Those of you who work from home, what are some musts for your office?

I work from home, out of my attic. I have my computer and phone and a printer, and my wife's nicknacks in the rest of the space.

I'll be interested in this thread, cause I'm doing it wrong.

If you have family at home, you do need ground rules on when you can be bothered and when you can't, maybe a sign on your door to show when you are busy/on the phone, and when you can be interrupted.


Edit: Something I'm poor at is separating work from home, and taking breaks, going outside to stretch my legs and walk the dog at lunch.

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In the morning, I am planning on going for a run, shower, dress in professional work clothes, and start my day

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That's what I had to do when I worked from home. Also set a time to be in the office to start work. I didn't always dress professional, but didn't stay in gym shorts and t-shirt without showering all day.

I didn't really have any creature comforts in the office except a really nice, comfortable chair and a good Bluetooth speaker. I eventually had to remove the TV because it became a distraction, especially during baseball season. Getting out for lunch also helped clear the mind and re-focus for the afternoon.

I had a huge desk (old door that I turned into a desk) before we had kids. Now that we have kids, there really isn't much room except for a small desk in our guest bedroom. (saved the door/desk in storage, hoping to break it out one day later on in life).

Usually though I'll take my laptop and work in our living/keeping room when the wife and kiddos aren't at home. Lately I've been working outside on our patio or in the hammock.

Summer is quickly approaching....so I'll be spending more time in the back guest bedroom, with my laptop hooked up to my iMac for a larger display.

Also, its worth it to leave for a few hours in the morning to hit up a coffee shop or something.

To answer your question, if you do a lot of calls, easy to wear wireless earbuds (like AirPods) are amazing. Usually my calls don't last longer than an hour, so they don't really ever end up dying on me.

Yeah I don’t think I can make something like that work. I need to be in a structured environment to focus.

Epic, you live in Lafayette? What line of work are you in?

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Epic, you live in Lafayette? What line of work are you in?

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Yep, I work in Healthcare IS, as a consultant.

Nice

I’m not a big TV person. I might have it on as background noise, but I don’t see it being a distraction

No one else at home.

Been working from home for 6 years. My wife used to be off on Fridays which wasn't bad. Now she's off on Wed's too. Aggravates the crap out of me.

Also, not sure how much yard you have but a nice view goes a long way.

I have been working from home since the first of the year
I am set up in the living room in front of a big window looking into the yard (live alone)
Built in book cases next to window come in handy
I keep the tv on a music channel during the day for background noise

I learned real quick to have extra ink on hand, there isn’t a supply closet when you’re at home

Well, my real home office is the kitchen (side hustle is baking for farmer's market), but I doubt you're using 19 sheet pans in one day like I do. Most important equipment in that home office is three sinks. LOL.

Extra bedroom is non-kitchen office. I had it set up as a second guest room w/spare bed, but realized no one slept in the damn thing, so I removed the bed. Much more pleasant to be able to float the desk in the center of the room, where the natural light from the window is best. I added a rug and some art on the walls.

But the most important thing, to me, are noise-cancelling headphones. Even when no one is home, the annoying small noises of traffic, trash truck, AC, fridge compressor, etc can be magnified. In a busy office, it's easy to tune out background noise. In a quiet space, the little noises become huge. And if you're working while there is plenty of other (more fun sounding) activity going on in the house, they're necessary.

TV