4 ways to make your office desk feel like home

Even if you enjoy what you do for a living, there’s a good chance you miss the comfort of your own home while you’re at work. To help you feel a little more contented, here are four simple ways you can give your office desk a more homely vibe. 1. Introduce some greenery If you’re into filling your home with vases of beautiful blooms and pots of leafy plants, why not do the same at your office desk? Introducing some greenery is guaranteed to improve the look and feel of your workspace in an instant, and it’s a great way to add a pop of subtle colour to the whole area to create a calm, comfortable environment for you to enjoy. Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, the presence of plants is thought to lower feelings of stress, anxiety, depression and fatigue. It’s also believed that plants can help boost productivity levels, improve air quality and reduce noise. 2. Upgrade your chair While you might love to kick back with your feet up on the sofa at home, it’s likely that this type of behaviour wouldn’t go down well at the office. However, just because you’re at work doesn’t mean that you should compromise on comfort - especially if your job requires you to sit at a desk for the majority of the day. So, if your current chair isn’t quite right and it leaves you feeling sore and achy, it could be that you’re due an upgrade. Ideally, your office chair should have a spacious seat section and a supportive backrest to keep your spine and back health in check. It should also be fully adjustable in terms of seat height and tilt so that you can alter the chair to suit your individual requirements. For extra comfort, you may also want to go for a design with armrests. 3. Get the lighting just right You wouldn’t settle for mediocre lighting in your home, and your workspace is no different. The truth is, it’s extremely important that your desk is suitably illuminated. If not, you could find that you struggle to concentrate, and you may start to suffer from health problems such as headaches, eye strain and fatigue, so it’s worth paying attention to this element of your workstation setup. Ideally, you should make the most of natural lighting, so if you can, try to position your workstation near a window. If this isn’t possible, it’s crucial that you make sure the overhead lighting isn’t too bright or too dim. To get your lighting levels just right, you might want to try using bulbs that replicate natural light. 4. Keep it tidy Just like you would your home, it’s important that you keep your workstation tidy at all times. Leaving your desk strewn with dirty mugs and stacks of paperwork is a huge no-no, so if you take pride in maintaining a clean, organised living space, you should do the same when it comes to your office desk. Keeping your desk tidy doesn’t need to be difficult. As long as you keep on top of it, you should find it easy to maintain. For example, you could get into the habit of having a mini clean up session at the end of each day. You should also wipe down your work surface regularly, preferably using an antibacterial spray. To stay organised, you may also find it useful to invest in some storage such as an under-desk drawer unit or filing cabinet. With a little extra effort, you’ll find that it’s possible to make your office desk feel just like home, leaving you with a more comfortable and pleasant place to work.