Stay Productive with Affordable Home Office Furniture

The recent coronavirus outbreak has resulted in many of the UK’s office staff having to work from home. While this can have its benefits — such as getting a few extra minutes in bed and reducing pollution levels — it’s important not to let your work/home life balance become too disrupted.

According to Workplace Insight, around one third of the British population would avoid working from home if they could, citing a lack of human interaction and technical issues (for example, not being able to connect to company IT systems) as the two biggest drawbacks.

We understand why those two concerns are key factors. After all, many of our staff members are working from home during these times, too. However, it’s vital that everyone working from home manages to keep their spirits up and productivity levels high.

With this in mind, we took a look at our affordable home office furniture range and came up with five tips to help you stay productive.

1. HAVE A DEDICATED WORK AREA

Working from home can bring with it a few rather tempting choices, such as choosing to work from the comfort of your bed or the comfort of your couch. Going with either option, though, will seriously harm your productivity levels. Instead, you should work from a desk in a dedicated area.

The importance of having a dedicated work space can’t be understated, and many Britons who regularly work from home would agree. This is Money found two in five workers look for a suitable home office space when property hunting to stop themselves from being distracted from the key features of other rooms, such as the TV or the ever-popular coffee maker.

By working from a desk in your own office area, you keep yourself in the right mindset when tackling your to-do list, and it creates a much needed divider between your home life and work life. Take a look at our range of practical desks to get your home office set up.

2. MAKE SURE YOU’RE COMFORTABLE

When working from a desk at home, it’s important not to just pull up any old spare chair you have and make do with it. Poor seating solutions contribute to bad posture and tension in the lower back. Therefore, you should look towards adding a new office chair to go along nicely with your new desk.

An article posted on The Guardian’s website revealed that many office-related illnesses were related to musculoskeletal issues, and there were over 553,000 recorded cases of this in 2015. By ensuring you have a purpose built office chair when working, you limit the possibility of injuring yourself, meaning you can keep up the momentum when working.

Our affordable home office furniture range includes many different styles of office chair designed for comfort and practicality. Our Colorado office chair in particular is very popular and meets all the requirements listed by the Posture People on how to choose a good office chair.

3. WORK IN A WELL-LIT AREA

If you can, try to set up your home office in a room that’s bright and airy. Research conducted by Dr. Alan Hedge revealed working in a naturally lit environment reduced eye strain, headaches and blurred vision by 84%. And of course, being able to view the outside world makes for a much better working environment.

However, the space you have at home to work with might not have windows installed, particularly if you’ve had to set up shop in a cellar or basement. If this is the case, you should still make sure you have enough light at your workstation.

LOFT has a great collection of stylish table lamps that provide functionality with aesthetically-pleasing designs. While lighting can brighten the place up, it’s no substitute for natural light, which brings us to our next tip.

4. SPEND SOME TIME OUTSIDE

Even though we’ve been advised to isolate ourselves, there’s no need to become a shut-in. In fact, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said going outside to exercise is fine, as long as we remember to keep some distance between others.

Go for a walk and stretch your legs when you take a break. The fresh air and a little bit of sunshine will go a long way in boosting your wellbeing and productivity.

There have been many studies on the benefits of bringing the outside indoors to improve our workrate and keep us happy. Simply having plants in your work area can increase productivity by 15%.

Biophilic design is something we’ve been passionate about for many years, as the health benefits it brings are undeniable. Invest in a few plants for yourself and see the changes they can bring.

5. DON’T FORGET TO SWITCH OFF

As tempting as it can be to do “just another 5 or 10 minutes,” keep to a dedicated work schedule and punch out at the same time you normally would at the office. The lines between home and work life are about to become more blurred than ever before, so it’s important you don’t fall into the trap of letting one dominate the other. Once you’re done for the day, switch your mind and your computer off, and do the things you normally would once you’ve clocked out. Chill on the sofa in front of the TV, read a book or sharpen your culinary skills, whatever works for you, do it.

THE IMPORTANCE OF AFFORDABLE HOME OFFICE FURNITURE

These are very strange times we’re living in, but it’s vital we all pull together to ensure we get through it. We understand that many people having to work from home now won’t necessarily have the right set-up, but our selection of affordable home office furniture will help you to stay productive, and hopefully, will go someway into reducing any stress and strain you’re going through.

Our installation team is still making deliveries and has undergone extensive training on COVID-19 to ensure products are delivered to you as quickly and as safely as possible.

We are still very much all-hands-on-deck at LOFT, so make sure to get in touch if you need any help with furniture requirements.