I don’t know about you, but I went into this working from home concept ready for it to last a couple weeks or so. At the office, I grabbed the essentials and came home to set up an acceptable but less than perfect workspace for myself. I was ready to weather out the storm for a bit.

Almost 4 months later…still working from home

Here we are! Still working from home. And it looks like it could be that way a bit longer. With that in mind, I’m re-thinking my arrangements here.

Ergonomics

What am I doing to make sure I’m working in a way that doesn’t eventually cause harm to my body? Well for 3+ months, probably next to nothing. But now, I’m re-assessing!

Chairs

Since early March, I’ve been using a fold-up metal stool that I bought for $7 at a junk store. Suffice it to say, my sitz bones have let me know that this just can’t continue! Time for a proper chair. Which means, yes, it needs to be comfortable. But it also needs to align the body properly. Thankfully, I was able to simply grab my chair from the office. Depending on your situation, you may need to check in with a manager or your employer to see what your options look like.

Mouse and monitor

I work on a laptop. Part of my quick home office set-up included use of the mouse pad. Not the most awful option, but having a traditional mouse was much the best. I added that to the mix.

In addition, my office space featured a second monitor. For anyone accustomed to such a luxury, it really is painful to suddenly be working with a single monitor again! Thankfully, I was also able to secure the second monitor and install it here at home.

There are other odds and ends that factor into ergonomic set-up, but you probably get the idea.

Making space

Originally thinking this home office would be short-lived, I really didn’t put much thought into making a workstation. But now, this concept is higher up on the priority list. However, it’s tough because not everyone has an office or a whole room to dedicate to this use. I know I don’t. Yet having a steady, consistent workspace really can help with productivity and morale.

For me, I set aside a small piece of my living room. I put up a table large enough to accommodate my stuff and really dedicated this as my office space. It’s not big or its own room, but it’s a definitive work area. Unfortunately, my bulky office chair just looks awful sitting there during my non-work hours. As a compromise, the office chair lives somewhere else in an empty corner when not in use.

So in the end, my workspace exists but hasn’t taken things over, and I’ve found ways to make work and personal aesthetics work together in harmony.

Written by Adam Lafield, Recruiter & Marketing Specialist