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How to make home office more productive


15 Tips for a Home Office Setup that will Boost Creativity & Productivity

There are many benefits to working from home – no commute, more flexibility and it’s socially acceptable to wear tracksuit pants, providing you look presentable from the waist up on a Zoom call.

But, it also means you don’t begin your job with the luxury of someone else having already fitted out a commercial office space for you.

Whether you’re working remotely or you’re running your own business out of your home, there are certain things you can do to set yourself up for success and ensure you’re both happy and comfortable in your work environment.

Here are 15 tips for designing a home office setup that will help to maximise your creativity and productivity.

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1. Create a dedicated office space

Whether you have a spacious home or a small apartment, it’s important to carve out a dedicated work area, that is separate to your ‘home life’. If you’ve got the space, a dedicated room set up as an office is brilliant, but at the very least a desk or even a specific place at the kitchen table that you associate with work-purposes only is essential.

This will help you feel as though you’re ‘going’ to work every day, even if you’re actually only a few steps from your bed! When you’re in work-mode rather than just sitting around your house, you’ll undoubtedly notice an improvement in your focus and productivity.

2. Stay organised and clean

They say a cluttered space leads to a cluttered mind, and for most people this saying rings true. Put simply, having mess in your work space can range from being distracting for some, to downright stressful for others.

So, make sure you don’t have piles of washing and dishes lying around and treat your desk the same way you would if you were hotdesking with other people in an office – tidy it up at the end of each work day and create ample storage space for bills and other work related documents and items.

3. Design the layout of your space based on your needs

Research is showing that workplace setups are adapting to their employee’s personal preferences, with multiple environments set up for different requirements – collaboration, focused, meetings, etc.

How you design your home office space will not only be dictated by how much space you have, but also the needs of your business. Will you need to host meetings or have clients to visit? Will you need a couch or other areas for guests to sit in?

Do you need wall space, whiteboards or pin boards for planning? How many computer monitors and other devices are required for you to do your job and how will they all fit? It’s important to consider all these factors and ensure the setup allows you to set out what you want to achieve each day.

4. Ensure you have the appropriate technology

One of the biggest blockers to a productive home office space is whether you have the technology you need to do the job. If possible, set your home office technology up exactly as it would be if you were in a commercial office. This will change based on the needs of your job but might mean setting up items like a phone headset, multiple monitors, a home office printer or photocopier/ scanner.

It’s also important to make sure you have the computer programs you need to do your job. If you’re on a budget and don’t have access to all the programs you’d ideally like, you’ll often find great free or cheap online alternatives online (such as Canva instead of Adobe Photoshop for example), so be sure to spend some time exploring your options.

5. Bring the outside, inside

There’s a reason people pop outside for fresh air when they need to relax or recharge: human beings have an innate desire to connect with nature. So, if you can possibly set your home office up near a window with views of outside, you’ll automatically feel better than if you’re stuck inside all day.

If this isn’t possible, consider hanging some photos or paintings of outdoor settings or landscapes you enjoy looking at. And of course, indoor plants are all the rage, so even if you don’t consider yourself a green thumb, having greenery around you will help your overall feeling of wellbeing, increasing your creativity and productivity.

Having greenery in your home office can help increase your overall wellbeing, creativity and productivity.

6. Ergonomics are important

It might sound obvious, but if you’re uncomfortable or in pain, you’re unlikely to feel very creative or be as productive as you possibly can. That’s why a good desk chair and appropriate desk set up is crucial. Ideally, you want your screen to be about 75 centimetres from your face, at eye level.

When you’re typing, your hands and wrists should be angled slightly downwards, while your feet should be flat on the floor – if you can’t reach, consider getting a footrest under the desk or lowering your chair (as long as it doesn’t negatively impact the rest of your setup).

7. Be comfortable, but not too relaxed

When it comes to productivity and creativity, there’s a fine line between creating a stress-free and relaxed environment, but still maintaining a level of professionalism.

Working from your bed is probably taking the relaxation level too far but ensuring that your home office atmosphere is inviting and comfortable is key – just like you would if you were organising your desk in a commercial office with personal items like photos or a favourite mug, there’s just a lot more flexibility and potential to have fun with it when it’s your own space in your home.

8. Choose colours and décor that make you feel good

Whether you consider yourself an amateur interior designer who loves the task of decorating a space, or someone that doesn’t know their minimalism from their Hollywood glamour, it’s worth spending a little bit of time creating a nice vibe.

At a minimum, perhaps choose a colour palette or theme that will make you feel good – typically green is thought to be a soothing, neutral tone that can restore balance to a space, whereas purple is thought to stimulate imagination and concentration. Or, if you think you have an eye for it, spend some time on Pinterest and go to town designing a home office space that represents you and your work.

9. Keep the space well-lit

It’s not only more energy efficient to utilise natural light, but much like sitting near a window to feel closer to nature, natural light will increase your overall feeling of wellbeing too. If your home is naturally quite dark or you can’t position yourself as close to a window as you would like, try to make the lighting cool and white, as this is the closest tone to natural lighting.

A well-lit room can also be achieved by using different sorts of lights to suit the space, so think about whether a few additional lamps could benefit your home office.

10. Too hot, too cold, or just right?

We’ve all been there: a long meeting or lecture when the room was stuffy and warm and before you know it, you’re struggling to keep your eyes open. Much like the importance of comfort from an ergonomic standpoint, the temperature in a home office is a vital factor in creating a suitable working environment to boost productivity.

Too cold, and you’ll feel unsettled and distracted (not to mention how hard it is to type when your fingers feel stiff and frozen) and too hot and you’ll feel uncomfortable, lethargic and maybe even unwell.

Finding a middle ground with appropriate heating and cooling is key, and when achieved, will likely have the additional benefit of improving the overall comfort of your entire home too.

Air quality in your home office space is intrinsically linked to your overall health and wellbeing.

11. Noise levels

When it comes to noise in your home office, it’s not a dissimilar story to temperature – it’s a bit of a balancing act and too much or too little noise can be equally disruptive. Everyone is entirely different when it comes to their optimal noise levels while working.

For some people, total silence can be distracting and draining, so ambient noise or even quiet music can increase productivity and stimulate creativity. For others, background noise can distract from your focus, so figuring out what is right for you might take a little trial and error and change depending on your mood and what you are working on.

12. Keep it fresh

Air quality in your home office space is intrinsically linked to your overall health and wellbeing. If you’re working in a room where windows can be opened (and the weather permits), there is nothing better than letting fresh air into your home.

If this isn’t possible, consider in investing in a small air purifier or humidifier to ensure the air isn’t contaminated and your brain is able to fire on all cylinders.

13. Create a signature office scent

It might sound crazy, but the smells you surround yourself with can have a huge impact on your mood and productivity. Consider investing in some scented candles or essential oils to help you focus when you need a boost.

Different scents are widely accepted to elicit different responses in people, such as lavender being used for relaxation, citrus or pine keeping you alert and awake, cinnamon improving your focus and peppermint lifting your mood. But ultimately, choose a smell that you love, and you’ll probably feel pretty good.

14. Ensure you have easy access to snacks and drinks

There is no better way to procrastinate than wandering to the kitchen for another cup of tea or deciding to whip up a few snacks throughout the day – so being organised with meal preparation and having access to drinks at work is just as important in a home office as it is if you were going to a workplace every day.

If you’re a big tea drinker, consider making a pot of tea in the morning you can keep on your desk. Or, if you love your coffee, try and keep the coffee machine as close to your office space as is feasible. Preparing snacks and lunch in advance so you aren’t going out for hours to buy or cook anything from scratch in the middle of the day is also advisable.

15. Get an office pet

Okay, so this one obviously has implications beyond your office hours, but even if you aren’t quite ready to commit to a dog or a cat, other living creatures in the office (besides you) are a good little morale booster and play into the idea of bringing nature indoors. Start small with a goldfish or hermit crab and then consider graduating to a furrier friend if you enjoy the company.

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5 Ways To Improve Your Home Office For Productivity And Happiness

Here are some simple tips for boosting your productivity and your work-from-home experience.

getty

I don’t know about you, but I’m frankly getting a little bit sick of the four walls of my home office. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful that I have the opportunity to work from home, but sometimes it can feel pretty monotonous. 

But, I can’t be alone in feeling a little burned out on working from home and the day-to-day of waking up mere feet from where I sit working everyday. 

We’ve finally passed the one-year mark of when many of us left our usual places of work to become “temporarily” remote. I remember in one of my first Zoom hangouts, a good friend said somberly that she didn’t think we would be heading back to the office until at the earliest July. We all scoffed and called her a pessimist. Oh, to be so naive again.

I’m so grateful that things are improving with cases dropping and vaccines being deployed, but for many of us, that may not mean a return to the office. At least, things won’t be exactly as they were. Many may find their employers encourage them to stay remote, or that their offices have transitioned to a hybrid model. 

For many, a “hybrid model,” with some time spent working remotely and some time in the office, might be the best of both worlds.  As study from last May found that 55% of workers would prefer a hybrid model. Company leaders also expect it to become the norm, with 80% believing that many workers will stay remote at least one day a week, even after the end of the pandemic. 

Whether you expect you’ll stay fully remote, or you will transition to a hybrid model, one thing is for sure, you’re probably going to get some more use out of that home office.

So, don’t you think it might be time to spruce it up a little bit? After all, you owe it to yourself, especially after a hard year of remote work, to treat yourself to some quality-of-life and quality-of-work upgrades.  

MORE FOR YOU

Your company may even treat you; during the beginning of the pandemic, 1 in 5 companies in the U.S. were helping pay for their staff’s home-office needs, with some tech companies offering up to a $1000 stipend. If your company hasn’t caught up to this trend, be patient—with so many workers now fully remote, it is likely to become the norm.

So whether you’re hoping to boost your productivity, or just make your day at the “office” a little more pleasant, here are five ways to improve your home office experience.

1.) Upgrade your lighting

I think that lighting is often one of the most overlooked things about one’s home or home office. But it’s truly something that can make such a difference to your quality of life.

We’re all so used to just flipping a switch in the morning or when it starts to get dark and forgetting about it. But the lighting around us can have a major effect on our quality of life and productivity. 

When it comes to lighting for productivity, you can’t really do much better than natural light. Studies of sunlight and productivity in the office found that sunlight had a direct positive effect on employees’ mental health, productivity and job satisfaction. 

Okay sure, your home office may not compare to a beautiful open-plan office in a high-rise with 15-foot windows, but that doesn’t mean you should forget to get some sunlight, especially in the morning. Exposure to sunlight in the morning helps regulate melatonin, a hormone that is significant in regulating our sleep and waking cycles, as well as promoting greater alertness throughout the day. 

We’d all like an extra hour, or three, of sleep in the morning. But resist the temptation to keep those curtains closed in the morning, even if you’d like to pretend that you’re still cozy in bed for the first few hours of work.

If you don’t get much morning sun in your apartment or home, step outside for a little fresh air and soak up that sunlight and vitamin D before you start your work day. I guarantee you’ll feel a lot more alert in your 9 a. m. Zoom check-in.

If you don’t get great sunlight, or even if you’re stuck trudging through a rainy, gray day at the home office, you can do a lot with lighting to help to improve your productivity and mood. 

I’m a big advocate of circadian lighting, which is designed to promote your body’s natural sleep and wake cycle. Circadian lighting actually has a proven track record of boosting office productivity: a study found that after switching to circadian lighting, employees were 20% more productive overall, 10% more focused and even 38% calmer!

So how can you implement circadian lighting in your home and office? It’s simple, actually. Bright lights to mimic the sunlight during daytime hours, and warmer, softer lighting after the sun goes down. Try Edison bulbs. Who doesn’t like the soft orange glow of those beautiful filaments?

Here are some other suggestions for improving your lighting, and your quality of life, in your home office:

2.) Invest in quality headphones

Has this ever happened to you? You sign onto a Zoom meeting with someone you’ve never connected with before. Within 30 seconds, you realize that you can barely hear what they are saying. Their audio sounds like two people playing that tin can and string game at two ends of an Olympic-size swimming pool.  

You reach for your trusty earbuds, but you realize you left them in your car. The next 30 minutes are excruciating, with you trying desperately to hear them without having to ask “what was that?” every five seconds.

We definitely can’t control the audio settings of everyone we connect with via videoconferencing, but we can ensure that we set ourselves up with the best tech to hear and be heard. And that starts with good headphones. 

To start with, let’s address your favorite earbuds. We’ve certainly come a long way since those first-generation iPod earbuds that you had to wear for a week before they stopped hurting your ears. AirPods and other Bluetooth earbuds offer incredible convenience and connectivity, and generally have excellent quality both in the audio they reproduce and their built-in microphones.

But, it’s definitely worth mentioning that earbuds come with certain risks, especially when you find that you’re using them for the majority of your work day. Earbuds carry a greater risk of hearing loss when used at high volumes for longer periods of time than over-the-ear headphones.

Because earbuds send sound directly into the ear canal, they can project sound up to nine decibels louder, which can make a real difference if you are listening for long periods of time. In addition, because over-the-ear headphones tend to block more outside sound, if we’re using earbuds, we often tend to turn the volume higher. If you’re just using your headphone to tune into video conferencing or phone calls, you probably have less to worry about than someone who is blasting their Discover Weekly playlist throughout the entire workday. Doctors recommend the 60/60 rule: cap device volume at 60% and listening time on headphones at 60 minutes per day.

Noise cancelling headphones are great, because they block out outside sound, so you don’t have to lose your hearing just to hear your supervisor over the sound of a nearby train, or the daily passing of the neighborhood dog walker.  

I trust you to make the best choice for the long-term health of your hearing.

If you are looking to upgrade from your old earbuds, or simply to treat yourself to better sound, her are a few great options:

3.) Add an air purifier

I grew up in California, so air quality has always been something that I thought about quite a bit. Between fires and smog, pollution and drastic weather shifts, Californians know all about how quickly and drastically the air we breathe can change from nourishing to toxic. 

Last fall’s tragic and destructive wildfire season showed the world just how bad things can be. And with increasing pollution and climate change, it’s not just Californians who are thinking hard about the quality of air around them.

With all this in mind, it isn’t hard to understand why an air purifier can greatly improve your health and quality of life.

You may think that your apartment or home is a pristine sanctuary with perfectly pure air quality, however I’m sorry to inform you, that would be a bit of a fantasy.  

A 2019 study found that the average American apartment may have air quality comparable to a “polluted major city.” Disturbing, I know. Everyday activities such as boiling water, cleaning with chemicals, heck, even making toast, can negatively impact the air quality in an apartment. 

If that’s not enough to convince you that an air purifier is in your future, I don’t know what to tell you. But, seriously, with so much pollution outside, and the inside of our homes not much better, we could all do with fresher air to breathe. 

If you’re anything like me, I bet you just opened all your windows and you’re about to buy the first air purifier you see on Amazon with more than four stars. But before you jump into a major purchase, it’s worth knowing a little more about air purifiers so that you can make an informed decision about which is best for you.

Generally, modern air purifiers come from two different camps, HEPA filters and electrostatics.

HEPA filters:

HEPA (or “high efficient particulate filters”) is more like the traditional air filter that you would imagine, a very fine mesh physical barrier to prevent particles from passing through. You’ve probably heard this term a lot more over the past year, as Covid-19 has led many public spaces to improve their air filtration. HEPA filters tend to be more effective—they filter 87–99% of particles on the first pass.

Electrostatic filters

Electrostatic filters work by using static electricity to charge the airborne particles, which in turn makes them stick to a filter system. They are not quite as efficient, capturing between 60–80% of particles on the first pass, and will usually take longer to fully filter the air in a certain space.

Both types of filters can be very effective in improving your air quality; you will just want to do proper research to understand your needs and what kind of air purifier would be best for you.

While your health is probably the primary reason you should consider an air purifier to improve the air quality in your home and home office, improving the quality of your air can actually boost your productivity. A study found that employees who worked in a clean air environment actually performed 61% better in their cognitive functioning.  

4.) Go green with some office plants

Speaking of air purification, did you know that many house plants can actually help to purify the air in your home? This is just one reason why they make a great addition to your home office.  

If your office is feeling a bit stale, whether in the air quality, or just the tone of the decor, bringing some beautiful greenery in will definitely give you a literal and figurative breath of fresh air in your space. 

The beautiful snake plant, also known as “mother-in-law’s tongue”—how hilarious is that?—is an excellent plant to bring into the home to improve your air quality, as it filters formaldehyde and many other toxins from the air. 

Spider plants are a great choice, especially for beginner plant parents, because they’re very low maintenance. They also filter carbon monoxide and xylene, a toxic chemical used in printing.

Here’s a great house plant that isn’t named after a creepy crawly creature: aloe vera. Aloe vera is a beautiful succulent that also helps with air filtration. And if you ever get a sunburn, skip the CVS-brand “soothing gel with aloe.” Just cut a stalk right from your own aloe vera and witness the amazing soothing power of this plant, without all the added drugstore chemicals. 

Chances are, at some point in the last year of quarantine, you may have tried your hand at taking care of some plants. But maybe you’re scarred from too many plants dying, so you relegated yourself to ogling all the beautiful plant-filled oases in those urban rainforest apartments that seem to be all over our Instagram feeds these days.

Even if you feel that you have a “brown thumb”—in other words, every plant you touch withers and dies—there are many options that are actually really easy to take care of!

I used to think that I would never be able to keep a plant alive. I tried everything like a nervous new mom, but still my plants would end up brown, or just plain wilted and sad. All it took was a friend coming over and giving me a few tips on each of my struggling plants to learn how to properly care for them. 

Every plant is different and may require a different watering schedule, different shade or sunlight, sometimes even a little bit of fertilizer.

My advice is that if you’ve struggled in the past, start with a few little succulents or cactuses. Give them plenty of light, and a little drink once or twice a week. A spray bottle like the ones they use at a salon works great for these. Once you’re confident that your little guys are going strong, you can move on to something a bit bigger and more challenging. 

I promise that plants in your work space will genuinely lift your mood. And don’t be afraid to get a little messy repotting your favorite ficus. Playing in the dirt actually has proven mental health benefits. Healthy soil actually contains micro bacteria that have been shown to have an antidepressant effect, and can positively impact mood in a way similar to antidepressant medication!

5. ) Buy some blue-light-blocking glasses

I feel that one of the most challenging and least-talked about effects of the pandemic has been the burden on our mental and physical health of way too much screen time.  

Let’s face it, we as humans were never meant to be staring at an artificial light source, focused on miniscule text, juggling back and forth from screen to screen throughout our entire day. 

A 2020 study showed that throughout the pandemic, a majority of Americans reported spending more time looking at screens, whether it be their phones (59%), their televisions (59%) or their computer screens (55%).

One of the most obvious and widespread results of all this increased screen time is digital eyestrain. The same study showed that not only are Americans’ eyes glued more closely to their screens, but 45% had experienced dry eyes as a result of increased screen time. An even greater percentage, 60%, expressed concern that the increased screen time could do damage to their eyes.  

Digital eye strain is a major problem, and it has been exacerbated by lockdowns and remote work. It’s estimated that up to 50% of people, both children and adults, experience some version of DES, also known as “computer vision syndrome.” Some symptoms to look out for include itchy, red or burning eyes, blurred vision and headache.

I know that it would be unrealistic to expect that we could all reduce our screen time immediately to combat this problem. Well, we could probably all stand to cut down on the aimless scrolling. But I have a feeling your absence from mandatory video meetings would probably be noted.

The good news is that you can help reduce digital eyestrain by investing in some blue light blocking glasses. The blue light from screens can be very harsh on the eyes, and is often the cause of eyestrain. 

Glasses that filter blue light allow you to work longer without strain and even better regulate your circadian rhythm. Remember how important that is? Blue light emulates sunlight and can trick our bodies into staying awake later. By reducing your exposure to blue light, your natural rhythm of fatigue will kick in, helping your body unwind when it’s time to sleep. 

There are a lot of options, ranging from inexpensive drugstore frames that look a bit like grandma’s reading glasses, to much more stylish offerings from companies like Warby Parker. I just discovered Zenni Optical myself, and I think their super affordable frames are great to keep around as an extra pair, or a set you don’t have to worry about losing. 

You’ll find many stylish options for blue-light-blocking glasses, and you’re sure to get some virtual compliments on your new frames.

Even if blue-light glasses are not for you, try to protect yourself from eyestrain by remembering the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, look away from your screen for 20 seconds, focusing on an object that is 20 feet away. Simple, huh?

With remote work continuing and the rise of hybrid models of work, it looks like we’ll all be spending a little more time in our home offices. Take my lead on a few of these ways to improve your work-from-home experience.

Home office: how to arrange a workplace for comfortable and efficient work

Tips

Nowadays, work is closely intertwined with everyday life - many people are used to working from home, in cafes, and just getting a laptop wherever business has caught them. The post-COVID trend towards remote work also continues to develop: studies of recruiting portals show that 54% of employees today have switched to a hybrid format, and 35% have completely changed their office to home. But in such conditions, productivity often drops - not least because of the “non-working” environment. How to properly organize the workspace outside the office, we will tell in our material.

Photo
Legion Media

Comfort or habit

Staying in the office often causes a state of persistent stress: constant meetings, conferences, attention of colleagues and boss. As a result, employees think more about reporting than about solving problems. Concentration drops, the focus of attention floats away, and work turns into an imitation of violent activity. And before the inevitable deadline, the race for normal activity statistics begins.

Remote work, including even a hybrid format, does not have this disadvantage. But at the same time, it carries its own risks: problems with self-control, a growing lack of socialization, distracting external factors - household members, passers-by, household chores, and so on. A paradoxical situation arises: under more comfortable conditions, efficiency can still decrease. And it’s not even so much about the paranoia of productivity that some managers are subject to - there is a non-obvious moment, nevertheless, it has a very strong impact on the workflow.

In the office, each employee has his own workplace. It is furnished in a certain way, has the necessary set of furniture, appliances and other devices, and also complies with lighting and ergonomics standards. At home, not everyone has the opportunity to organize a full-fledged workplace. And even your favorite sofa may not seem so comfortable after a full eight-hour shift.

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Legion Media

Balcony office

The trend to furnish workspaces at home began in the era of covid restrictions. Even then, such interior items as small work tables, compact shelving and other storage areas . Since not everyone has the opportunity to allocate a separate room for an office, the most popular solution for owners of small apartments has become a desk 80–90 centimeters long. The main advantage of such a table is that it fits perfectly on an insulated balcony. A balcony office has three benefits: a certain level of privacy, an urban landscape, and good daylight.

Design studio MO interior design.

Apartment in Moscow. Nadya Zotova's project.

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Nikita Teplitsky style: Kira Prokhorova

“In general, the most effective way to illuminate a compact workplace is a table lamp. It can be installed on any side and adjusted so that it is convenient. In addition, there is an outlet everywhere, which means that there will be no problems with lighting. If the workplace is equipped, for example, in a pantry or far from the window, you can make additional wiring and mount pendant lights on the walls and ceiling,” advises Moonzana CEO Maxim Oktyabrev.

The advantage of this approach will be the ability to form complex lighting schemes from several sources. The downside is that it is expensive and difficult. This also leads to another topical issue: the integration of wires, sockets and chargers into the work surface.

Apartment in Moscow. Project by Marina Pakhomova.

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Yuri Grishko style: Elena Sereda, Alena Bukanova

“If you work at home, you always have a computer. And there should also be a charger for the phone, a printer connection point and other necessary peripherals. That is, at least a pilot with three or four sockets must be placed somewhere. As a result, we get a problem: a chaotic pile of cables and wires in which people sit for years. This, of course, looks sloppy,” adds Maxim Oktyabrev.

Therefore, to create an efficient home office, it is better to use tables where the necessary sockets are integrated into the tabletop itself, and the wires are hidden inside. This allows you to make the interior functional and at the same time visually clean.

Townhouse in the suburbs. ANC concept studio project.

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Dmitry Chebanenko

The Age of Transformers

Another parallel trend in workspace design concerns offices and co-working spaces. It also came out of post-COVID trends: designers are more actively using automatic doors and soap dispensers, photocell faucets instead of traditional faucets and hand dryers instead of paper towel holders. While the pandemic lockdown boom is behind us, the concept of workspaces continues to gravitate towards the atomization of employees.

“It's all about minimizing physical contact between employees. A noticeable trend now is different format acoustic partitions on tables, acoustic curtains . It can be both stationary and portable modular structures. Their main task is to zone the premises, to separate people in the process of work. Previously, there was an open space concept, when everything is open and everyone sits together, now employers are increasingly gravitating towards small offices with multifunctional premises that can be transformed at will,” said Anton Petrunin, Development Director at Rooms.

Screen with shelves and desk from the Poly collection, Natuzzi.

The concept of so-called flexible offices, in addition to health issues, also helps to increase the comfort of employees. In an environment where companies reduce rental space, the need for a permanent workplace remains only for a small number of employees. The rest, firstly, may not come to the office every day, and secondly, they can take any free place at their discretion.

To do this, modern offices and co-working spaces actively use mobile applications, with which you can book a desired location for a certain period. For example, a meeting room, which, if necessary, can be transformed into two or three rooms for different departments. Or the employee can be accommodated in a special chill-zone.

SOK co-working in St. Petersburg. Project by MAD Architects.

Photo
Ilya Ivanov

Of course, there are no universal solutions. Much depends on the specifics of the company, its staff, the needs and requests of individual departments. However, the global health and privacy trend will continue to evolve in the coming years. And profile conventions dedicated to environmental design will allow you to find ideas for organizing the workspace in accordance with modern trends, while leaving a high possibility of customization - which will give even greater productivity.

photo
Legion Media

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We work at home: 10 Useful ideas for the home office

tips

1. Workplace in the cabinet

House of the designer and collective farmer of the Oline (Oliver Gustav) in Copenhagen is filled with art objects, antiques and designer furniture. An old cabinet of curiosities for exhibits from the zoological museum was turned by him into a small bureau. A compact workplace in the closet resembles old secretaries and desks - indispensable attributes of offices in the aristocratic houses of the past.

2. Workplace in the living room

An office in the living room is a compromise, be prepared that household members can distract you with extraneous sounds. But there are pluses: as a rule, living rooms have good lighting, which creates favorable conditions for work. In this California home, the living room is divided into areas for work and leisure. The floating tabletop saves space and can be used not only as a desk, but also, for example, as a bar counter or console for placing art objects.

3. Desk in the corner

Corners often remain free, but there are great opportunities in them. The corner arrangement of furniture creates psychological comfort, giving the impression of a cozy "mini-room". This placement is suitable when there is really little space and you need to maintain visual space. The small depth of the table is compensated by the wide span of its side “wings”, which leaves enough space for the necessary details.

4. Study area in the bedroom

It is believed that a workplace in the bedroom is an undesirable element (especially feng shui experts oppose such a decision). However, oddly enough, sleep and work get along well. It is easier to concentrate in the bedroom, as there are fewer distractions than in other rooms. Just remember that the table should stand so that the bed does not fall into the field of view - otherwise, instead of compiling a quarterly report, you will want to lie down, albeit with a laptop, and the mood will no longer be working. If you do not need a lot of space to work, take a narrow console table, it is also suitable for makeup.

Home of stylist Nanna Lagerman.

5. Bright accents: decor above the table

“A home office should be uplifting and inspiring,” say the designers of the Pagenstecher group, which renovates old houses. Their tip: Decorate your workspace with bold prints of color to keep you energized while working from home. For example, as in this project: the walls above the tables are decorated with wallpaper with a paisley pattern. “Your workplace should be something that you strive to get into, no matter how big or small, keep it organized and beautiful, then it will be more productive.”

6. Home office on the balcony

The office on the balcony looks very cozy and romantic, but its arrangement requires a lot of preparation. A balcony or loggia will have to be glazed, insulated the floor, walls and ceiling, and conduct electricity. In the cold season, additional heaters may be needed. To prevent too bright light from falling on the screen, be sure to install blinds or curtains. The reward for the effort will be a beautiful view and a secluded space.

Design by Diana Bagnova.

7. Office on the windowsill

Among the advantages of the office on the windowsill are significant space savings and a large amount of natural light, so that the lamp is needed only at night. When choosing a place, consider the direction of the world: preferably one where the sun will not blind your eyes. Cabinets and shelves adjacent to the table will help keep the necessary papers at hand. A beautiful view from the window will help to relax the eyes, for this, sometimes take your eyes off the screen and look into the distance.

8. Workstation for two

For a couple, you can install a double-sided Partner Desk or an extended worktop. In order to share the workplace productively and peacefully, it is important to observe several conditions. Everyone should have their own sacred space, which must be kept in order. Listen to audio content on headphones, and when talking on the phone, go to another room so as not to interfere with your partner's work. Spend your lunch and coffee breaks together so you don't forget why you chose to live and work under the same roof.

9. In a niche

In an apartment of only 38 m 2 the designer managed to plan three rooms for the whole family.

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