by MARNÉ AMOGUIS
Working from home offers employees tons of benefits, but it can also be a place of distractions. Some people thrive in a home environment, while others need a little help focusing on their work to get stuff done, some may need a work journal to concentrate. Between family members interrupting you from being unable to think about anything but your chores, working from home means dealing with a new set of distractions you’ve never had to deal with before. Luckily, you can make working from home easier with these products.
1. Storage Containers
Whether you’re using a spare bedroom or a small section of your living room for work, you need an environment completely free of distraction, including clutter. Keeping your workspace clean and organized can help you focus on your work without worrying about the mess. Yes, some people can work in an untidy environment, but most people need a clean, organized office space to be productive.
Having a clean workspace can help you function better while working, so it’s important you store your stuff to keep it off your desk and out of your way. For example, if you’re using a spare bedroom, you might have to store old clothing and random pieces of furniture from your home. Even if you have a clean, empty space, you’ll still need to organize your work papers with a great storage solution so you can easily find documents and notes when you need them.
Having an organized office can help you maintain order to complete your work without getting distracted easily. You can take your office storage to the next level by adding shelves or spare drawers.
2. Plants
Having plants in your home, especially in your office, can promote calmness and productivity. Giving yourself something to take care of can help you take a break from staring at your computer screen while allowing you to look at something else. Green is known for its ability to be calming, so having plants can help people stay calm and maintain their composure.
Plants will also add some life to your home office, which can otherwise be dreary. You can choose from any number of plants for your office, but if you don’t have a green thumb, you can start off with bamboo or a succulent. Once you trust your ability to help plants thrive, you can begin upgrading the plants in your office to something more lively and colorful. If your plants need light, you can turn your desk towards natural light and watch your plants grow.
3. Furniture
All office spaces require furniture since working on the floor wouldn’t be comfortable for most. If you want to avoid distraction, especially distraction in the form of back or neck pain, you’ll need comfortable furniture, including a quality office chair, along with your favorite hand moisturizer. Your home office doesn’t have to be fancy like a real office, but it should be comfortable and allow you to have enough space to move around without bumping into anything.
If you want your home office to feel more like a real office so you can get more work done, you should have the following:
Standing desk or standing desk converter: Sitting for eight or more hours a day isn’t good for you and can lead to a more sedentary life. Instead, try standing up for at least part of the day to focus on better posture. Standing up might also help you feel more awake throughout the day.
Standard square or rectangular desk: You probably can’t stand all day, depending on what you’re doing. Most people need to type sitting down, so you should always have a standard desk available for the days you just can’t stand up.
Comfortable office chair: Your office chair will help you maintain proper posture to avoid back and neck pain. Out of all the different types of furniture you can have in your home office, many people prefer to spend more on an office chair than anything else because of its impact on your health.
Couch: Every home office needs a couch so you can rest when you need it. Nobody can remain completely productive all day long, and sometimes you’ll need to rest or even take a nap. A couch can also be a great workspace if you don’t need to focus too hard on anything.
4. Devices
All home offices need tech, including a computer or laptop, phone, and maybe even a tablet, depending on what you do for work. Your computer will likely be your most critical office device, so you must have one that can fit all your needs. Depending on what you do and your flexible work position, you might be able to work efficiently with a laptop, but many workers typically prefer to purchase a desktop to make their home offices feel like a real office.
While your devices are how you get work done, and you wouldn’t be able to work without them, they can also be a great source of distractions. When you’re on a computer, you might get a random thought and feel the need to Google it, or you might check your phone to see if your significant other texted you. Luckily, you can minimize your device distractions easily.
When it comes to your computer, you can choose to use a browser that’s just for work, which means no more Googling random thoughts. You can also turn off your desktop notifications for social media, emails, and texts.
If you feel like you have to be strict with yourself, you can add a website blocker to your computer. With a website blocker, you can stop yourself from visiting websites that have nothing to do with work, such as any social media website, video streaming, or just about anything else that isn’t work-related. Once you get into the habit of working from home, you might find you don’t need to use a website blocker anymore because you know what it takes to be productive.
You should also turn your phone on silent for at least part of the day. If there are any hours of the day which require you to be completely focused, try putting your phone on silent to see how productive you can really be.
Marné Amoguis
Marné Amoguis holds a B.A. in International Business from UC San Diego. She is a contributing writer at 365businesstips.com where she loves sharing her passion for digital marketing. Outside of writing, she loves traveling, playing music, and hiking.
