Make Smart Home Office Furniture Choices
Choosing the right computer desk for use in your home office is
a more important decision than a lot of folks who work from home
realize. This is especially true for those of us who run online
businesses from home. Why? Because we tend to spend more hours
at our desks than those who are self-employed in offline
ventures. Any business person who relies heavily on computers
should pick a desk (and desk chair) carefully.
You might be asking, 'what's the big fuss? It's just a desk.'
The fuss is your bottom line! Several studies in recent years
have proven conclusively that the furniture we use in office
settings (desks, chairs, etc.) has a direct impact on work
productivity. And that has a huge effect on your earnings!
Ergonomics is one part of the equation. What is ergonomics? The
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines it
as: "the applied science of equipment design, as for the
workplace, intended to maximize productivity by reducing
operator fatigue and discomfort." The idea is to choose office
furniture that allows your body to be in the proper positions as
you perform your duties. This reduces negative physical effects,
such as sitting without the proper back and leg support, typing
in an awkward position because your desk is not at the correct
distance or height, and other considerations.
Beyond merely being annoying, an uncomfortable desk and desk
chair combination might just be causing you to get less work
done. After all, who wants to work in such an environment? Even
when you know the work needs doing, most people find convenient
excuses to do other things when their bodies are being stressed
by poorly designed furniture. The end result of all of this is,
of course, low productivity.
The other major factor involving your choice of a computer desk
and your work productivity is organization. Now, I'm not exactly
the world's most organized person in my home office, but one
thing I've learned is that a bad desk choice makes it a lot
harder to stay organized.
There's more to this decision than you might think. Probably the
biggest consideration is surface area. Smaller desktops are
usually a 'no-no,' because they either tempt you to pile up
important papers in an unorganized fashion, or to put them
somewhere out of the way (and thus, easily forgotten). Unless
you are severely limited in terms of office space, investing in
a desk with a large desktop will pay for itself many times over
in the ensuing years.
There's another good reason to go with a larger desk: your
computer. Small office desks just don't give ample room for the
monitor, keyboard, mousepad, etc. Add a printer, a fax machine,
and a phone, and you'll find that there isn't room for anything
else. That just isn't practical. Skip the small desks that look
nice and match your other furniture. Go with a larger one, even
if it isn't as visually appealing. Your home office, while it is
in your home and you want it to look nice, is ultimately about
you making money.
If you look hard enough, you can find a computer desk that fits
both criteria: ergonomically designed and large enough to help
you organize the important stuff. At the end of the day, you
want your furniture to be an ally in your home office, not the
enemy. Pick pieces that help you work more comfortably. That
will put more money in your bank account.