You’re working from home now. You’ve converted one of your rooms — or at least, a corner of one of your rooms — into a meticulous office-space that could rival any cubicle found in a corporate office environment.
If you want to make your home office even better, here are three small things that you should get:
1. An Emergency Fund
You need your computer set-up to be in top condition to get your work done. If your laptop stops turning on or your internet service drops, you can’t exactly put everything on pause until you save up enough money to get the problem fixed. That could take weeks. You need to do something right away. Your job depends on it.
That’s why you need to be prepared to handle the costs of repairs or replacements right away. You should start building an emergency fund so that you can address these tech problems ASAP, even when your budget is tight.
While you’re building up your fund, you should learn about other financial solutions to cover the costs of tech emergencies. If your budget is tight and you don’t have enough savings to handle tech repairs, you could try to apply for online loans in Washington State as your back-up plan to help you get on track again. You could use an online line of credit to withdraw the funds for the emergency repairs quickly. The funds can be deposited in your bank account as soon as the next business day. It’s that convenient.
2. Noise-Canceling Headphones
One of the challenges of working from home is dealing with constant distractions. You might be trying to put your head down and push through a project, but everyone else around you isn’t — your partner is talking on the phone, your dog is barking, your neighbors are arguing outside, etc. It’s hard to focus with all of that noise.
That’s why you should invest in some noise-canceling headphones. This simple purchase can help you block out the noise and concentrate.
If you can’t afford to get noise-canceling headphones, you can still hack your way into a more productive headspace. Use a pair of regular headphones to listen to a white noise app — there are some that even replicate the humdrum noises of a corporate office. Or listen to music. Look at the types of music that improve productivity so that you can figure out what songs to add to your Spotify playlist. The right picks will motivate you to get started and push through those mid-day slumps.
3. A Desk Plant
Finally, you should get a potted plant for your home office. It will do more than add some décor to your desk. It will help you be a better employee. Research shows that having plants nearby reduces stress and boosts cognitive performance. Watch the TedTalk by Mike Robinson where he claims that having personal desk plants at the office is a complete game-changer. He claims that his business saw a huge rise in productivity and employee satisfaction because of this small adjustment.
If you’re feeling high-strung about impending deadlines or unmotivated to get through your tasks, then maybe you need to browse this list of the best plants for offices and see which one would look perfect right by your laptop.
Make sure to pick a plant that matches the light and temperature levels of your home office. A sad, wilted plant won’t stimulate productivity.
You don’t need to overhaul your entire home office. All you need to do is make three small changes, and you’ll see a big difference in your work performance.
