With the COVID-19 outbreak there is an undoubted blurring between our home and professional lives, and in addition to finding new ways to complete our day-to-day jobs, we are also bringing people into our homes like never before.
For some, it’s the best part of a difficult situation—all athleisure wear, relaxed discussions and extra hours to smash through all that work you have put on the back burner—but for others, it’s a more trying situation.
Many professionals, especially in space-constrained cities like Hong Kong, find working from home a challenge, not because of isolation, but simply because they don’t have the ideal space or a dedicated home office to implement a mandated work from home policy.
While certain jobs have less focus on security and confidentiality, this unexpected shift into WFH and having to consider controlled set up requirements can throw the most productive person out of sync.
Will this be the new normal? We believe this way of working, giving us all more options, may continue long after COVID has passed. So having a private space to work at home without distractions or clutter means a few changes can go a long way.
1. Set up a proper desk
A statement desk can modernise a space immediately but also allows for multiple monitors and an extra secure phone line if needed.
2. Get a comfortable office chair
The Pacific Chair, by Vitra, features a contoured seat, an intuitive control system for the arms, seat and backrest, so height can be adjusted to suit individual users, and it can also be customised with a number of different backrests, armrests and bases, and in a wide selection of colours and fabrics.
Photo: Vitra
3. Be creative with filing
Proving filing doesn’t need to be dull, try coordinated block colour storage—Hermes orange, Yves Klein Blue or simple black and white—is the solution to make a home office look slick and highly organised.
4. Pimp your lighting
If the lighting in your office area is flat it not only makes you look awful on video calls but can make you feel less productive. Lots of natural daylight from a window is ideal, but a simple angle poise lamp, which can be tilted towards your work is a must, while lamps keep things bright for Zoom calls in the evening.
5. Get PAKT
The days of a spare bedroom being used as a guest room/walk-in wardrobe/gym combo are over, so finding alternative solutions for wardrobe management is imperative. PAKT provides clean room storage, a digital inventory and deliveries on demand maximising space at home.
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