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How to make the perfect home office setup

As the country returns to a stricter general community quarantine, we are faced again with travel bans, store closures, and outdoor restrictions for the public’s safety — all while continuing to stay productive in the comforts of our home, yet outside the offices, we are used to working in. With this, some may prefer remotely working from home, particularly those with families who are vulnerable to the virus or need taking care of. Positive aspects of working remotely from home include lesser expenses, healthier home-cooked meals, more personal and family time, and of course, avoiding the difficult traffic and commute in the country.

Others, however, find it difficult to distinguish a place of work in their homes, especially since the home is considered to be our personal sanctuary or place of rest. This is in contrast with our typical idea of the office, which is a place where you show up all dressed up neatly, sit at your work desk, set meetings, and work your 9 to 5 job.

Finding it hard to shift your work mindset to your luxury home? The perfect way to address this is to go to your office, at home! During these trying times, it pays to be creative in finding ways to bring back a sense of normalcy into our lives; and a great way to increase your productivity at home is to make the perfect home office setup.

Young professional Asian girl working at her home office setup happily, with elements of her youthful personality showing in the furniture and decoration | Luxury Homes by Brittany Corporation

There are several ways to make working from homework for you.

Top things to consider to achieve the perfect home office setup that works for you

1. Identify office elements that increase your productivity

We say that this is the perfect home office setup because we identify that the first step is understanding your personality and preferences. Reflect on your work experiences in the office and identify the elements that helped you to be more productive and the ones you wish you could change. You may not be able to personalize every aspect of your company office to your interest, but the good thing about a luxury home office setup is that you can make everything work for you.

2. Visualize the ideal home office setup for you

The kitchen or the garage may not be the best place to work, but surely there is an ideal space in your luxury house and lot that can be converted into a home office. You may even have an office in your home already, but it just needs more tweaking or personal renovation. You might even prefer having a home office setup by the window if you’re the type of person who works better with a scenic view or gusts of fresh air, which you can enjoy in your luxury house and lot in Tagaytay.

However, now that summer is approaching, make sure that your home office setup is located in a room with air conditioning, for your sake and the sake of your work technology and devices. Also, make sure that your home office setup is inside a quiet room where you can work privately without distractions such as pets or family. Lastly, it’s important to have task-specific areas in your home office setup, even if you’re technically the only employee. Smart placing increases productivity. For example, you can place the printer and other paperwork tools in one corner, and place your desk in an angle where you are facing the TV, so you can monitor your stocks, bonds, and other investments with ease while working.

To help you calculate the amount of office space you need, OfficeFinder created a list of suggested work station allocations based on job description and included an office space calculator for general and specific estimates.

Image of woman slouching while working in an office setup, with factual information description boxes describing the negative results

Poor posture caused by ineffective officeware can cause health risks.

3. Incorporate ergonomics into the home office setup for your comfort and safety

The science of ergonomics, which was a previously obscure concept altogether, is increasingly gaining importance as the world is becoming more aware of the effects of low-risk safety on productivity. So what is ergonomics and how is this relevant to the home office setup?

Ergonomics is the process of designing or arranging workplaces, products, and systems so that they fit the people who use them. It applies to the design of anything that involves people – workspaces, sports and leisure, health, and safety. If you’ve been suffering from lower back pains caused by your office chair, you are not alone. In fact, research has shown that lower back pain is the world’s most common work-related disability – affecting employees from offices, building sites, and even those who work in agriculture. Ergonomic disorders are the fastest-growing category of work-related illness.

As you can tell by now, it’s highly important to incorporate ergonomics in your home office setup, especially when you’re hunched over your desk for over 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Fortunately, you can prevent ergonomic disorders by simply purchasing ergonomic furniture to complete your home office setup.

For instance, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is common in office workers, students, and gamers because of how they use their wrists. Typing on a keyboard, combined with jotting down notes, for long periods of time is the most common cause of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It’s a good thing this can be prevented by using an ergonomic mouse pad or wrist pillow made of memory foam, featuring a slope for wrist support. You can also pair this with a wrist-supported keyboard and a vertical mouse that will definitely give you instant joint relief. These ergonomic items are patterned with the natural motions of the human body.

The first type of furniture that comes to mind when you’re familiar with ergonomics is usually the office chair, and that’s because this has a major effect on our bodies, especially the lower back. An ergonomic office chair significantly reduces body tension and helps keep the body cool with its mesh seat, back, and headrest. Its exceptional lumbar support is a huge plus for those prone to back pains. You may also sometimes find yourself getting tired of sitting and wanting to work in a standing position. That’s why an ergonomic table is highly recommended due to its adjustable heights and an added feature of the inward-curved surface.

4. Let there be light, but be smart about it

Lighting is an element usually overlooked with regard to productivity. However, the blue light flashing on your face from your monitor, tablet, mobile phone, and other digital devices aren’t the only sources of light you should concern yourself with. Similar to the feeling we get from different lighting techniques in movies, the home office setup lighting affects one’s mood, and ultimately, the productivity of the individual.

Research shows that an adequate amount of light improves mood and energy levels, while poor lighting contributes to depression and other deficiencies in the body. The amount and type of lighting directly affect concentration, appetite, mood, and many other aspects of daily life. It’s highly advised to just stick to the basics and rely on natural light in the daytime, and maintain adequate lighting in the afternoons.

Do you notice that your eyes start getting tired – manifested by dryness, wetness, blurry vision, or even headaches – after a couple of hours working? That is a phenomenon called digital eye strain, which is caused by the blue light emitting from our digital devices. So, if you’re worried about your children’s eyesight while playing on their phones or tablets, you should also worry about yours. Fortunately, there are ways to combat this without lessening productivity.

An easy fix is to sit about 25 inches or at arm’s length from your screen and adjust its height so you’re looking slightly downward at it. You should also reduce glare and brightness. Similar to all glass, the glass screen on your computer can cause glare. To reduce the glare, you can simply purchase matte screen filters for your devices, while also setting the brightness and contrast of your display settings comfortably low. To address the blue light emitting from your screen, you may also invest in a blue light UV filter screen protector, which absorbs the UV light and blocks its exposure. UV filters are most commonly used as sunscreens to protect skin from sunburn and other sun/UV-related damage, so think of this filter as a sunscreen for your eyes, to block UV-related damage.

luxurious classy home office with white leather office chair and other modern-classic furniture with hints of gold, a grand wooden shelf at the back, on a traditional carpet | Luxury Homes by Brittany Corporation

The home office can be personalized to your refined taste.

5. Add visual elements that help you get organized

Now that you have all your home office setup essentials in place, don’t forget the finishing touches that help you get into that ideal mindset for productivity, even when you’re at home. For this section, we will focus on visual elements that help you become organized. There are several studies, and popular adages, claiming that humans are visual learners and more specifically, visual beings. Humans have a remarkable ability to remember pictures as compared to words. No wonder why sometimes we remember people by their faces but not necessarily by their names. We are also more easily influenced by visual evidence instead of verbal or written facts. In fact, presentations using visual aids were found to be 43% more persuasive than unaided presentations. With this, it’s important that you take advantage of visual elements to discipline your brain into the mindset that best suits your work.

Eliminating home effects inside your home office and strictly incorporating only work-related elements will hardwire your brain into associating the room with work and productivity, dissociating it from the feelings of rest and relaxation that the rest of your luxury house and lot fosters. What you can do to improve this is to set up a considerably large board that contains all your work-related tasks, for easy viewing. Whether this is a whiteboard, corkboard, or chalkboard, you can plot your tasks in a weekly or monthly calendar view.

Depending on what suits your work best, you can also just use this board to stick important notes that you need to remember for all your projects. If you would rather encapsulate all of this in your computer, you can just set up a vision board for motivational purposes. A vision board is usually a collage of images that represent your aspirations in life – whether that be your ideal luxury house and lot, dream sports car, or family goals. This is literally a physical board of your visions in life, which helps you gain self-awareness and self-reflection on what is important to you. Imagining a positive future is a helpful way to increase positive emotions and optimism, and positive emotions often create opportunities and increase the chances of success.

The perfect home office setup is your new addition to your luxury house and lot

With all of the above-listed items considered, you will surely come up with the perfect home office setup for you. At Brittany Corporation, property developments are incorporated in huge master-planned communities; and this spaciousness is reflected in every lot and ready for occupancy model units offered, designed beautifully in every detail and reminiscent of world-class themes. Surely the perfect home office setup perfectly matches the best luxury homes in the Philippines that can only be found at Brittany developments.