How to Improve Your Home Work Space

If you’re in the process of setting up your home workstation, it’s worth paying close attention to the little things. A simple decoration or a $20 piece of hardware can make a difference as you spend hours in front of your home computer, whether you’re working, studying, or hedging bets on the best poker sites online. 

Working from home can indeed be an incredible experience. You’ll have tons of freedom, you often have the opportunity to set your own hours, and you can work in a comfortable setting. It’s easy to make your home environment rather unproductive if you don’t take yourself seriously. 

Setting up a solid workstation is an excellent mental exercise first and foremost because you’re saying to yourself, “This is my work area. This is where I am going to be productive.” By putting extra care and effort into the separation of your workspace from the rest of your home, you’re setting healthy boundaries and ensuring a better chance for future success. 

So what are some easy ways to upgrade your home work station? Here’s a list of additions you should consider making to your setup today:

Splurge On A Proper Computer Chair

While it might be tempting to simply drag a chair to your workspace from the dining room, this isn’t really sustainable in the long run. Spend a little extra on a nice, ergonomic computer chair, and you’ll be more productive. The investment will pay off because you’ll be able to work for longer periods of time without feeling discomfort. 

You can go the whole nine yards with a decked out gaming chair, or you can simply choose a fairly standard computer chair from a retailer like Ikea. As long as you choose something that has actually been designed specifically for long periods of use in front of your home computer, you’re making a great addition to your workspace. 

Get An Audio Interface

Some people like to work in silence, while others find that the addition of music can seriously boost their productivity. If you’re more musically inclined, you can make your work sessions even more enjoyable by improving the audio quality of your computer. 

Sadly, we have been trained to accept low-quality audio as a matter of convenience. Streaming music in the form of mp3s is almost always of lower quality compared to saved files formatted in .flac or .wav. You can take it a step further with a simple audio interface. This is essentially an external sound card that will blow your laptop or computer audio out of the water. You can pick them up for less than $50, and the difference in quality is astounding. 

Get A Nice Keyboard And Mouse

Whether you’re working on a laptop or a PC, upgrading your mouse and keyboard can make your work life much easier. A different keyboard might feel weird at first, but you’ll soon see that it’s preferable to the flat, unresponsive option that a laptop offers. 

A mouse can also be much easier to use than a trackpad. While this sometimes comes down to personal preference, adding these external components makes your workstation feel more like a “real” office space, and that’s important for your mindset. 

An Adjustable Desk

There is a long-standing debate over how to best position your home computer on your desk. Some say sitting is harmful, and that we should strive to stand as much as possible. Others say that it’s best to switch from position to position to avoid the strain of repeatedly using the same muscles again and again. 

In the end, only you can figure out what the most comfortable position is for you. If you get an adjustable desk, you can try out different positions for your monitor, keyboard, and body to find the optimal solution for you. These adjustable desks are quite common these days, and they’re worth the extra investment. 

Invest In Some Better Lighting

The importance of lighting in your workspace can’t be understated. Lighting dramatically affects our mood, so choose your lighting carefully when you’re setting up your home workspace. 

There are all kinds of different lights you can get, and it’s up to you how far you take it. Smart lights are quite popular these days, as they can connect to your home AI and make adjustments without you even knowing it. Some lights are specifically designed to mimic sunlight, and these can dramatically improve your mood and your productivity. Lighting is especially important during the winter months, so it’s worth the investment even if you currently receive lots of light through a nearby window. 

Get Some Plants To Boost The Mood

Putting a plant on your desk might seem like a seriously minor step, but the truth of the matter is that it can have tremendous effects on your overall mood and productivity. Studies have shown that when people can see nearby plants while working, their mental health improves. They’re also more productive, and this is why modern office buildings are often filled with all kinds of interesting plants. 

You can do the same with a quick trip to a garden store. You can even grow plants from seed. As long as you have decent light, you can keep various exotic plants only a glance away from your home computer screen. Again, this might sound like a minor addition, but the positive effects are irrefutable. 

An Awesome External Monitor

The last thing you should consider for your home workstation is an awesome external monitor. Many people these days work exclusively from their laptops, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If you’re going to stare at a screen all day, why not make it a good quality screen? 

As well as being visually pleasing and satisfying, a larger screen can lead to more productivity. With more screen space, it can be easier to work in multiple windows, so you won’t have to constantly close and open new tabs. As a bonus, a high-quality, decently sized external monitor is excellent for gaming too (when you’re finished work, of course). 

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