Working from home
I’m always being asked how I manage to work from home without a) murdering anyone, and b) becoming a social recluse. To be fair, I’m a bit of a hermit anyway, although I’m sure friends from my youth would disagree! I believe that we ‘grow’ into our personalities over time, and being middle-aged for me means I’m confident enough to allow my personality to become more fluid. Anyway, I digress (how’d that happen?). What I want to say is that you can work from home effectively (and without murdering anyone), with a little planning.
Get a comfy chair
The chair in this insta-worthy photo looks pretty cool, but there’s no way it’ll support anyone’s ass or back for longer than a hot minute. Get the biggest, comfiest chair you can afford. I have an Ergohuman elite chair with integrated footrest and laptop arm, although I don’t use the laptop arm much. The almost £1k pricetag is actually priceless to me as I have cervical spondylosis, but everyone who’s tried my chair out has said it’s worth the investment.
Don't scrimp on desk space
It’s easy to walk around Ikea and see cramped spaces looking swish but it’s another to take home a tiny desk only to find you can’t fit anything on it. You’ll need to make sure you’ve got space for all your kit, and that includes coffee/tea, mouse and associated accessories like wrist rests etc. If you’re like me and eat at your desk (must get out of that habit), then you’ll need somewhere to catch your crumbs.
Learn to close the door
This tip is two-fold; learn to close the door to your home office at the end of the working day. Shut everything down and don’t be tempted to “just answer this one email”. When you’ve done, you’ve done. The second part to this tip is to close everyone else out. Don’t get dragged into a family dispute or get sick to death of hearing the doorbell go. Close the door. Close them all out. I know I make this sound simple when it rarely is, but just try to be a bit firmer, you might surprise yourself!
This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclaimer for more info.
What else does a home office need?
Storage
If you’re working with papers and files (not the digital sort), you’ll need somewhere to store them securely. I like this stylish and lockable filing cabinet by Dripex. If you need storage without the security, take a look at these eco-friendly bamboo paper trays.
Security
Install some form of security in and around your home office. I lock all my valuables, such as my laptop, away at the end of the day. You can easily install CCTV cameras that connect to your smartphone to monitor your office (inside or outdoors), and they’re pretty cheap these days. I like this security camera from Amazon.
Decent broadband
My office has super-fast fibre installed but I’d noticed that as we added more devices to the network, some were dropping out and others couldn’t even get online at all. I knew it was an issue with how many devices were online so I invested in a Deco Mesh E4 system after seeing it on a friend’s Facebook post (thanks, Ziggy). It covers the whole house (and extensive garden) with lovely WiFi and I can’t recommend it enough!
Lighting
Read more on middle age beauty & health
Facetheory muslin cloths
I have around 15 of these cloths and have bought extras for my teens as they love them too. We use them to wash our face in the mornings and evenings, and also to take make-up cleanser off (we use cleansing balms).
Absolute Collagen
Absolute Collagen was not a brand I’d come across before 2020 but with some users of the brand reporting visible improvements to their skin and hair/scalp condition, I wanted to see what it could do for me.
Body Shop British Rose Face Mask
The marketing spiel about this face mask promises to quench your skin and give a youthful, dewy glow after use. I’ve mainly used this when having a bath so the results may have been skewed with my plumped pink face from the heat.