Top Tools To Help You Work From Home

At this time last year, working from home was an anomaly—something you did on an occasional Friday or only because your company was especially progressive. Today, it’s the status quo. And even though much of the country has now been working from home for months, there’s a good chance that many of us are still doing it at hastily arranged workstations. If you’re in that boat, or you’re prepping for a new school year of e-learning, it’s time to get your work-from-home office established. Not sure where to start? Abt has a wide variety of products to help make your home a little more conducive to office work. Here are some suggestions:

Standing Desk

Because distractions are everywhere when you’re at home, it’s important to have a dedicated area for work so you can stay focused and organized. With that in mind, the hub of any good workspace is a desk. But studies have shown that sitting down all day isn’t good for you. Luckily, there are convertible desks that can allow you to work comfortably while standing up. We have a number of desks to choose from in our furniture department, but the Bush Furniture Corner Bookshelf Desk is a stylish yet functional option that offers the workspace and storage that you need without taking up too much real estate in your office.

Office Chair

Of course, you’re not expected to stand at your desk all day. When you do sit down, you’ll need a comfortable chair that provides proper back support. Because finding the motivation to work is hard enough without dealing with neck and back pain. BDI can help with that, as they offer chairs with many adjustable features that were engineered with ergonomics in mind for maximum comfort. 

Laptop 

After the furniture is decided, the most important tool in your work from home arsenal is your computer. Without it, nothing gets done. Depending on your personal preferences and the demands of your line of work, you can choose a laptop or desktop from the nearly endless amount of options available. Since I’m constantly on the go and occasionally find myself editing pictures and videos to go with my blog posts, I chose a MacBook Pro for myself. It’s all about finding what works best for your needs.     

External Hard Drive

It’s generally a good habit to back up your work as much as possible. But if you’re not using a work-issued computer during your stint in your home office, you may not want to clog up your personal hard drive space. And though cloud storage is great, it doesn’t hurt to have your work backed up somewhere more tangible. That’s where external hard drives come in handy. Seagate makes a number of portable models with a high storage capacity that are relatively inexpensive, but the type of work you’re doing should dictate how big of a drive to get. If you’re looking to store pictures, music, and documents, 1TB may be enough. However, if you’re storing a lot of large files like video or photo edits, you may want to get 2TB or more.

Router

Now that your laptop is set up in your new office with an external hard drive to back things up, you need to connect to the internet. Chances are that your house is already equipped to Netflix & chill, but is the signal from your modem strong enough to reach your workspace? If not, you could use a new router or WiFi extenders. The Google Nest is a great investment because not only does it make sure that you get WiFi wherever you need it to go, each Nest WiFi point acts as a smart speaker equipped with the Google Assistant. Since you’re at home, there’s no one stopping you from playing whatever music you want as loud as you want. Except maybe your neighbors…  

Noise-Canceling Headphones

And if those neighbors do call, text, or bang on the wall that you share, then that’s when noise-canceling headphones can come in handy. Without the sounds of the outside world to distract you, you’re able to focus more on the tasks at hand. Plus, few things in this world are a better non-verbal sign to the people around you that you’re busy than prominent over-ear headphones.  

Printer/Shredder

Though most documents can be shared as PDFs through email, you may have to deal with physical documents in your line of work. If this is the case, then an all-in-one wireless Brother printer could prove to be a valuable addition to your home office. Not only does it allow you to print out whatever you may need, but there’s also a scanner with fax capabilities (for the very few instances in this day and age where you still need to fax someone). And when you’re done with the documents that you’ve printed, a shredder will help you dispose of them properly so that they don’t fall into the wrong hands.

Air Purifier

You can’t always control the quality of air around you when you’re working in an office or when you’re in public. However, you can in your own home thanks to an air purifier like the Dyson Pure Cool Air Purifier Tower. It captures allergens and other ultra-fine particles from your surroundings, ensuring that the air you breathe in is healthier and cleaner. To avoid an even longer quarantine period, every little bit helps. 

Robotic Vacuum

Now that the air around you is clean, what about the rest of your surroundings? While they won’t solve all of your household cleaning problems, robotic vacuums like the Roomba can certainly help with keeping your floors clean. All it takes is a few swipes on an app and you’re vacuuming while checking your email or hopping onto a conference call in another room.

Screen Cleaner

These days, it doesn’t hurt to keep things extra clean. However, when it comes to cleaning your screens, you shouldn’t just use Windex or soap and water because it might cause damage to your sensitive screens. The Audioquest CleanScreen Screen Cleaner Kit provides an educated blend of cleaning solution that is specifically formulated to remove unwanted build-up on delicate glass surfaces without fear of scratching, smearing, or creating static electricity. Whether it’s for your monitor, phone, or tablet, this screen cleaner kit will do the trick.

Coffeemaker

While you’re working from home, the temptation to stay in bed all day is strong. I mean, your bed is RIGHT THERE. A single-serve coffeemaker with a refillable reservoir at your desk could help you to stay awake and battle that urge to retreat to the bedroom. Cuisinart makes a pretty solid one that is not only compatible with any brand of single-cup pod, but it also comes with the HomeBarista Reusable Filter Cup for ground coffee or tea.

Arcade Cabinet

Okay, I know that I said all that stuff about staying focused and not succumbing to distractions, but you know what they say about all work and no play. You can have a little break at some point. You deserve it. So why not spend that time playing your very own arcade game cabinet? We carry a variety of classic games like “Space Invaders”, “Centipede”, and “Mortal Kombat”. Some of their cabinets even come with a built-in cooler. My pick would definitely be the one with the classic “Star Wars” games. 

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These tools are obviously only the tip of the iceberg. What are some things that you include in your home office? Let us know in the comments!