Home Office Shopping Guide
An office, no matter how big or small, must work like a well-oiled machine. The first step to that is having a great team that’s easy to communicate with. The next step is to have the office set up for success. As I went into with more detail in the last blog, there are certain items in my office space that are must-haves. While we use some of the items more than others, they are all, nonetheless, essential parts of our daily lives.
First up is a duo that we consistently use pretty much every second of every work day: a laptop stand and a monitor stand. They can get forgotten very easily, as they simply stand there and do not actively move to catch our attention. However, their presence helps ensure all our screens are sitting at a comfortable height and helps us use our dual monitors to maximize efficiency. I’ve tried countless laptop stands and by far, this one is my favourite with its perfect amount of resistance to hold the laptop up while being able to be adjusted to sit at the perfect angle.
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Another smaller product that we always have on hand is a card reader. They are super convenient to have when we want to upload pictures of houses to our computers for drawing purposes. They are small and compact but make our lives so much easier.
With so many little gadgets here and there, it seems like you run out of plugs so fast. To help with that, we have little USB hubs to help maximize power outlets. They are essentially extension cords, only for USB ports. I personally have my ring light, label maker, Fitbit charger, and phone charger plugged into my USB hub, which really helps with keeping myself all powered up for anything that is thrown my way!
When we’re not out doing on-site measures, we are mostly sitting in a chair doing computer work. This means that we got all our team members comfy ergonomic office chairs that have wheels. We love them to bits, but they really scratch up the engineered bamboo floors. To help with that, we really enjoy having these clear floor mats that we bought from Amazon. They come in a super compact box and are, therefore, easy to move around until you find the perfect spot to put them.
We know how tough it can be to sit at your desk all day working without much physical stimulation. This then leads to fidgetiness, especially if you have ADHD and already have a difficult time focusing. Something that we found to really help is a Cubii. These are under-the-desk elliptical machines that are designed to help people focus. The machine is not necessarily workout equipment, but is rather just mentally and physically stimulating enough to keep you focused and able to use your brain where it really matters. We’ve found they definitely help with keeping us focused for longer periods of time.
While this may not be essential to everybody, a vacuum robot is a must-have for my team and I. An essential team member is our office dog Magnus, who like mosts dogs, sheds, add that to 7 people, and daily cleaning is necessary. Although the office isn’t completely spotless, by having the little vacuum going for a few hours a day, the difference is very definitely noticeable. We use the eufy in the office, and the roomba upstairs. Both are pretty similar, but the eufy is definitely quieter (and cheaper!).
When it comes to organization and shipping goods out, label makers and shipping packaging carry the team. By having a label maker, labels, and great packaging your shipments look so much more professional, be protected, and they can be personalized to fit your style perfectly!
We are always working on numerous different projects all at once. To keep track of projects, we like to organize different sections of a project with folders and separate projects with our file organizers. The clear acrylic material gives the office a minimalistic feel and blends very well with its surrounding. The portfolios we use are colour coded, labeled, and hold our site notes perfectly.
Although most of our work is digitalized, we still use good old fashioned pen and paper to make edits to drawings and write out little reminders for ourselves. Unfortunately, it seems like the more permanent a writing utensil, the more mistakes we make. That is why our office almost exclusively uses erasable pens and highlighters. The following are our favourites as the "erasability" is true to their claims and the colours are nice on the eyes too! To organize these writing utensils, we love our clear acrylic pen holders. Furthermore, they match the clear minimalistic look of our file folders and blend right into our desk setups.
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I stand by the opinion that organization is an art form and one must know when to push and when to pull to master it. While sometimes you should add items to help organize things, other times, you should remove things. When it comes to cords, I always try to declutter. That is why I bought everyone on my team a cordless keyboard and mouse. This change has really made a difference in the cleanliness of our workspaces and I don’t think we can ever go back to how it was before. For the cords I cannot cut out of my life, I try to organize them with cord organizers that can sit neatly on the back of my desk; out of sight, out of mind.
Finally, an everyday essential for me now is a Yeti water bottle. Not only do they keep my water as cold as glacier water when we are out on site, but they also have the best seal I’ve ever seen on a bottle! There is pretty much a 0% chance of a spill or leak if the lid is on tight. For someone who is around my computer all day, knocking things over is inevitable. So having this seal is extremely important to me and my Yeti has yet to fail me. I recommend this water bottle to all my friends and family, and I swear you will not be let down by it!
This shopping guide is just the start to perfecting your office to exactly what you and your team need, but the rest will come as time goes by and you make note of little things you’d like to improve. Best of luck with the growth of your work!
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