With the advancements of modern technology, working from home has never been easier.

However, there can be a lot of uncertainty involved with transitioning from in-person office work to working from home. You may be wondering how much effort you should put into renovating your home office or creating one for that matter!

Whether you are new to this lifestyle or you’ve been doing it for years, there are always new ways to improve your office space to make your workday better.

Here are 6 ways to make your home office as efficient as possible.

1. Keep Equipment Up to Date

There is nothing worse than a slow working computer with long loading times. Sometimes slow computers are a result of necessary updates. Be sure you're on top of the updates on all devices. This includes laptops, PCs, tablets, and cell phones.

Along with this, be sure you have the right equipment for the job (like the items we’ll cover later in this post). Now, if your home office is on the road, you should invest in a TYT MD-9600 Codeplug radio to stay connected with the world around you.

2. Invest in a Good Pair of Headphones

While this tip might cost a little more than others, it can be well worth the investment. Not everyone will like to wear headphones day in and day out, but when you do need them, you will be so grateful to have a quality set. This is especially true if you share a household with others, such as roommates or your family and young children. If you struggle to concentrate with music playing, however, just make sure the doors for your home office are of sufficient quality to block out sound when closed. A good home office door will look smart in the background of video calls, but it will also keep the room nice and quiet so that you can get on with your work.

3. Raise Your Laptop or Monitor

Ask yourself: are your eyes level with the top of your screen? More often than not, the height of your computer screen is too low. This is harmful because it can lead to hunching over and cause you to crane your neck. You have two options to go about solving this issue, depending on your setup.

• Desktop Monitor. If you are fortunate enough to have a desktop and monitor setup, then try adding something beneath the monitor to give it some added height, such as books.
• Laptops are a little less DIY due to the build. Fortunately, you can find a decent laptop stand online that isn’t too expensive. This will give the screen portion the added height needed to ease the strain on your neck while also tilting the keyboard part to make the typing angle more natural.

4. Add a Back Pillow

By now, you have probably found that nice office chairs are quite expensive. Taking care of your lumbar support doesn’t always have to come at such a high cost.

A quick comfort hack for a standard chair is to simply add a back pillow. Inexpensive foam, curved cushions can be found online if you want to really commit. Otherwise, you can try a regular pillow or roll up a towel and tuck it back there to see if you like how it feels.

5. Remove Clutter

There’s no secret to this step; all you can do is actively work to prevent clutter from building up throughout the day. Keep everything off your desk that is unrelated to your work. If you deal with a lot of paperwork, organize your papers into baskets. Take control of your cords and bundle any loose wires together neatly.

6. Adjust Lighting

If you’re working from home, chances are you’re going to hop on a video call or two. Make sure your face is lit well enough when these occur, so you don’t appear unprepared and unprofessional.

If you have natural daylight in your office, don’t have your back to a window that causes your body to silhouette out of focus. Try closing the blinds if you have a window. If you are on the opposite side and in need of more light, just grab a normal table lamp from another room, and you’re good to go!

Conclusion

Following these simple steps will take your home office to the next level. A more enjoyable setting will lead to higher productivity levels.