Whether you’re a work-from-home veteran or a new initiate, building an inviting office space is vital to maintaining your productivity. For all those bringing the 9-to-5 into their humble abodes, here are eight home office essentials to make your workday run smoothly.
An online P.O. box
Working from home can be hectic, meaning that little errands like checking your P.O. box, slip through the cracks. You might tell yourself that you’ll check the mail tomorrow, and before you know it, you’ve missed out on vital documents and packages.
With a virtual P.O. box service from providers like iPostal1, entrepreneurs or solo professionals can check their P.O. box virtually without leaving the home office. It uses an actual street address to intercept and upload your mail to the client portal. From there, you can decide whether the employees forward, scan, shred, or store your mail, all from the comfort of your home.
Proper lighting
Another non-negotiable for your home office checklist is proper lighting. We all know that blue lighting can prevent you from sleeping well at night, but the correct wavelength of blue light can boost your mood and productivity during the day.
Ergonomic lighting combines the suitable wavelengths with the right lamp height and adjustable positioning to shed light on whatever you’re doing, whether it’s the quarterly report or the latest industry news.
Cable clips
Nowadays, cords and wires rule the world. Your home office might look like one big knot just waiting to happen between charging cables and adaptors. Cable clips can help organize the mess into something more streamlined.
Simply install them on the edge of your desk or wherever else you want your cords to be less trip-happy.
Document scanner
Bulky printer and scanner combinations are a relic of the nineties. Portable options make your home office more productive and efficient by taking up less space and requiring less setup time.
While these slim, modern tech gadgets may be a bit of an investment up front (an average device will run you $100), they’ll more than makeup for it with the ease and convenience they’ll bring to your workday.
Tax consultant
For self-employed people, the value of good tax advice is priceless. If you’re new to working for yourself, taxes are not something you want to let fall by the wayside.
Because the process of filing is much different for entrepreneurs, you’ll want someone who knows what they’re doing and can help you file correctly as well as use deductions to your benefit. If you’re self-employed, you may be able to deduct all of your home office upgrades, so don’t sleep on the value of experienced tax professionals.
Houseplants
Let’s be honest: your home office needs to be visually appealing in addition to being a haven of productivity. Houseplants are a great way to accomplish this while also cleaning the air, boosting your mood, and helping you feel a little calmer in your work environment. Buy a hardy succulent to put the green in your lean green business machine.
Plan B internet
Internet outages are as inevitable as death and taxes, even for the most reliable ISPs.
For those scenarios, you want to have a backup option. You can purchase a wireless Internet card that plugs into your device via USB and allows it to access cellular networks so you can still make that deadline. If your smartphone has hotspot capabilities, this feature also provides a good backup option.
Mug warmer
Comfort is essential, and nothing is as unfortunate as cold coffee that should be warm. Dodge this workday mood killer altogether by keeping a mug warmer in your home office.
That way, no matter how hectic your workday, you’ll know you have that warm mug waiting for you when you get off your latest Zoom call.
Final thoughts
Your home office should be as efficient and comfortable as possible, blending all the best parts about home and work together. Try some of these fantastic home-office essentials to boost your productivity and help keep stress low all day long.
For more tips on essentials to keep on hand to manage your home, check these posts out.
DIY First Aid Kits for Wherever You Are
