Planning Your Workstation: Our Guide to a Healthy Work Space.
Here at Hardman, we know good design. It’s our job and our life to create beautiful and functional pieces of furniture and we think we do it pretty well! We recognise that at the moment, many people the World over are either planning to head back to work, or planning another long stint of working from home. One of the major discoveries of the last 3 months has been that many industries can cope with trusting staff to work from home, but how prepared do you feel if you’ve got to spend another few months working at the kitchen table? If the answer is “not very!” then have we got the blog for you? Here, we’ll offer our advice on the best way to improve your workstation to leave you feeling better about working from home:
Remember your posture
One of the most important things you need to think about when working from home is comfort in regards to health and safety. You’ll no doubt be working in a different place, in a slightly different position and this will probably play havoc with your posture and comfort. Either buying or acquiring a comfortable, supportive chair and making sure your laptop or monitor is at eye-level to prevent straining and uncomfortable movement.
Go clutter free
It’s all well and good talking about posture and physical comfort but being mentally and emotionally comfortable are equally important! Make sure your entire environment is comfortable and clean and tidy. Tidiness is important, and there’s even positive psychology studies that prove organisation and a tidy environment is a key part of key mental and physical health. As you’re more likely to be staying indoors whilst working, this will prove even more important.
Good light, good work
Working in a poorly lit room is proven to be poor for your eyes but also your productivity. Make sure that wherever you end up spending most of your working day, that there is good lighting and, where possible, accessible natural light. The study into office lighting suggests that just under half of the UK/Europe office workforce find poor lighting to give you headaches, eye strains and tiredness. Whilst this might not have much of an effect across the mega-short term, over the next weeks and months these types of symptoms will end up at very least reducing productivity and at most become harmful to your eyes.
Get well equipped
Many people won’t be used to working at home, but something you should demand from your workplace is the right equipment to do your job. This will include computers, printers, chairs, desks, lighting, stationary and more. To do your job correctly, the right equipment must be provided for you, so be sure your workstation is up to scratch so you can be super productive and healthy whilst you’re doing it, too.
Get some green
We’re all about the functionality, but we also know that you’re going to need a pleasant and homely area to work in. Make yourself feel better and more productive on those more glum days by buying some easy to maintain houseplants or some flowers from the local store. You would be surprised at how much more positive an experience working at home will be if you add a little colour and flavour to your work space. You don’t have to spend a whole load either, small plants are cheap and cheerful and will last a while!
These tips are things we’ve sworn by for years, but your work space is just that - YOUR work space. Customise it how you like, but be sure to stay safe and make something that works for you.