Shares

(StatePoint)

If you’ve been working remotely for months, you’re likely long overdue for a home office upgrade. Having the right tools can make working from home easier and less stressful.

Here are a few small tweaks and essentials to consider:

• Scene change: Is your home “office” actually the kitchen table or a couch? Keep a healthy boundary between your personal and professional life with a visual cue that indicates when the work day has started and when it’s ended. That cue could be the strategic use of a room divider to hide personal items and keep you focused. Or, it could be as simple as plopping a desk lamp onto the kitchen table during work hours to give the surface a professional, task-oriented feel.

• Number crunching: Make number crunching and recordkeeping easy with a printing calculator. With Cost/Sell/Margin functionality as well as the ability to check and correct up to 150 steps and print after correction, Casio’s HR-170RC is a versatile choice. Printing two lines per second with two-color printing, you can quickly produce paper records of your work for more organized files. With its small footprint, plus calendar and clock functionality, it can help you streamline your desk for a clutter-free, fashionable workspace.

• Caffeine fix: Now that your cup of joe is being enjoyed at home most mornings, consider upgrading your coffee maker to fit your tastes and your demanding schedule. If you miss the latte or cappuccino you used to grab on your morning commute, it may be time to replace your standard drip machine with a full-fledged cappuccino and café latte maker. Or, consider going high-tech. New coffee maker models employing smart technology let you brew from bed using just your phone for a guaranteed caffeine fix by your early morning call.

• Get the full picture: If you were accustomed to a full-sized desktop monitor at work, but have working on a laptop at home, you may find you are more productive by adding an external monitor to your home office setup.

With it looking more likely that remote working situations are here to stay, it’s time to make your home office work for you.