Working from home seems to be very much a part of the new normal for so many of us. But how can we stay productive while working from home? Setting up an organised home office is an excellent way to maximise productivity while working from home. Keep reading to check out my home office essentials to make your home office a pleasant and productive place to work and take a look at my home office organisation video series below.
Table Of Contents
Desk
A desk is a home office essential. Look for the largest work surface desk that you can fit into the space you have. This way you will have the maximum space for both computer and written work.
I have the Micke desk from IKEA that has 2 handy drawers for storing essentials.
Chair
When choosing an office chair, look for one that supports your back and arms as you work.
Laptop stand
Working at a laptop for extended periods of time can mean bad posture as you hunch over your screen. Raising your laptop with a stand so that your screen is eye level means that you will slouch less and avoid a bad back.
Keyboard
When your laptop is on a stand, you will need a separate keyboard to avoid having to float your arms mid air to type.
Trackpad Or Mouse
You will also need either a trackpad or mouse, whichever you prefer, to sit next to your keyboard.
Wrist Supports
Wrist supports will so exactly what they say on the tin and support your wrist as you work, helping to avoid worst and arm pain.
Desk Light
Not necessarily essential if your home office space is naturally bright, but I always like a desk light for working in the evenings or early mornings.
Smart Plug
If you have read my Smart Home blog post, you will know that I use smart plugs around my home to automate my devices and my home office is no exception.
In my home office I have my desk light, wax melt burner and laptop charger on smart plugs so that I can control them from my phone and on timers.
Drawer Dividers
The ONLY way to organise any drawer in your home, and not just the ones in your home office, is with drawer dividers. Everything will stay for more organised, neat and tidy, plus it’ll be much easier to take things out for using and cleaning. These drawer dividers are the nicest m=and most reasonably priced ones that I have found.
Erasable Pens
I was in my 30s when I finally discovered erasable pens and I wondered how I ever managed before them.
Pen Pots
Pens can be stored in your desk organisers or displayed in ncos pen pots. I use these from IKEA that look like a sort of lace effect. I think they are supposed to be tea light candle holders really, but they make nice pen pots and makeup brush holders too.
The shelf that my pen posts sit on it actually an IKEA spice rack painted with the same paint as the wall.
Kallax
I use kallax shelving from IKEA all over my house as it is such an efficient and versatile storage solution. It comes in sizes from 1 x 1 cube up to 5 x 5 cubes. There are lots of options for slotting into the cubes, I find the drone boxes are a cheap way of maximising the space.
Clear Bags For Organising
As you’ll see in my home office organisation series, I like to section, divide and organise the contents of my drone boxes within my kallax units with clear bags. This is a brilliant way to keep things such as wires, equipment and more, sorted and way to find.
External Hard Drive
A rather boring bit of working from home? Backing up. In an office, this os something that is often thought of for you, but at home it’s something we have to organise ourselves. Invest in an external hard drive to backup your valuable files in case the worst happens.
Clipboards
I like to use clipboards to organise projects that I am currently working on. This keeps every bit of information that I need to complete a task in one place and easily managed. Once the project is complete, the documents are filed in a lever arched folder and the new project moves onto the clipboard.
If you want to grab the office organisation templates that I use to organise my to do lists, tasks and projects, join my free to join email club below and get the Ultimate Mum Bundle of printable resources as a welcome gift.
Command Hooks For Clipboard
I use these easy to stick up, damage free command hooks to hand my clipboards above my desk in view.
Magnetic Whiteboard
Magnetic whiteboards are handy for jotting notes and sticking up important papers too.
Whiteboard Pens
Magnets For Your Whiteboard
Headphones
Working from home can often be. noisy affair if your family are home. Noise cancelling headphones can help you to block out the noise and concentrate.
Command Hooks For Headphones
I keep my headphones out of the way on a large command hook.
Command Strips
Use command strips to stick anything you need to put up such as pictures or frames combining printables.
A4 Frames
For many of the printables in my Ultimate Mum Bundle that I use all over my home, I use these A4 frames.
Paper Sorter
We all need somewhere to dump incoming mail and other documents before we have time to sort them. A paper tray like this one will keep your pending papers in order.
Bin
Shredder
Keep your identity safe by shredding used documents before you dispose of them.
Label Maker
I LOVE labelling things after they are organised. I have this label maker and it’s super easy to use.
Label Maker Labels
Wax Burner
Not an office essential perhaps, but I love my office to smell nice as I work, so I use this electric wax burner. I have it on an smart plug so that I can control it with timers and my phone.
Tissue Box
Tissues look so much nicer when decanted into a pretty tissue box.
Phone Holder
I have a Popsocket on the back of my phone, making it far easier to hold, use and prop up. At my desk I have this Pop Mount to stand my phone on it’s popsocket.
Zoom Light
We are all on video calls and meeting more than ever. This nifty little light is ideal for lighting up your face and showing you in your best light.
Cocktail Sofa
Not necessarily essential if you have a desk and desk chair but it can be nice to have another sofa or chair for if a family member joins you in your office, or even to sit n for a change of scenery.
I have one of these little cocktail sofas from Homebase. They are attractive, slim for small spaces and a bargain price. I paid just £120 for a 2 seater.
Cushion Inserts
Cushion Covers
Rug
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