Seven Home Office Essentials

Before the pandemic, I worked from home, but I could also go to a local co-working space or a coffee shop for a change of scenery.    Now, there’s no such escape.  So over the past few months, I’ve been improving and hacking my office space to address new issues and increase comfort and productivity.

One. A Great Office Chair. My previous office chair was purchased for appearances.  Our current circumstances require more lumbar support.  This Alera Elusion II Chair comes highly recommended.  It has incredible lumbar support and a very supportive seat structure.  Need even more support?  A friend bought this gaming chair designed for long-term sitting.

If you don’t want to replace you current chair, you can add a memory foam seat cushion set to give you better support.

Two. A Light Kit. Looking your best on a Zoom call requires good lighting.  The LumeCube attaches to your monitor or laptop to light up your face and give you that good Oprah lighting.  They also make a LumeCube Panel Light for those who are on camera for much of their day.

If you’re looking for something more affordable, this clip on ring light is a decent option.  Several people have purchased ring lights on tripods or ring lights that clip on to your desk.  But having a bit more light can really improve the quality of the video.

Three. A Bit of Greenery. I’m not a person who likes to garden or who likes to have a lot of plants around.  But when you’re spending so much time in your office, a plant can really lift the space.   Terrain has a wide selection of plants that are perfect for the home office, from a pink lemon tree to aloe vera.  Terrain also has a lot of lovely pots and planters, as does Etsy.

Four. A Splitter. Every day, I have the same problem.  By 3:00PM, my AirPods are drained of juice and I need to switch to my wired set, but my phone also needs to charge.  So every afternoon, I’m balancing the need to charge my devices with my need for phone call privacy.

Then, I discovered this iPhone Mini Splitter.  For $10, I can charge my phone (with my 6ft’ charging cable from Amazon) and plug in my headphones.  Hallelujah.

Five. The Good Pens. Everyone has a favorite pen.  Maybe you got it for free, maybe you bought it, maybe you found it randomly in a drawer, but that pen becomes the ‘good’ pen.  And using your favorite pen is one of life’s small pleasures.

My favorite pens are the Paper Mate Felt Tip pens.  Known on Capitol Hill as signing pens, I adore the smooth writing and the bold colors.  I also use a number of fine mechanical pencils when I’m writing something that I actually need to be able to read later.

Six. A Great Notebook. I take a lot of notes during the day, and having a nice notebook to write them in brings a bit of joy.  My favorite notepads for daily to-dos and small notes are these Russell + Hazel notepads.  For a splash of color, these Moglea linen notebooks are so chic.  And I recently gave this day-to-day planner as an intern gift because the colors were so beautiful.

Seven. A Monitor or Laptop Riser. Lifting your monitor off of your desk has benefits for your posture and for your appearance on Zoom.  On the posture front, lifting the monitor can reduce neck and shoulder pain by eliminating the need to look down.  On the appearance front, lifting the monitor centers you in the frame and keeps your co-workers and clients from looking up your nose during calls.

For laptops, angled stands are popular, but I hate typing at an angle and I refuse to buy a bluetooth keyboard.  It’s a personal preference.  I like this Vaydeer stand because it lifts it enough to be useful but not so much that I can’t type comfortably.  For something lower profile, this foldable riser actually attaches to your laptop and uses its origami-like structure to work as a stand.

Do you have any home office must-have items?  What’s helping you make the most of your office space during this time?

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