Since March 23 2020, the United Kingdom has been on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and many of us who were working “happily” in an office in February, are now working full-time at home. You would think it’s all you could ever ask for and although it may change in the future, for now it’s the new normal. We’ve all had enough time to test our existing home office and working space by now and presumably, you already own some essentials like a laptop or desktop, keyboard, and maybe even a wireless mouse? Maybe you never really fully utilized your home office and your desk was constantly cluttered with things like household bills and outdated newspapers? Or maybe you don’t even have a spare room to turn into an office and now suddenly, the dining room table is your new place of work?! Even though you may have figured out how to comfortably work from home, there is always room for improvement so here are some suggestions on how to boost your working-from-home game.
Working-From-Home Tips
Sometimes, it’s difficult to stay focused and organized at work but imagine how much tougher it can be to do it from home, where you have all the freedom in the world! Some of us have the working-from-home-gig figured out just fine, but for those of you who could use some help, here are some ways to improve your hustle at home:
Additional Monitor
A laptop or desktop are usually a given in an office setting, but sometimes the days are too busy where you can barely fit all your tabs and windows on the screen! You’re constantly getting confused as to where to click next, so imagine how much easier your life would be with an extra monitor. You use one mouse to control two monitors and when they are linked up together, it is essentially one big screen. You can have tabs open on one screen and not the other so you can shoot that email back faster or enter in the right information from one screen to the other instead of memorizing and hoping that it’s correct. Brands like HP, Dell, Apple, Acer, Phillips and more, have various monitor options that you can easily link your desktop or laptop with. Prices range based on brand, but you can find as low or high a price you’re willing to pay based on your technological needs.
There are also options for portable monitors if you are traveling or working elsewhere with brands like Asus and Gechic. Portable monitors are meant to be compact and convenient so they will be a bit smaller than a desktop monitor that we mentioned above, but you still get the extra screen time for a lower price.
Comfortable Seat
Seems self-explanatory, but many of us don’t even realize how uncomfortable and tough a seat is on your body until you sit in the same place for hours. It’s time to get rid of the awkward leather dining room chair as your office seat and upgrade to an office chair with great support for your back! We rarely realize how hard it is to keep a great posture for hours on end, especially when it’s a busy day at work. Hunching over and the degree of back pain will mostly depend on the kind of seat that you’re in so do yourself a favour and purchase a seat that is supportive and adequate for your body, and you and your back will thank us later.
Wi-Fi Mesh
Since most of us are working from home nowadays, it can be safe to assume that if you’re not the only one living in your household, you’re not the only one working from home at the same time. Obviously, if more than one person is using the Wi-Fi at a time, chances are that the internet is not going to be as quick if it were only one person using it to begin with. A Wi-Fi mesh or router is a great idea to boost the internet signal around your house, so you’ll never be frustrated with how long your email is taking to open or to send! Google, Asus, Netgear, and Eero are a few popular brands that make internet routers that aren’t outrageously expensive, and most of the time, you get two or more so you can strategically place them around your house in order to get the best internet signal at all times.
Noise-Cancelling Headphones
Noise-cancelling headphones and earphones are key to staying focused on getting the quiet that you need during your workday. AirPods, Beats by Dre, Sony and more have made earphones that will mute the outer sounds around you as you use them so it’s much easier to take phone calls or stay quiet and focused throughout your day.
Smart Speaker
When you’re not using your headphones, having a smart speaker like Alexa or Google Assistant is a great addition. A smart speaker can help you with most things that you ask it to, such as setting a calendar date, calculating, connecting to your phone to play music, answering phone calls, or answering general questions. If you need something from the grocery store and don’t have time to get it because of your crazy workday, you can effortlessly tell your tech assistant to order it online through Amazon and it’ll come straight to your door. Ultimately, the speaker is used as an assistant, so it’ll be there with answers and whatever else you need while you’re working from home.
Let Us Know!
At CarterJay, we strive to make your life easier whether you need legal insight or just some useful tips. 2020 has been a time of uncertainty and we’re all trying to get used to abnormal routines. We guarantee that our suggestions above will make your time working from home easier and overall more enjoyable, so let us know what you think when you try a tip or two!
CarterJay Legal is a boutique legal recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in private practice roles with a large variety of law firms, catering for associates and partners alike. Call us on 07834 436775 to find out more.