MY FAVORITE WORK FROM HOME MUST-HAVES
When I first started working from home, I had a really hard time. As an easily-distracted person who was sharing an office with my partner — I often got distracted by what he was doing, what the cats were doing, the mowing that was going on outside. I also had a really small space that felt difficult to personalize, so my desk was always cluttered with lots of colorful bits and bobs as I tried to make my mark on our tiny office. Since then, my partner moved out and went back to his own office post-Covid, I had an office in our living room when we only had a one-bedroom, and now to my very own office (which I just love so dearly). During this journey, I now know what works for me, and what doesn’t. There are like a million articles about work from home wishlists, but here are my must-haves if you feel like your work style or lifestyle is similar to my own.
POKETO SPECTRUM WALL CALENDAR
I do like 99 percent of my work online these days — whether through email or Zoom or Willowspace or my website or social media. But there’s something about a paper calendar that just scratches an itch for my brain. Being able to quickly reference a large calendar right to the right of my desk and see all of the random events that I have — color coded for “fun,” “business,” and “things that my partner is doing”. These giant calendars from Poketo are so gorgeous and it’s so fun to change out the calendar once a month (I display two at a time, stacked vertically). I use the small size full-stick Post-Its to display the random appointments and events, which lay super nicely on the calendar. I’ve been working to utilize my Google Calendar more regularly, but having the quick-reference beautiful Poketo calendar can’t be beat.
SONY WH-1000XM4 NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONES
Two things — I have a huge head, and I am easily overstimulated by a lot of ambient noise. These headphones, while a lil bit pricey, are just SO wonderful and totally worth the money. The ear cups are soft and don’t give me a headache (or make my ears too sweaty), and the head band feels plush and so comfortable. The noise cancelling works perfectly (and I even tried it on two plane rides — which I usually find very scary, and they helped a lot with any plane anxiety)! My office has a tiny bit of road noise outside the window (as well as random goofy cat noises from either of my two cats), and there’s nothing that helps me focus than a soft jazzy instrumental ambient playlist (here’s my favorite that I’ve made). My partner also works from home (in another room but still at home) and I often use these headphones to block out any noise from him meandering around/cooking/cleaning/etc — and he uses his for the same thing!
A CUSTOM DESK MAT FROM INKED GAMING
Color is so important to me, and having a gigantic desk mat for all of my erratic clicking and note-taking. I love having a ton of space and a ton of color all over my desk, and this mousepad is absolutely huge and well-made. I’ve spilled tea and little food crumbs and water on it, and it’s super easy to clean. I paid extra for the stitched edges, and it’s very comfortable to type on and rest on. I had one with my original brand colors from 2018 (from Inked Gaming) and I recently reordered in early 2021 with my new brand colors — and it’s still just as beautiful. The first one still looked very nice after three years of daily use — save for one time I spilled chocolate on it and didn’t clean it quick enough (but, of course, that is entirely my fault)! I like that Inked Gaming offers a bunch of different sizes, and the colors for the custom mats are super vibrant and true-to-color. You can also get $10 off with this link (and I get $10 too, which is super fun)!
A MUG WARMER
If you’re like me, you might get distracted and let your coffee or tea get cold (like three to four times a day). I finally caved and got a mug warmer, and I adore it. I got this mug warmer from Amazon, and it’s pink and so cute on my desk. To be honest, I was a little bit worried about 1. my mug warmer catching on fire and 2. my mug warmer harming my desk. My desk is a beautiful antique from my partner’s grandpa — so I was a little bit wary about having a warmer on my desk, but this one doesn’t get hot on the bottom and it has nice rubber feet to keep it elevated. I have been using it for about six months now and have not seen any damage or issues. My only issue so far is when I spilled tea on the top of it and then it got super sticky but a warm washcloth fixed that right up.
ELGATO WAVE:3 MICROPHONE
So much of my business (as well as therapy and friendships and more) are online. I do many, many Zoom calls, and having a microphone to make sure I come through clearly and strongly is really important to me. I tried a Blue Yeti Microphone for a while, but ended up selling it and getting the Elgato because of the ease of use and ease of editing with the Elgato app it comes with. It’s also very cute and sits nicely on my desk. I also used this microphone for streaming on Twitch and it worked perfectly with OBS and really helped make my voice clear without much work at all. I’ve also used it for social media and video voiceovers, and with this noise shield I’ve never had any issues with my p-sounds (or any other gross or weird ambient noises) coming through too strongly.
UNDER THE DESK FOOTREST
I got this Comfirest footrest from Amazon because I tend to bounce my legs and fidget with my feet, and having a comfortable and soft footrest has helped me feel more comfortable in my chair. I have a Herman Miller Sayl chair (I got it for insanely cheap from Facebook Marketplace) and with my antique desk, my feet land a tiny bit high, and this footrest helps me sit ergonomically and have little to no back pain/tush pain (which was a big problem I experienced previously when I 1. had a much worse, much cheaper chair and 2. didn’t have a footrest to help me sit with both feet on the ground).
ANN LETTERING’S CREATIVE AT PLAY SUNCATCHER
Okay, so is this a MUST HAVE? Maybe not. Do I get joy from this every time a bunch of rainbows splay across my carpet? Yes. I was skeptical of how many rainbows would come through because my window isn’t fully south-facing, my building is a little tilted so I only get direct sunlight in the early afternoon — but boy do the rainbows stream all over the place so beautifully. I also just generally love Ann’s work (she is SO wonderful and her mural work is literally jaw-dropping) and the “creative at play” design is just too cute.
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