How to Upgrade Your Home Office

Make your workspace more productive with the right furniture and accessories

When working from home, maintaining optimal productivity levels may prove difficult, especially when your office isn’t outfitted with the right furniture and office electronics. The cozy conditions often make it hard to make the mental shift from home to work "mode," which may end up affecting workflow. While slouching on your sofa in your sweatpants may seem like the easier route, having a dedicated workspace will go a long way in improving your remote working experience. However, that office space needs to be both functional and comfortable. To enable bringing your workspace up to par for peak efficiency, here are a few considerations to make on how to upgrade your home office setup.

Get an ergonomic chair to reduce back strain

Sitting in the correct posture allows you to achieve longer work sessions while ensuring you stay healthy. Basic task chairs will often have you slumped over at your desk with a craned neck, which predisposes you to back and neck pain. Designed for optimal lumbar support, ergonomic models follow the natural spine curvature. They have suitable seat depth to support your hips and reduce pressure. If you're wondering what to look for when buying an ergonomic chair, consider models that allow key adjustments such as seat height and back recline to suit your needs. Also, consider office chairs with headrests and armrests.

Upgrade your desk

Your home office desk should have enough space to fit your laptop or computer and other peripherals like keyboards, mice and speakers. When buying a new desk or other office furniture, consider the amount of available floor space. Desks with drawers provide additional storage space that helps unclutter your workspace for increased productivity. Look out for computer desks with an elevated monitor platform and sliding base for your keyboard and mouse. If you use a laptop for computing, opt for lap desks or get an external keyboard, then prop up your laptop to eye level.

Since sitting for extended periods predisposes you to adverse health effects, consider upgrading to a sit-stand desk. These desks provide the ability to switch between standing and sitting to reduce the physical stress that your body endures during the workday. They allow you to vary your posture to combat the health risks associated with prolonged sitting. Standing helps support blood circulation for improved energy levels and concentration.

Improve lighting for mental and optic health

Working in poor lighting conditions strains your eyes and may lead to deteriorated eyesight, fatigue and headaches. Low-light conditions can even make you feel drowsy and less motivated. Adding a good soft-light lamp to your home office optimizes lighting in your immediate surroundings for clear vision.

The soft glow that such lamps produce may help create a mellow and less stressful home office. Some LED desk lamps have wireless connectivity options and allow you to adjust brightness and color temperature settings. Exposure to natural light during the day has the potential to elicit positive effects on physical and mental health. You can also use natural lighting by placing your desk near a window, but ensure you avoid uncomfortable glare.

Purchase a faster laptop or upgrade your current PC

Since computer operating systems get upgrades regularly, older models often fail to keep up with current OS versions. If you're in the market for a new laptop or computer, consider its processor and RAM to ensure you select one with fast load speeds for productivity. Also, determine how much storage capacity your work data and pick one with ample storage to accommodate your work data.

Be sure to opt for computers with solid-state drives (SSDs) that facilitate quick data access and transfers. Do you have a limited budget for your office upgrades? If so, you can make your current computer faster by simply swapping the old random access memory (RAM) modules for one with a higher capacity or replacing your PC's hard disk drive (HDD) with an SSD. Depending on the age of your device and the type of motherboard, it may be possible to upgrade other computer components, such as video graphics cards.. Often, the cost to upgrade the motherboard and processor can be less than completely replacing the computer.

Convenient computing accessories

Your home office essentials list should encompass computer accessories, such as keyboards, mice, speakers and monitors to match your specific requirements. Do you tackle different workloads simultaneously or work on visually demanding tasks like graphic design? For these assignments, ultrawide monitors offer immersive views and allow smooth multitasking.

If you have limited desk space, consider getting a monitor wall mount to reclaim space. Through laptop accessories like USB docks and adapters, you can easily eliminate cord clutter. An ergonomic keyboard with palm rest and a comfortable mouse can also help increase your productivity. Other accessories that may improve focus are noise-canceling headphones with microphones and webcams for clear video calls.

Reduce downtime

Because work is increasingly digital, having stable internet is crucial for any home office. Improve your productivity and home office time management by purchasing Wi-Fi and networking devices with wide coverage and high speeds. Consider the maximum number of devices a router can accommodate to pick one with the ability to host all your working devices.

Take what you've learned here to upgrade your home office to rival the one you have at work. Make sure to add some personal touches as well. Beyond being an efficient space to accomplish work tasks, personalize your home office with art, family photos, wall decorations or even house plants to express your unique personality and improve the overall aesthetic.