Tell me about your home office!

[ChequerboardCharlie]

I’m starting a totally new type of job on Wednesday, and I’ll be based at home for half the week. I have a room I can use as an office and I want to make it a good environment, both functional and aesthetic. My job will be lots of Zoom/Teams meetings and event organising via phone. The last time I worked in any office environment smartphones didn’t exist and the internet was dial up. I used a paper diary and wall planner. Are these still useful or is there an alternative?
I’d also welcome any tips on separating work and home life!

I work from home pretty much all the time now. I use a paper diary because I have a few different job roles to keep track off and it’s much easier for me to see it all in front of me than trying to track it on a screen.

I have a desk and bookcase in my office along with a sofa - my job involves a lot of reading and it’s nice to have somewhere comfy to sit. The sofa has a cosy throw over it to ward off the chills.

I also have a proper office chair, important for doing desk based work. My office is comfortable and professional looking - lots of nik naks that matter to me and I usually have fresh flowers in there too. I’m in there a lot, so it’s important to me to have a nice working environment.

A good size proper desk and chair to avoid back issues.

A. decent size external screen, you can't just work with a laptop one.

wireless keyboard and mouse - I had thumb and wrist issues after 1/4 year typing on my laptop keyboard

Space for a notepad and pen and a cup/glass.

I have a paper diary but that's because I can track of holidays in various financial locations with it without googling it all the time. Absolute must for me. But otherwise I use a mix of an online calendar where other people can see if I am free for meetings and an online task lists for things coming up on regular basis I can then tick off and move to the next due date.

Make sure you know how to blur your background or set up a fake one for meetings you do via a webcam.

Thanks - that’s all really helpful. I’m definitely going to put a sofa in as there is a lot of reading/procedures to follow - Thankyou

I love a proper office chair, proper desk, lot's of storage, wall calendar and minimal. Its great!

Double screens linked to a laptop dock, external mouse and keyboard so it's all like a desktop. Good office chair with lumbar support. Desk facing a window so you get good lighting for video calls. Clean and unfussy background for video calls.

It's always best to have a paper copy of various knowledge as a backup

As for the split division, usually when there are tasks that you can do, then it may be more tricky to switch modes