Working from home can be great – but you’ve got to have a proper home office set-up. Here are 5 essentials you need…
Remote working is becoming a lot more popular among the UK’s workforce. And it’s not just an afternoon every now and then. Many people are using their home as their main place of work.So it’s important that you get your home office properly set up. We’ll get you started…
1. A really good chair
The temptation is to stick a laptop on your dining table and work from there.
And while that might be OK for the odd morning, if you’re planning on doing eight hours a day at home you’ll need to invest in a proper desk set-up, with the chair being the most important item.
Remember, you’ll be spending hours on end at this chair so it needs to not only be comfortable but also support your back and neck. Try some out before you buy. Once you’ve got it home, adjust to your own personal specifications.
The HSE provides some advice on setting up an ergonomically sound work station.
2. Somewhere to put waste
You’ve got a kitchen bin and a few recycling boxes, why do you need another bin for your work? Well, for starters you may well be producing a lot more waste than usual. From print-outs to mail, there’ll be much more paper that needs not only recycling, but also shredding.
Then, depending on your industry, you could have waste chemicals, packaging or various other items that need disposing of safely and cleanly.
If you’re dealing with chemicals, batteries or other volatile substances, talk with your local council about how to get rid of them properly.
3. Secure storage
When you’re running a business from home, or even working remotely for an employer, you’ll have valuable equipment and documents that need storing correctly. This could be expensive digital cameras, financial documents or petty cash.
Invest in a safe for smaller items or a lockable filling cabinet for important papers. You might also want to check your home insurance to see if damage, or break-ins are covered for work equipment.
4. Surge protector
This may sound like overkill, but you don’t want expensive laptops, monitors or printers being damaged because you haven’t protected them.
Electrical surges, or spikes, can be caused by lightning storms, plugging in a large electrical device, or work from local contractors.
And they can destroy anything plugged in that’s not protected. If you’re working from company machines and don’t have a protector, you could be liable for the cost of replacement.
5. Insurance
Not a physical item, but one of the most important ones. As mentioned above, there are many things that can damage your home work space. And these can be costly.
Some home insurance policies will cover minor damage, but if you’re talking about large and expensive items, damage to third-party property, or injury to clients visiting your home, then you’ll need specific insurance to cover these.
Not only could this insurance end up saving you money, but it can also help you reduce lost working hours as you’ll hopefully be able to quickly replace any goods knowing the money is coming soon.
Posted by the Secret Businessman