Since COVID-19, the majority of office workers have moved to a hybrid working schedule, with at least one day a week spent working from the comfort of their home.
Although working from home can reduce commute times and provide a better work life balance, it also comes with a magnitude of distractions. Without the correct working setup, you may find that your productivity can take a hit, so creating a designated office space to work from is essential in facilitating concentration and focus.
Poor Lighting
Proper lighting is crucial in creating a productive work environment and enhancing employee well-being, especially within an office setting where employees are staring at computer screens for long hours.
Poor lighting can negatively affect your focus by causing eye-strains, headaches and back pain. In an office environment, poor lighting is usually characterised as being insufficient and poorly distributed, however, too much light can also be a major health and safety concern.
LED lighting is a good choice for a home office as it imitates natural lighting to help find the perfect lighting balance. This can reduce the chance of headaches and eye strains that are commonly caused by artificial lighting and help you stay alert throughout the day.
LED lighting can also provide the added money-saving benefits due to its increased energy efficiency and long lifespan. However, it is important to remember that for LED lighting to be effective it must be distributed evenly. Inconsistent lighting can be difficult for eyes to adjust to and is therefore a major cause of eye-strain.
Unergonomic Furniture
Unsupportive furniture often results in painful injuries that can be very distracting in day-to-day life. To avoid this, investing in ergonomic furniture is key.
This will provide your body with the correct support to avoid these injuries. Failing to consider ergonomic furniture in your home office can be detrimental to your productivity, especially with the majority of Brits working from home multiple days a week.
An ergonomic chair is crucial for creating a comfortable home office setup as they help to correct posture-related issues and reduce injuries.
A mesh office chair is an ideal solution, as they offer support to the entirety of your back by conforming to your body’s contours and preventing muscle strains.
In addition, other ergonomic features like an adjustable desk, laptop stand and footrest, can enhance your home working set up further. These features help to improve your posture when working long hours and therefore release pressure on the spine.
Poor Office Layout
Unbeknownst to many office workers, the layout of an office is an element that is highly thought out to ensure the production of good quality work. It is therefore crucial that when workers are designing an office in their own home, the same importance is placed on layout, in order to foster high levels of productivity.
In particular, the placement of your desk must be well thought-out as you will spend the majority of your time in this position. It is commonly considered good practice to place your desk near a window to provide a natural light source that will keep you awake and focused. However, windows can also be very distracting, so it is best to avoid having a direct view out of a window to minimise people watching.
Distractions
In order to create a productive environment, it is important that your office space is organised and free from clutter. It is therefore key that every item within your office has its own designated space and that only necessary items are kept on your desk at all times.
In addition, decorative objects and colours should be kept to a minimum as a busy decor scheme can make it difficult to concentrate.
You should also always be mindful of personal distractions when designing a home office. For example, if you struggle to concentrate with loud noise, then it is important to take measures to minimise this.
Soundproofing your office is very effective in reducing distractions, but it can also be a time-consuming and expensive process. To combat these high costs, purchasing some soundproof headphones will go a long way in minimising noise and improving productivity.
Working from home isn’t going anywhere anytime soon so it is important that employees take the time to invest in their home office set up. A designated office space is crucial in fostering a productive work environment. However, it goes much further than simply placing a desk in a room, there’s many considerations that should be taken into account when designing a focused and comfortable office space.
