Sometimes, try as you might to shoo it away, work will follow you home. The downside to working at home is, well, the blurring of boundaries but also the lack of resources. If you’re looking to upgrade your home office efficiency to keep up with work, or if you’re planning on a more permanent work at home situation, here are a few basics you should invest in.
Some of the essentials you’ll need for your home office are of course a work space like a small desk you can fit into your flat, cheap laptop and adequate lighting. Those hideaway computer desks are the best for small spaces and ideal for concealing your work for aesthetics and peace of mind. Also, there isn’t an HR department to coddle you at home so you’ll need to invest in a few comfort items like a gel pad for your keyboard and a firm ergonomic chair.
If you don’t already own a laptop or want to designate a cheap laptop for work, Acer puts out many affordable and competent computers. The Acer Aspire 5532 is a good home laptop with 3GB of RAM for multitasking, Windows 7, 320GB on the hard drive and a built-in webcam for any meetings and face-to-face conversations you may need to engage in. If you’re looking for a quality portable Netbook, Acer puts those out too, but the lightweight Inspiron Mini 10 may also suit your needs.
Lastly, you’ll most likely need to invest in quality printers and scanners to complete your work area. The Kodak ESP 5250 is perfect option being a combination printer and scanner. It’s a Wi-Fi printer which will allow you to print from anywhere your laptop may be in your flat and Kodak’s series 10 ink cartridges will assure your wallet that these out of pocket expenses won’t cost you more than you’re making.
