We all know that during this time of working and schooling at home, it can be a struggle. Every day, every hour, every minute.....and sometimes we just need to make the most out of the situation.
I’ve been working from home for 4 years, so in many ways I’m used to separating work from school from home and all the things. But throwing a pandemic into the mix has been all sorts of extra layers of crazy, mostly because my kids are also feeling stuck at home and like to be in the same space as me, 24/7.
So when you have a small home or space to work with at home, you have to make the most of it. Here are five tips/products that I recommend for your home office.
1. Find a corner or space that is yours. My home office is literally set up in a corner of our master bedroom. We don’t have a house with an extra room for me to work in, so I made the space work. Here’s a picture of my space. It’s not much, but I can lock the door (most days) and get my work done. One important thing that I did was get a real desk chair and one that I could slide under my desk to hide at the end of the day since we don’t have much space. So I found a super comfortable desk chair on Amazon that has arms that you can flip up/down to save space.
2. I learned very quickly working from home that I need variety. I cannot be sitting all day long, so I found a picture of an Ikea desk I liked at a friend’s house in Atlanta and asked a local carpenter (my friend’s husband) to make me one. This custom-made standing desk is a lifesaver and I find myself moving it around the room throughout the day. Sometimes I like to use it with the bookshelves behind me and other times I plop it right in front of the window so I can look at the palm tree outside while standing and working. Did you know that you could make any desk a standing desk by buying one of these stands to put on your desk?
3. Being on the screen sooooooo much these days, my eyes have been tired. I invested in a pair of blue light glasses to help me while working remotely.
4. Sometimes, my Zoom calls happen in the early morning or evenings and the natural lighting in my office (bedroom) is great but not directly on my face during calls so I end up looking very dark on the screen. I’ve tried bringing up additional lamps to the room to fix the situation, but the only thing that is working now is my new ring light from Amazon. I reviewed several different lights and this one had the best reviews with the best bang for my buck (it was mid-range price) and has already been such a lifesaver.
5. If you’re recording anything or wanting to get better sound/audio on your calls, I’d also recommend a microphone. I specifically use mine for the podcast I started in March 2020 along with these headphones. Sometimes when we’re recording videos for our classes, it’s nice to get a better sound.
Hope these tips help, please reach out dominiquedynes@gmail.com with any other questions about making your home office work for you! And share your tips with me on Instagram or Facebook!
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