So, you have this new job now and most of you have already been through it. At the outset, it only meant slipping into one corner of your house – be it your couch or in the bed itself (that you haven’t made for days perhaps) – with only the laptop! Eventually, when ‘working from home’ began to seem like the new normal we have come to realize that it is here to stay.

Setting up an office space at home became more and more essential - you need to have all the office supplies - starting from an ergonomic chair to a secured internet backup, and even the accessories that would ease out your virtual team meetings!

Time to set up your home office now!

 Find the right space

It would be great if you can hunt down a separate space for your work time. Much like an office cubicle I mean – it lets you concentrate, and more so if you've shouldered all other liabilities of your home as well! Say, you have kids to look after, grandparents to take care of, and a whole family to cook for – that xenophobic work area would allow you to shrug off all other stress for a certain period of the day.

Now, most houses will not have such a separate in-built corner. The wisest idea would be to allow one corner of the house to multifunction. For instance, take your guest room, your garden shed, or maybe the laundry room – make them perform the double-duty. The guest room could be an office space unless guests are in; the same goes for the garden shed – relax there on your weekends and set up your office when it's a weekday!

Look into the ergonomics

‘Ergonomics’ is essentially an amalgamation of every ingredient in your work environment that contributes to work efficiency and productivity. So, here are the steps you need to follow:

Check the height and resolution of your screen or monitor –

When it comes to the screen you need to be extra careful with 2 attributes – height and display quality. Try using a large monitor - standing upright on adjustable worksurfaces - you’ll have a commendable working experience I must say. Large monitor users are never comfortable going back to small screens – that’s an added disadvantage when you’re traveling and need to depend upon your laptop solely!

Screen resolution may not be your subject of study and you may struggle with the jugglery of terms when it comes to selecting the screen resolution of your monitor! If you’re reaching out for a few suggestions – you can safely go for QHD or a 4K UHD. Be careful of your video subsystem – it could limit the resolution of your system irrespective of the monitor size.

The crux of the discussion is – match the height so as not to stoop and strain your shoulders; get the best resolution so as not to strain your eyes!

The posture of your chair

As earlier mentioned, ergonomics encompasses everything that’s got a share of your working environment. An ergonomic chair (that’s what most manufacturers claim their products to be) is one that urges you to keep your posture correct. But the chair alone will only do half of the job, it’s you who need to sit in the right position to avoid stress.

Sit straight with the arms parallel to the floor, only an arm's distance away from the monitor, neck in a neutral position, and both legs resting on the floor! Have you ever considered all these parameters while working? Your height-adjustable ergonomic chair could help you achieve the above-mentioned ones!

There are other factors to be considered – lighting in the area, a comfortable mouse, a headset for your virtual meetings, a multipurpose printer (if your office hasn’t gone paperless), and above all – a strong, fast and uninterrupted internet connection.