Home Office 2.0: It’s Time to get your Setup Right
It is well worth taking the time to consider how to best optimise your WFH space and make the necessary adjustments for a comfortable, productive workspace at home.
09/03/2022
It’s been nearly two years since
South Africa went into the first COVID-19
imposed lockdown, which saw thousands of
employees shifting from working in the office to
working from home (WFH).
The pros and
cons of WFH have been endlessly discussed and
debated, and while it’s a case of different
strokes for different folks (and companies),
many WFH workers are still struggling to get
their home office setup just right.
By
now it’s clear for whom WFH will be a permanent
arrangement, as employers and employees come to
grips with hybrid work models, vaccination
policies and the workplace in general resets
itself.
For those in it for the long
haul, it is well worth taking the time to
consider how to best optimise your WFH space and
make the necessary adjustments for a
comfortable, productive workspace at home. Here
are some tips.
A good desk and chair
In the early days of WFH you might have been
perfectly comfortable working at the kitchen
counter or even from bed, but for most of us
that novelty quickly wore off and we realised
that our brains (generally) work better when
we’re comfortably - and ergonomically - seated
at a suitable desk.
A full home office
outlay can be costly, especially if your
employer isn’t subsidising the setup, so it
makes sense to rent the office furniture you
need. Teljoy, the country’s foremost rent-to-own
provider, has a variety of office furniture,
including desks, chairs, pedestals and pendezas
(a combination of a credenza and pedestal), on a
flexible, monthly subscription basis. This
removes the burden of a large upfront cost but
allows you to add pieces as you go along.
Teljoy’s range also includes computers, tablets,
power systems and home appliances, electronics
and wearables, all of which can be accessed in
the same convenient way.
Cut the clutter
In her second book, Joy at Work: Organizing your Professional Life, Japanese organising guru Marie Kondo makes a compelling case for clearing the clutter from your desk as one of the most important ways to improve productivity, success and even happiness.
There are many
opinions on the best way to deal with workspace
clutter but Kondo recommends identifying the
items that are crucial to getting your work home
and designating a clear space for them. Then,
when it comes time to work, ensure that only
those items are on or around the workspace.
Keep it clean
The typical office desk
is home to some 10 million bacteria, according
to WebMD, and is likely to be as true of your
home office desk. Keeping it clean is as
important as keeping it clutter-free, and
certainly as important for your productivity.
According to Sally Bloomfield, professor and
microbiologist, The surface we come into contact
with using our hands are covered with germs and
bacteria and that's not even including our
tablets, phones and keyboards which are the
dirtiest items on our desk. That is why we
should wipe them down weekly to keep them clean.
Alen Ribic of SweepSouth notes that it’s
impractical to think you can turn your home into
a sterile zone, but you can stop your WFH space
from becoming a bacterial battleground. It is an
ongoing battle to balance work and home,
especiall when it comes down tasks such as
cleaning, and that's is why you should consider
hiring SweepStar Cleanin Services to help tidy
and clean for a few hours each week.
Finishing touches
Now that you’re properly set up, clean and clutter-free, don’t forget the all-important finishing touches. Things like a potted plant, framed photo of your loved ones, a favourite book or a beautiful vase can go a long way to making the space uniquely yours and a pleasant one to work in.