We’re more than twelve months into the Coronavirus pandemic now, and while we have seen some changes to lockdown restrictions and gone through four different seasons, it seems fair to say that most of us have our working from home routine pretty much set in stone at this point. Maybe you’re one of those people who gets up at the crack of dawn to get a jog in before you log on, or maybe you’re more of a “roll straight out of bed into the morning meeting” person. Whatever your strategy for facing the day is, at this point it feels like we’ve pretty much stuck to it.
But now it feels like changes are finally starting to happen. For a lot of people, a return to the office will be imminent if it hasn’t happened already, as governments around the world start to look at infection and vaccination numbers and start to open up the workplaces again. For many of us, however, working from home is going to be the way things are for the foreseeable future, However, that doesn’t mean that we should miss this opportunity to change things up a bit. In our quest to find a system that works, an awful lot of us have missed opportunities to actually make the most of it.
Whether it’s setting up a workstation that is healthy and not just functional, thinking about what home improvement steps you can make to make the most of it, or just carving out a bit of extra time, we all have room for improvement in our stay at home nine to five.
If you’re looking for a way to work from home a little happier and a little healthier, here are a few ideas to make sure that the time you’re making the most of your time.
Is Your Work Area Fit For Summer?
We all have a tendency to, well, cocoon ourselves a bit during the winter months, and this cold spring hasn’t done too much to bring us out from under our cosy blankets and away from the radiator. Now, there’s nothing wrong with maximising comfort, but we should all be thinking about what the immediate surroundings of our workspace are doing for our productivity and mental health.
One of the most important factors in staying happy and healthy while working from home is making sure that you have enough light. This should be a bit easier during the summer, but why not make the most of these longer lighter days and move your workspace somewhere with a little more natural illumination? It’s also really important that you actually have enough room and quiet to work, which brings us to our next point…
Is It Time To Commit To Making A Proper Home Office?
While many of us were more than happy to work from home, there were a lot of people out there who have spent the last twelve months hoping that they’ll be able to go back to the office sooner rather than later. If you’ve been thinking that it’s only a matter of time before you get called back in only to discover that lowered restrictions haven’t changed your company’s mind about working remotely, then it may finally be time to accept the new normal and think about where you can set up a home office.
If you’re lucky enough to have a spare room in your home then that is always the obvious solution, but there are other alternatives. An unused garage can easily be converted to an excellent office space, or you may need to use a bit of imagination repurposing other rooms in your home to make space to work. Of course, it doesn’t have to be in the house…
Why Not Work From Your Garden Shed?
A great workspace doesn’t have to be in your house. No indeed, if you have a nice garden space then maybe it’s time you finally found a way to make good on that promise to spend more time in it. For many people, the idea of a garden shed is something small, full of gardening tools and cobwebs, or at best somewhere where their dad used to go when they didn’t want to be bothered.
Given that we’ve all been spending so much time at home over the past year, it’s no wonder that people have been finding new and inventive uses for their sheds. We’ve seen garden shed bars, garden shed home cinemas, and, yes, garden shed offices! There are plenty of Garden Shed options that can be converted into a garden office. If you check out these garden sheds from Shedstore, then you can find an option that will work for an office or a new shed in which to store your garden equipment. After all, if you’re working from your original shed, you’re going to need a new one to use for storage, so now could be the perfect time to treat yourself and your garden. If you want to work from the comfort of your garden shed you need to have a work-from-home job. Jooble currently has lots of work-from-home job offers.
Don’t Forget To Get Outside
This final note is less of a home improvement prompt and more of a reminder to think about how much time you’re spending at your keyboard. We are sure that it hasn’t escaped your notice over the last twelve months or so that it can be tricky to separate your work life and your home life when your place of work is, well, your home.
As we step forward into the summer, however, it should get a little bit easier to find those times when you can get up from your desk and take a break or draw a line under things at the end of the day. With more hours of daylight, think about getting into an exercise routine either before or after work to help you stay happy and active. Be sure to take a proper lunchbreak, and make sure that you’re getting up from your desk and walking around. A standing desk could be a great addition to your office, but what is more important is that you have a clearly defined work space that you can close the door on at the end of the day.
