Are you looking to work remotely from now on? It’s clear that remote work is here to stay and the future looks bright for work-from-home opportunities.
But if you want to succeed at working online, you have to prepare the perfect remote work setup.
Regardless of your job, your employer will expect you to always have a few essentials covered for working remotely.
You need to always have a stable internet connection. You need the right laptop for your work. You might need adequate lighting or a webcam and microphone.
The same goes if you are a freelancer or remote entrepreneur. Failure to have a great setup means you’ll lose productivity and efficiency. You’ll also miss out on future opportunities.
Here’s how to set up a remote work station:
Creating Your Atmosphere
You want to make sure you create an atmosphere that’s conducive to remote work. If possible, have a room in your home that’s away from your bedroom to be your office. This way you don’t get tempted by the distractions of home.
If you have many stay-at-home family members, try to choose an area of the house that’s quiet. You might want to choose a room that’s close to your kitchen and bathroom. This way you don’t have to spend too much time walking around.
On a busy day, roaming around the house will severely cut into your productivity. These little details will benefit you in the long run.
Make sure there’s a bright light in your room. This will not only improve your mood while you work but is also crucial for video calls and webinars.
For break times, you might want to have a small sofa in your room. You can keep a small stack of books or games to relax you when not working.
Choosing Your Desk
You want to choose a desk that’s as wide as possible. For efficient work, you want to have everything you need within arms’ reach.
If you choose a desk with drawers, there shouldn’t be more than 2 drawers. For remote work, you want convenience and efficiency.
With many drawers, you’ll create clutter and lose your important items. Your drawers can get used for keeping backup items.
While you’ll likely only need one computer, you want space for at least two. You might prefer working on a computer and having a laptop as a backup. Or you might work with a laptop and have a tablet for smaller tasks.
Make sure there’s easy access between your desk and the outlet. You can also opt for a modern desk that has a built-in outlet.
Choosing a Comfortable Chair
This is often overlooked but is one of the most important items for your remote work setup. Since you’ll spend hours sitting at your desk, you want to make sure you have maximum comfort.
You can expect to experience back pain on occasion. But if it becomes severe you’ll have to take time off work. Many employers will notice what type of chair you use.
If they notice severe back pain in you, they will hesitate to work with you. A few days to recover from back pain can mean postponing an important project.
While rolling chairs are popular among remote workers, you might want to consider a sturdy chair. This will force you to get up and walk when needed. With a rolling chair, you’re tempted to roll around your office to pick up items!
You want a chair that has spine support. For this, choose a chair that’s taller than you sitting down. this way it holds your spine and neck in place.
Computer Setup
The first step for remote work gear is to find the right computer. You want to think about what type of work you’ll need to do.
Are you a computer programmer or software developer? For such jobs, PC laptops are usually the preferred option. These have greater options for coding than Macs.
They are also the standard for most industries and ideal for beginners in business. If you want to start freelancing or a remote company, start with a PC.
But if you work in a creative industry, you might prefer a MacBook Pro or Air. These are great for graphic design, video production, and audio production.
If you choose a laptop you should buy a laptop stand. This helps you work without straining your back. You can also buy a monitor, an external keyboard, and a mouse.
Earphones or Headphones?
If your work requires audio/video calls, you have to invest in a great pair of earphones or headphones. Many remote workers forgo this requirement altogether.
But you have to expect that there’ll be background noise at times. If you ever decide to work from a coffee shop or coworking space, you’ll need to be able to cancel out the noise.
For most remote workers, earphones work best. Apple’s AirPods option is the ideal option for earphones.
If you expect to have longer calls then headphones are better. These are better for canceling outside noise. It’s best to choose them if you have busy surroundings. Headphones are also great if you need an external microphone.
Webcam and Microphone
Do you expect to have regular video calls? Or do you need to record webinars or online conferences? Make sure you invest in a great webcam and microphone combination.
If you have a great laptop, the webcam that comes with it will be sufficient. Mac laptops usually have the upper hand with webcams.
If your webcam isn’t sufficient you can invest in a portable webcam. These attach to your laptop and can also easily get carried in your bag.
If you don’t have a microphone with your headphones, take your time to research external microphones. For calls, you can find a small portable microphone that you can connect to your laptop.
If you need a microphone for recording audio, you’ll need to shell out a few hundred dollars. You’ll also need to buy a microphone stand a pop filter to accompany the microphone. Research microphones for podcasters to find the ideal microphone.
Charging Station
Your charging station ensures that you can charge all your essential items at a moment’s notice.
While this might seem obvious, many amateur remote workers never prepare for this. This will lead to laptop outages when you’re in the middle of a project. Or a phone outage while speaking to a client.
The first step is to have a surge protector attached to your outlet. Make sure it has at least five charging ports. One will be for your laptop and another for your phone. The other three are spare for any other gadgets you need for your work.
Keep your chargers plugged in at all times. All you’ll have to do is reach for the charger when needed.
For your phone, you might want to consider buying a portable charger. These might need separate charging. If so, make sure these are always kept charged while you work.
You should also have backup chargers for all your gadgets. If one charger gets damaged, immediately order another backup charger.
Storage Station
If you have adequate space on your desk, you want to set up a storage station. At the very least, you must have 3 external hard drives.
You have to choose one mega storage drive. This should contain 4 TB or more of storage space.
Then you can choose one portable storage drive that should be between 1 TB to 4 TB. This will be for when you have to travel with your laptop for work.
It’s also great if you decide to take a break from working from home and become a digital nomad.
You should have at least one USB flash drive. Try to get one that’s between 200 GB to 500 GB. It’s always best to have 1 or 2 backup USB drives whenever possible.
Storage is crucial for remote work so make sure you take care of your external hard drives. Some of them can wither after a few years, so invest in backups and make sure files get saved across different drives.
USB Hub
Most modern laptops only have 1 or 2 ports for USB drives. As this isn’t efficient for most remote workers, you should buy one USB hub. This connects to your laptop and adds additional USB ports.
At a minimum, you should have a USB hub with 4 USB ports. This way you can keep your hard drives, phone, microphone, etc. plugged in at all times.
Make sure to buy at least two USB hubs. One you can keep on your desk and another can get carried when you’re on the go.
Create the Perfect Remote Work Setup
Follow the steps in this guide to create the perfect remote work setup. For your type of work, you might need a few additional steps. However, these rules will make it easy regardless of your work.
Start with creating the right atmosphere where you can work productively. Next, start researching the right items that work best for your remote work needs.
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