Having a well-balanced and easy-to-maintain office setup will surely help you to improve your working conditions and help increase your productivity. But before diving into the details, let us first focus on the basics, “Without having a solid foundation, you will have trouble creating anything of value.” Ask yourself what the most fundamental things for a productive home office work setup are? Can you think of an answer? The answer is simple: it is the desk that you make use of. Let us understand how we can optimize it.
Back to Basics
Your desk: the chair, monitor, keyboard, mouse, phone, also maybe a plant. The real problem is the desk is not customized for you; it was built and designed keeping in mind the average human’s measurements. And spending long hours slouching and cranking can lead to severe and chronic pain; that’s what the doctor says, and it is good to listen to them if you want to live a healthy lifestyle and increase your productivity.
Step One: Let’s start from the chair. It’s yours, so adjust it according to your needs. The height of an average desk is somewhere between 29 to 30 inches. According to some people, it might be too short, or for others, it might be too tall. It is the function of the chair to make you feel comfortable at your desk. To solve this problem, simply adjust your chair accordingly. But you might wonder how to know what is the correct height you should go for…? The first factor is the angle that the elbow makes with the desk. It should be somewhere near 90 degrees, as it reduces the stress from your elbow, able to make your hands move over the desk easily. Make sure your feet are touching the floor, for some people it might be an issue as their feet won’t reach the floor, this can be solved by using a footstool, if you don’t have one or are not able to search for one, for the time being, you can also use a ream of paper as your footrest.
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Step Two: Let us now focus on the monitor. What is the best distance to keep your monitor? To read from your monitor without putting your eyes under stress, or leaning forward or slouching backwards, or disturbing your natural posture, is to keep the monitor about arm’s length. Also, having the monitor at your eye’s level will work wonders for you, as you won’t have to put your neck under stress to adjust the field view. The monitor can be raised using an elevated platform. If not, reams of paper could be used for the same work. How to set up, if you are operating on two monitors simultaneously? In the case of two monitors, usually, there is a primary monitor and a secondary monitor. The monitor which is used to perform the majority of the tasks is called a primary monitor, and the secondary monitor is mainly used for side activities. To optimize the setup, the primary monitor has to be directly in front of you. This helps to increase the attention as you can provide your undivided attention to it and the secondary in your peripheral vision. But if you make use of your monitors equally, it is best to keep them lined up while placing yourself in the middle of both of them. And in the case of a laptop, use a kickstand to adjust the height of the screen and then use an external keyboard and mouse to increase your performance.
Step Three: Pay attention to your keyboard and mouse. It is important to be aware of your hands while using them as you don’t want to expose your hands to uncomfortable situations, as this can lead to muscle or tendon pain. The keyboard should be at the place where your hands naturally end up. This allows you to type comfortably. The mouse should be placed right next to the keyboard, making it easy to maneuver between keyboard and mouse. The main idea is not to reach for the tools as it might put unnecessary stress on the back and the shoulders muscles leaving you with muscle soreness, stiffness, and aches.
Step Four: Half of the work is done by making use of phones. It is important to place your phone on the non-writing side as it significantly reduces the stress from your shoulders and neck muscles. If you are someone using your phone for the majority part of the day, it is good to invest in a headset as it allows you to use both hands and simultaneously make use of your phone.
Step Five: Research says that it is impossible to maintain your work efficiency throughout the day. But there are many ways which can be used to maintain and improve your work efficiency. Here are some exercises that can be performed while sitting in your chair. The first exercise, a chin tuck. It helps you to relax your neck muscles, increasing mobility. The second exercise: work your upper traps. The exercise involves a basic stretch of your head to one side and then gently pulling it. The third exercise, a scapular retraction. It is performed by squeezing your shoulders back. It helps to release all the tension build up in the upper back. The fourth exercise: a pelvic tilt. It helps you to relax your lower back. Apart from these exercises, it is very important to get up from your chair every hour, as it recharges your body and allows you to work more productively. Go for a short walk, have something to eat or drink, just have a small break!
Let us now shed some light on other factors having a significant effect on your efficiency and productivity.
Aesthetic Functionalism
Aesthetics plays a very important role in deciding the working environment of a particular place. We tend to deliver more output while being in surroundings where our minds can have a connection. Having an attractive arrangement helps to boost our happy hormones, resulting in increased work output.
Yes, having an aesthetic home setup is awesome, but it should be functional. The very basis of our human behaviour is that we value only things having practical functionality. Anything having less or no significance in our daily life is not valued and, most of the time, discarded. It is ok to invest in an aesthetic environment, furniture, utilities, etc. Still, at the same time, it is important to remember the basic need, and we should develop upon them accordingly.
Before investing, we should pause for a moment and think about the value that the respective would add to your work. If you can think of any strong points, only then go for it. This approach will not only help you to optimize your environment but also provide you with better clarity.
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The right spot
Selecting the right spot plays a crucial part in deciding whether the decided arrangement will work for you or against you.
We, humans, are affected by every single thing in our surroundings. It is a part of our evolutionary process to be aware of our surroundings, which makes it very important to select the best possible area as our workspace.
The various factors for deciding the right spot are
The first factor: a source of light. It is a known fact that having a good light source is one of the most important needs. The light source can be natural or artificial, but it has to satisfy the need to provide you with a well-lighted workspace. If you have a window providing you with enough natural light, place your table adjacent to the window, you will get to enjoy the fresh air and have something else to look for while taking your breaks from screen time.
The second factor, noise factor. While working, unwanted sounds and noises can be very irritating and distracting, leading to a decrease in concentration. Choosing a room where there can be minimal sound distraction can do wonders for you.
Bring in the equipment.
To perform any task easily and efficiently, it’s important to make use of the right tools and equipment. Also, it is important to store these tools properly to eliminate the time spent searching the respective.
Some of the must-have tools to increase your productivity are a set of colored pens: different colors can be assigned specific meaning for making it easier to remember; think post-it notes: can be used to note down the important details quickly and also to list down the important task that is required to be performed and many more; all in one stand: to store all the stationery in one place for making it easier to access any specific tool; file storage solution: to store essential and frequently used documents.
Assigning a fixed place for each thing will help us increase productivity.
Cosy corner
The primary purpose of the desk is to provide you with a comfortable area to work, and it should only be used for work, as this mentality promotes higher results. Doing any other activities on the desk will train your mind to deviate while performing your main task.
If you want to think of any creative ideas, come up with any innovative solutions, write amazing articles, etc., first decide on a corner of the room and make it your creative space corner.
Make it comfortable and cosy as creativity increases when you are in a comfort zone. Having a particular place decided for specific purposes trains your body and mind to change accordingly, which helps to increase productivity.
Try scents
Having a pleasing aroma promotes positive vibes. These vibes have a significant effect on your performance.
There are various aromas available in the market. Try trial and error methods and select what works best for you.
Different aromas stimulate different chemical reactions in different people. You can start by trying lavender and rose. They are especially known to stimulate a calm and peaceful mind, which can be very useful in stressful situations.
Music
The fact is researched and proved that different music can have serious effects on moods. If you want a calm and peaceful mind to cope with the stressful work, try hearing delta waves and white sounds, they stabilize your brain frequencies, promoting higher states of alertness and increased concentration. Also, listening to upbeat music during your breaks can decrease your recovery time and uplift your mood so that you can work more by taking smaller breaks.
