As soon as the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, a near-panic arose among office workers who saw an unknown amount of time spent working from home alongside their disgruntled partners and confused kids stretch before them. Eighteen months in, enough Americans have become used to working from home—and discovered the many advantages it provides—that many employers have been left having to dangle improbable perks such as access to beehives and gardening plots in the middle of Manhattan in order to try and coax their employees back to the office. If you are one of the lucky people who have been able to continue to work flexibly from your own place, here are a few tips to help make the most of it.
Find out your peak hours and buy a sunrise alarm clock
Not everyone who works from home has the luxury of being able to set their own hours—a lot of companies are treating their employees’ lounges like an extension of the office. If you can, though, find out when your productivity is at its peak and make sure you do your ‘deep work’ within those hours. Many tests will also allow you to discover at which times you should do your less deep work—such as going through your emails and organizing your calendar—and when would be the best time to go for a walk or take a nap according to your biological clock. In the dark days of winter, and especially if it turns out that you are a night owl, a sunrise alarm clock can help you wake up and go to sleep at the times that work best for you.
Get yourself some comfortable seating
A good desk chair is important for your posture, but sometimes spending all day, every day at a desk can get a bit much. For those times when you just can’t face another day sitting at your desk, get yourself a cheap lovasac in a bright color—it will liven up both your home office and your mood. You can do your work on a laptop or a phone while lounging on a comfortable bean bag—and perhaps take a trip down memory lane to your high school or college library at the same time!
Have your meetings on a smart TV
This might sound strange, but a smart TV—a television with the ability to connect to the internet—could make a big difference to your well-being when working from home. One of the disadvantages of not having a commute or a dedicated workplace is that you are likely to spend even more of your time looking at a screen—there won’t be anyone holding you up for a ten-minute conversation about your weekend plans at the water cooler unless you happen to have an exceptionally talkative partner or roommate! To minimize eye strain from staring at a computer screen from a close distance for too long, buy yourself a large smart TV and use it as an additional monitor for meetings and other non-detailed work.
