Assemble Your WFH Space

According to a June 2024 Forbes article, approximately 1 in 5 working Americans do their job from home either full time or part time. That's a huge number of people, and those numbers are anticipated to grow.

Image generated by ChatGPT on 17 Sep 2024

I started working from home (WFH), like many other people, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting in May 2020, I worked from home about 98% of the time, only going on site for required on-site activities.

In 2022, I moved to another company, but I stayed WFH. 

That means I've spent just over four years working from home.

While I enjoy many aspects of WFH, there are also challenges that many people don't think about until either they or a close friend/family member take the WFH plunge.

This article isn't about the pros & cons of WFH, but rather a few practical things I have learned and changed over the years. 

Top WFH Recommendations:

1) Get a Standing Desk (that converts between sitting and standing heights)

It took me a long time to make this decision, but I wish I had made it sooner. 

Spending hours and hours sitting in a chair just not healthy and started causing me back pain (yes, I also turned 40 during this same period).

Having the flexibility to sit or stand is a wonderful feature with a minimal cost (~$150-500 depending on how fancy you want it to be).

2) Get an Ergonomic Chair, Mouse, & Keyboard

Since WFH entails many hours on calls, on the computer, typing emails, and clicking incessantly through stuff, you will be glad you did this. 

I started developing pain in my right wrist, and decided to invest in an ergonomic mouse. The pain subsided almost instantly (days/weeks) after getting it.

The chair is a no-brainer, but I was stubborn for a long time and tried to sit in dining room chairs. Needless to say, I bought the ergonomic chair, and it was worth it!

3) Door 

This is a more difficult item if your house layout doesn't allow it; but if your house has a room with some extra space and a door, you might consider moving your workspace into that room instead of the living room, kitchen, dining room, etc. These spaces are fine for getting quick things done, like sending an email, or uploading a report. But deep thinking, planning, strategizing, etc. will require a more isolated environment (at least for me).

This is particularly important if/when you live with dogs or kids, and especially if those kids are homeschooled!

4) Install Good WiFi or physical network connection

This is obvious, so I thought about not including it; but make sure your internet is well connected. For me, this meant trying out a few different things before getting what I wanted. 

At first, my WiFi wasn't giving me good signal in the part of the house where I wanted to be (behind the doors shown above). To remedy, I tried a NetGear PowerLine 2000 to hard wire my laptop to the cable modem using network cable. This worked quite well, and I would recommend it if WiFi is just not working for you.

But then I got mesh WiFi (LinkSys Velop) with three nodes, and that worked far better (and gave me better signal in the basement too, but that's another story).

Whatever you get, make sure the bad WiFi is not hindering your productivity! There are too many great products out there today to prevent this.

5) Background where people don't walk

This probably doesn't need an explanation, but I had to make an adjustment because my original desk setup had the background pointing at the door; so, if anyone came through the door, they would inadvertently enter my meeting. 

Yes, I know, there are background effects to block all this out; so, maybe this is not a big deal. But I'm including here because it's a lesson I had to learn. Also, my family feels more comfortable knowing the camera is not pointing at them if they come in the room. They don't know what background effects I have on (or don't).

Outro

WFH can be great. I enjoy being able to sneak in household chores on breaks, not packing or buying a lunch every day, not commuting in traffic (and getting mega stressed out), and simultaneously saving gas money that would otherwise fund the daily commute. 

I enjoy seeing my wife and kids more often (most days), and being at home provides my wife with a heightened level of flexibility, meaning she can leave the kids at home while going to her appointments/obligations. 

But there is also a level of disconnection that can occur between me and my colleagues, and it takes more intentional effort to make and grow those relationships when working remotely. 

If you're considering a WFH position (full or hybrid), I suggest you weigh the pros & cons that exist in your specific situation before assuming it will be an improvement. I can certainly imagine other circumstances in which I might hate WFH.

If you have questions about WFH and/or my experience with it, let's connect online (see 'Connect' section on left sidebar).