Ata mārie, morning all! Today’s wellbeing tip is: Work from Home Items Everyone Needs
To enjoy the benefits of working from home and overcome the drawbacks. The following are some work from home essentials that we’ve learned over the first week in lock down. Do add a comment if there is something not on the list that you have found to be useful too:
1. Desk
Whether you’re working in a dedicated office or a corner of another room, a useful piece of equipment is a desk. Bonus if you have an adjustable desk that can transition from a sitting to a standing desk, too.
2. Office Chair
In addition to a desk, an ergonomic office chair is vital. Even if you plan on standing at your desk, you still ought to have a good, adjustable chair at the ready. You never know when you’re going to need to sit down and take a rest during the day.
3. Laptop Stand or that new triangle pillow advertised on the telly… now what is that called?
If you’re working from a laptop, which is common for a lot of work-from-home professionals like you these days, you ought to look for a stand for that laptop. That way, you can treat it like a desktop computer and won’t have to worry about hunching over it while sitting at your desk. You still get to enjoy the portability benefits.
4. Wireless Keyboard
When you’re using a laptop stand, you don’t have easy access to the attached keyboard. To make up for this, a wireless keyboard that will allow you to continue sitting or standing in a comfortable position while you work is a good idea. A regular keyboard will do as well.
5. Wireless Mouse
A wireless mouse is a must as well. Even if you’re using a regular desktop computer instead of a laptop, a wireless mouse can still be easy to use. If not wireless, a regular mouse will do the job, but you may run out of USB ports.
6. Floor or Desk Lamp
Your home work space needs to have plenty of light to help you stay alert and focused throughout the day. If your work space is short on natural light, try to make up for it by setting up a floor lamp or desk lamp (or both). This will give you more light exposure and help to prevent eye strain and headaches.
7. Docking station, Monitor, Camera and cables
Working from a laptop or surface means you have less ports to attach accessories such as a camera, mouse, keyboard, duo-monitors. A docking station is a good tool to have. You will need to have all manner of cables so check you’ve got the right ones. These may include: VGA (D-sub), DVI, HDMI, PS/2, Ethernet, USB, Power cord (kettle plug), USB-C, Display Port, Adapters. We’ve also found a monitor and having a camera that can be adjusted for those multiple zoom meetings makes working from home more comfortable.
8. Network Router
If you’re going to work from home full-time, you need to have reliable internet access. If there’s more than one computer in your home, or if you have other devices that require internet access like smart TVs, you’ll need to make sure you have a good network router in place. A Wireless Range Extender might be a good idea to boost your signal.
9. Surge Protector
A surge protector is a good investment as well. This little tool will give you access to all the outlets you need. It’ll also help to protect your computer and other pieces of office equipment from potentially damaging voltage spikes.
10. Printer-Scanner Combo
Think of how much time you’ll save if you have a reliable printer and scanner readily available at your house.
This is a great and rather ironic reminder of what ‘home essentials’ most of us do not have to optimise our working from home. It made me smile wryly as I scrolled down using the rather tiny work tablet and the mouse I was lucky enough to bring from work, whilst sitting on the one ergonomic chair our household has. What I’ve taken from it is a reminder to follow (and continue to follow) the advice of Wednesday’s DPI post- if you didn’t read it, now’s the time to read and heed it. And hold on to Jenny’s advice- most particularly to be kind to ourselves and our bodies.
Take care out there,
Caroline
A foot rest is helpful too. I grabbed mine before the lock down. It’s particularly helpful if the ratio of the height of your desk and your chair do not quite meet ergonomic standards, and is also helpful when working at a standing desk – I rest one foot on the footrest and change feet regularly. My standing desk consists of my breakfast bar and a computer stand, but a firm item such as a wooden box could be used as a computer stand too. A cushion, or cushions, or a rolled up towel, to support the small of your back is also helpful if you do not have a suitable chair.
I discovered that the kickstand on the HP Elite X2 device can be opened wider than I had thought. The hinge is quite stiff but it opens to an angle of approximately 120 degrees. This makes looking at the screen easier on the neck. The keyboard can be folded in against the bottom of the screen too, which saves a bit of room and creates a slight slant on the keyboard, which I find is more comfortable than the using the completely flat, thin keyboard.
Caroline A.
Excellent, thanks Caroline A, I hadn’t noticed that about the hinge, that does make a difference 🙂 Caroline S