Create a home office to reduce stress and improve your health

With more of us working from home now, we can find it quite stressful trying to squeeze ourselves into a quiet corner of the house.  Often, it’s the kitchen table or a makeshift desk squashed against the walls that acts as our office. Along with juggling homelife, and the many distractions that come with it, it can start to impact on our health and mental wellbeing.

If you’re planning to work from home for the foreseeable future, it’s worth creating a proper home office to reduce stress and improve your health.

Make the space

If you have a spare bedroom you can use that’s great.  If not, then dedicate an area of a room that is solely for your work.  Keep it free of clutter and don’t let other family members encroach on this space. 

Get some natural light

If you’re currently working in a space where there is little or no natural light you should consider relocating to another part of the house.  If this isn’t possible, then you should allow light to flow from other parts of the house by leaving doors open or installing glazed doors.  Alternatively, go for lighting that replicates natural light.

Create a calming atmosphere

Painting your workspace in calming colours, such as white, blue or yellow, will help improve your stress levels.  If you’ve got a dedicated room for your office, it will be quite a large space to repaint. Don’t feel as though you need to do it all yourself, hiring painters and decorators to do the work is a sensible option.

Keep nature close

Being close to nature is known to be good for our mental health, but you don’t need to keep popping out to the garden.  Add plants to your workspace, with pots on the desk or larger plants on the floor.  Think about incorporating even more plants by adding them to shelves or by using hanging plant pots. 

Don’t neglect your body

Posture is important to consider when working from home.  A dining table and chair may not be at the right height to be working from.  And almost certainly can’t offer proper back support.  For long-term home working you should invest in an ergonomic desk and a supportive, adjustable chair.  

Also, make sure that your computer screen is at the right height for your eyes.  If you’re using a laptop, consider connecting a separate screen to avoid having to look down all the time.