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Working from Home: Wiser’s 6 Tips for a Comfortable Remote Work Environment
Since March of last year, most of us have been working from home in some capacity and, despite trying to adapt, for some, it’s proved to be a challenge to create a productive workspace. In fact, around half of us want to make considerable improvements to our abodes, according to a recent OnePoll survey, after six months of remote working. So, here are a few simple and cost-effective adaptations that we’ve come up with to help create a comfortable working environment that can keep you happier and more focused each day.
1: Lighting is key
The aforementioned survey, with 27% of OnePoll respondents expressing a desire to improve the lighting in their home office.
2: Temperature Control
A big advantage of working from home has got to be the conclusion of heating battles with your colleagues. However, if someone you live with has different temperature preferences, you may still find yourself arguing about the heating in your new remote work environment.
Installing a smart multi-zone heating system will allow you to personalise the heating settings in every room of your home, ensuring you always have your desired temperature whilst working. Additionally, with a Wiser system, you can create energy-efficient schedules for individual rooms to suit everyone’s remote work or home-school day.
3: Comfortable office furniture
Setting up at the kitchen table might have sounded like a good idea last Spring, you are close to the fridge after all, but it’s not the most comfortable remote work set-up in the long run. Now that working from home is the ‘new normal,’ it’s probably a good time to invest in, say, a good-value office chair. After all, a seat that offers extra back or lumbar support, as well as adjustable seat height and angle movements, will be able to adapt your body’s needs, and vastly improve the comfort of your home office.
4: Find somewhere that’s soundproof
Speaking from experience, it’s not really a surprise that the OnePoll survey found that 31% of people believed their working from home life would improve if their office space was soundproofed. After all, many of us are now aware of how noisy neighbours, partners on calls, or having children at home all day can often make it difficult to work productively.
So, one idea is to add rugs or carpet to your office, as this will dampen floor vibrations and prevent noise from echoing throughout the home. In fact, thick woollen rugs may reduce noise levels by up to 46%, which could be significant in creating that ideal working environment.
5: Manage energy usage effectively
Spending all day with your computer on, constantly operating your central heating, and endlessly boiling the kettle for those much-needed cups of tea or coffee will inevitably lead to higher energy bills.
We’ve already discussed how a smart heating system will make controlling your energy easier. However, getting smart thermostats by Wiser is also estimated to save you up to 39% on energy usage, by enabling you effectively heat rooms in your home for an exact, easy to change, length of time.
Investing in Wiser smart plugs also lets you control electrical devices remotely via the Wiser app. This ensures that bedside lamps or hair straighteners are turned off, as you can always check from your smartphone, which can improve your energy efficiency and subsequently might reduce your utility bills.
6: Make sure to have regular breaks
So-called “microbreaks” have decreased for as many as 95% of employees during 2020. Prior to home working, we would have normally broken our day up with meetings, coffee breaks and even a walk at lunchtime, things that most of us don’t have the chance to do anymore.
Thus, our final tip is to take regular breaks from your work. Not only does this help productivity, but it can also prevent burnouts and reduce eye strain after a long week of staring at your laptop screen. Regardless of the length of time or the nature of your break, try setting yourself reminders to take them every few hours. We believe that a small breather from your computer every now and then will be a huge boost to your attitude when it comes to remote working.
You can find out more on Wiser products here or, for any help and support, please feel free to contact us.