Having a Productive Home Workspace
We are living in an unprecedented time where most companies are having their employees work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though our work environment may have changed, that does not mean that we should stay less focused and less productive in how we do our work activities. Studies have shown that a neat and clean workspace can lead to better focus, better productivity and can better our quality of life. You can check out this study by the Harvard Business Review here.
When I found out that I would be working from home for a long time, I wanted to make my workspace organized and clean. I realized that the best way for me to focus and stay organized is to have a clean workspace that is decluttered and it would allow me to be in a state of deep work. Deep work is this idea where you have 0 distractions and you are able to perform your best at your utmost concentration for long periods of time. It is a skill that allows you to perform at your optimum and have all your attention towards your work. In order for me to achieve this state of deep work at home, I knew I had to have a workspace that would be free from clutter and it would allow me to think about hard tasks for longer periods of time.
Having a clean workspace is like having a peaceful state of mind: you know exactly what to focus on and you know what materials you need on your desk. When your desk is cluttered, you may spend a lot of time trying to find something or you may get distracted very often. A cluttered desk can de-motivate you to complete a task that can take a long period of time. Think about it. You would not want to eat at a restaurant that does not have a good atmosphere. Even if the food tastes good, you may not want to stay at the restaurant for long. When you are at a restaurant that not only has good food but also has a neat and clean environment, you end up staying longer and you enjoy your time there. The same applies to your work environment, whether it’s at home or at the office. I would recommend having your workspace close to a window, that way you get as much natural light into your space as much as possible since the presence of natural light improves your health and wellness, as proven here in another study by the Harvard Business Review.
As you can see from the picture at the beginning of this post, that is my current workspace, and I always look forward to going to work (walking down to the basement 😂 ). I am a Software Engineer and if you are a Software Engineer then you know how important it is to have at least two screens. One screen allows me to focus on the task at hand while the other screen shows the requirements that I need to fulfill for that task without having to minimize or resize my windows. I also have two Logitech Bluetooth speakers that allow me to to listen to some relaxing music while I work 😀. And the most important thing I must have with me at all times is…..WATER! Without water, I will get dehydrated and I will not be able to focus on my work! This is why I’m glad that my desk has a drink holder on the side so then I can just keep sipping that water as I work away. If you don’t have water next to you, how do you expect to perform at your optimum level while you’re dehydrated?
If you are interested in knowing where I got each of these items from, I have a list of all the items and links to purchase those items below.
Johnathan Credenza Desk
Price: $259.99
Dell — 27" IPS LED QHD Monitor with HDR
Price: $399.99
Link: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-27-ips-led-qhd-monitor-with-hdr/6211717.p?skuId=6211717
Logitech — 2.1 Bluetooth Speaker System (3-Piece) — Black
Price: $79.99
USB C to HDMI Adapter for Home Office [4K@60Hz], uni [High Speed, Sturdy Aluminum] HDMI to USB C Adapter Cable
Price: $16.99
Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075V68NVR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Investing in a good home workspace will allow you to feel happier, energetic, motivated and enthusiastic. You will feel as though you have control over everything that you do at work and it will allow your mind to stay focused.
Productivity Tool:
On a side note, I would definitely recommend this Chrome extension called OneTab. OneTab allows you to group your tabs and not have too many tabs open all at once. This one extension has made my life so much easier by not having to go tab searching or even opening a duplicate tab when I feel too lazy to just look if a tab exists. Hopefully this extension helps you too.
Thank you for reading!
