” box for the magazines you want to read. You will also need a storage box… Remember to regularly reassess what documents / magazines / etc. you really need and throw away what you no longer need or use (OK: you can store away some if you need them or want them in the future). I cannot even begin to tell how often I get back to my office at home and see a magazine or other item that I’m still hanging on to but I have not used in months… A good rhythm is about every 6 months: “spring” cleanup and “back to school” cleanup .

Hide unwanted wires

A great way to make your home office more comfortable is to have all those annoying cables neatly organized and hidden. The office and desk are clean, with no unruly cables all over the place… Just imagining it gives me a great feeling of relaxation. If that’s you too, then try the following tips…

Some office desks come with electric sockets built-in. If you can do that, go ahead. The only downside is that those desks are usually the “modern” style type, so no nice old-fashioned wooden desk for you… The upside: electric sockets and even USB charging ports are right here at your fingertips.

Otherwise, you will need to strategically organize your wired items on your desk (screen, laptop charger, cellphone charger, telephone…) and look at the cable paths: you want to regroup them as much as you can and create one or two bundles that will be easier to manage. We will want to tie the cords together and then Velcro them to the table all the way to the surge protector. Also, hide your power surge under the desk. You need to Velcro it to the desk so that it’s hidden. Some office desk come with a mini rack under the desk where you can simply put the surge protector in, hidden from anyone’s view.

What about the cell phones and other portable devices that require charging? Best is to dedicate a spot and make it a “charging corner”. You actually may want to use a charging station that will help get control over the multitude of charging cables (and hold your electronics). If you can go for wireless charger for your cell phones, that’s even better: one (or maybe two) less charging cables.

Plants

You might not realize it now, but watering and attending to the plants increases your happiness, reduces stress, and can improve your productivity by as much as 15%. There is something soothing when tending to plants and seeing them grow. If you are inclined to or into caring for plants or simply open to it, get a plant or two in your home office.

If plants are not your thing, I would not force it. But if they are and if you are not away from your home office for long periods of time, then you should add a couple of plants and at least see if it makes enough of a positive difference.

Go for easy to maintain plants and also, ensure that whichever plants you go for are suitable for your air quality. The scent should not be too strong as the aim is only to make the air quality better, and these may include ficus, dracaena, Boston fern, and spider plant.

Personalized décor

When I personalize my décor, I do feel a little bit more “at home” when I sit in my Home Office. It is sort of funny because, at the end of the day, my Home Office is in my home, but it is a workplace too and, to make it a bit more comfortable, I do bring in a little bit of “at home” feeling with personalized décor.

The personalized décor can be very simple: I like family pictures in nice frames. Well positioned, they are there when you want to look at them but there are not in your way also. Souvenirs are good too and can be very inexpensive. Other ideas include funky accessories (lamps, mugs…) or calendars with nice pictures. What I like a lot also is to have those inspirational messages or quotes in a very simple canvas.

How to Make Your Home Office More Comfortable?