Change up your office space and add some inspiration to your day with these tips.
Remote work has many perks, but it can sometimes get a bit monotonous to be stuck in the same place for 8 hours and then some, because where you work also happens to be where you live. One easy way to add some variety and productivity back into your day is by changing up your work environment. Use these work from home setup ideas to give you a bit of inspiration to re-create and liven up your office.
Creating a new work from home setup or looking for ways to improve your existing home office? Read our guide for practical tips and principles.
Jump to a section:
- Work from home setup ideas
- Try a portable monitor
- Keep moving with a mobile workstation
- Add some ambient lighting
- Elevate your setup with a USB microphone and headphones
- Mix up your plants, art, and seasonal decor
- Try a treadmill desk
- Make digitizing documents easy with a one-touch scanner
- Our recommendation: ScanSnap iX1600
Work from home setup ideas
Your living space probably wasn’t designed with maximum work productivity in mind, so if you work from home, you’re going to have to find ways to adapt. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to make the most of the furniture and space you have or embrace a suite of office tech that’s highly portable so you can break it down and stow it at the end of the day. Let these work from home setup ideas spark your imagination as you review your options.
Try a portable monitor
Most tips for setting up a home office advise keeping life and work separate by sticking to a specific workspace, but what if you’re tired of being stuck in the same room? Portable monitors can be a great way to take your work with you. Want to work in your garden for a day, from a coworking space, or at the local coffee shop? With a portable monitor, you can set up anywhere and not have to squint at a small laptop screen or use it as a second screen to efficiently use multiple applications. Some monitors, like the portable RICOH 150 series, weigh just over a pound and are thin enough to fit into most backpacks, making them easy to pack and go, whether you’re deciding to live a digital nomad life or simply feel like working from your kitchen counter for a day.
Keep moving with a mobile workstation
Much like with portable monitors, having a mobile workstation lets you work anywhere in your home without hassle. As a bonus, it’s easy to make a mobile workstation that suits your needs. For most people that includes a computer cart that can hold your laptop and the aforementioned portable monitor, preferably with some storage where you can stash some notebooks and snacks. Whenever boredom or tiredness strikes, try switching from your usual workspace to your mobile workstation and travel through your apartment or home. As a bonus, having a mobile workstation is also great if you want to catch up on some work while visiting friends or family but don’t have a dedicated space. Bringing along a few small, ideally foldable essentials allows you to plug into work from anywhere.
Did You Know?: A printer-scanner can help you save space by combining two functions in one. Click to learn more about choosing a printer-scanner for your home office.
Add some ambient lighting
Ring lights are not just for people taking photos for social media. Any bright ambient light can help you feel more awake and inspired, especially during dreary winter months when you have not seen the sun for a couple of days. If you don’t care for harsh white LED lights, consider adding a cozy lamp or fairy lights to your space to help you get in the right headspace for work. The goal is to make the lighting keep you alert and cozy, but not so soft that you may begin to feel sleepy. Either way lighting will improve your online interactions and make you feel better.
Elevate your setup with a USB microphone and headphones
Even if you’re not an audio engineer or a podcaster, having a microphone and a good pair of headphones can allow you to be more immersed and comfortable during virtual meetings or client calls. Not to mention that having access to a great pair of noise-canceling headphones can eliminate some noisy distractions in your household. Even if you can’t listen to music during work, having white noise in the headphones has been shown to improve concentration and learning in some studies.
Mix up your plants, art, and seasonal decor
While you may already have some must-have favorite items on your desk, try some light re-decorating if things are starting to feel a little dull. Adding in a new plant or poster is an easy fix, but an even easier one is seasonal decorations. Whether you choose to go all out or simply add a few thoughtful touches to your desk, the novelty of change can help you feel excited to be in your workspace once more.
Try a treadmill desk
Standing desks are becoming more common, but some remote workers are choosing to kick their cardio up a notch with a treadmill desk. Out of all the work from home setup ideas, this one may have some people rolling their eyes, but many are finding that a nice slow-paced walk while answering emails helps them think and fires up inspiration on days when time is in short supply or the weather too inclement to head outside. If you’re not sure about making a purchase, some companies offer to lease or rent treadmill desks so you can try one out before making a decision.
Did You Know?: The ScanSnap iX1600 can turn scanned documents into searchable PDFs, JPEGs, and editable Microsoft Word documents. Click here to learn more.
Make digitizing documents easy with a one-touch scanner
Nothing interrupts a workflow more than having to pause and deal with a glitchy scanner or worse, head out the door in search of an open scanner at a copy shop. Invest in a few high-quality products like a good scanner, or a scanner printer to save yourself the aggravation of dealing with IT issues that could have been prevented with some common sense home office equipment.
Our recommendation: ScanSnap iX1600
We know you have no shortage of options when it comes to choosing a home document scanner. We pride ourselves on having spent the last 50+ years designing and developing some of the most beloved electronics in the world, including our line of award-winning, easy-to-use, one-touch ScanSnap scanners.
ScanSnap iX1600 offers one-touch scanning with the ability to process 40 pages per minute. Its speed and ease of use make it the perfect scanner for a home office, and it works just as well for scanning receipts and invoices as it does for digitizing family photo albums. Click here to learn more and shop the full line of ScanSnap scanners.
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