Over the last couple of years, particularly when the pandemic happened, work from home (WFH) office has been a trend.
When we were forced to transfer to our home office, we were reminded how important it is to have a comfortable work station with all the devices that we need to work successfully.
If you are ready to work at home for a long period of time, check out these five hacks that could elevate your workspace.
1. Set Up Your Own Router
When you're working at home, internet connection is a necessity. Once you establish your permanent home office, buying your own router is the next sensible thing to do.
If you will purchase your own Wi-Fi router, you can select the features that you'll get. Ars Technica advised to "get a router equipped to handle your max speeds and one with the bandwidth to support the computers, smartphones, tablets, smart bulbs, and everything else tapping into your home's Wi-Fi network."
2. Get a Monitor with Proper Height
Like what you typically have in a corporate office, make sure to get a large monitor, or maybe two, for your home office. Invest in monitors as you will use it for a long time. Avoid the cheapest one as they can lead to eyestrain over prolonged use.
Computer World said that "your monitor line up so that if you look straight ahead when sitting straight, your eyes are at a height of 25% to 30% below the top of the screen." Through this, your shoulders are level and don't hunch your back.
You'll likely need a riser for the monitor in order to get the proper height. It's a plus if you'll find a monitor whose height is adjustable.
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3. Have a One-stop, Compact Charging Area
You will always need a charging station as you may have a handful of devices that need to be charged. You may be opted to use a a gallium nitride (GaN) charger.
GaN is very useful as it provides a significant amount of power to numerous devices at the same time. Another advantage of GaN is its not taking up a lot of space.
GaN chargers are more compact than the alternatives because they use semiconductors made of gallium nitride instead of silicon.
According to Ars Technica, with the right GaN charger, you can create a one-stop spot in the home office. You can power, for example, "a laptop and smartphone over USB-C, then a wireless mouse over Micro USB, and your wireless headset that charges with a USB-A cable ending in a proprietary connector."
4. Ensure a Good Internet Service
Since internet connection is essential in a WFH setup, settle with at least 50Mbps.
If you do video or other bandwidth-intensive work, the best connections are wired Ethernet ones. Thus, if it is necessary for your work, connect your computer to your router via an Ethernet cable.
For basic office work Wi-Fi is fine. Therefore, if you can't wire your computer to your router, you can use Wi-Fi.
But in both cases, be sure to have modern equipment. For wired connection, make sure it is supported by at least 100Mbps (1Gbps has been common for years) and at least 802.11n for wireless ones (802.11ac is much preferred), according to Computer World.
5. Have a Power Supply that Can Survive a Blackout
A blackout can interrupt work in the home office. Moreover, it can cause damage on your gadgets. Therefore, to avoid total blackout scenario, consider adding an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to your home office.
"A UPS provides enough battery backup power to leave equipment on for a certain amount of time even after your home loses power," according to Ars Technica.
To find the right UPS, confirm that a UPS's sustained power delivery spec fits your needs. Also, make sure it has all the features you might want.
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