7 accessories to take your 'working from home' game to the next level

For many of us, it's been around 18 or 19 months since we started working from home. What we may have initially viewed as a fleeting opportunity to work in our shorts in front of the telly for a bit has become the way we've done things since. Whether we’ve set ourselves up in the guest bedroom, dining room table, our living room couch, the walk-in closet or even the garden shed, we've all needed to evolve and adapt to make working from home work best for us. For many, that's meant bringing home a second monitor, laptop stand, bluetooth keyboard, mouse, some post-its and an office chair - standard stuff. We've all settled into our routines and made the best of it with the tools we have at our disposal. But as the weeks have become months, and things have started to feel a little less temporary and a little more 'new normal' I've personally found that over time, some of those little WFH niggles have grown and festered into major inconveniences or roadblocks that can drag my own productivity screeching to a halt. I'll admit, many of the below 'investments' (in conjunction with too many trips to and from the fridge) were perhaps initially an attempt to self-comfort but adopting the below accessories into my daily work ritual over the last year in particular has, in my own opinion at least, elevated me closer to the utopia of achieving WFH expert levels. Call them gimmicks if you like (a couple probably are), but as we'll likely continue to be working from our homes for at least a little while yet, I thought I'd pass on to my network in the interests of sharing. Let me know if I've missed any out!

The Ember Smart Mug

I'll start here because it's perhaps the most ludicrous one, and yet, this purchase that has brought the most joy to my work mornings of late. Yes, a $150 dollar 'smart' mug. I know what you're thinking, but hear me out. I love my coffee, especially just after it's been brewed and poured into a mug. For whatever reason (mostly small and noisy distractions!) I'm pulled away from my perfectly hot drink only to find it luke warm or cold when I return to it. The Ember changes the game. Set the temperature on your smart phone and your coffee stays at that level regardless of how long it takes you to finish it. Yes, your bubble will scoff at you, but trust me, it's worth it.

A half decent wifi extender

Sharing our work environments with homeschooling kids and partners with their own internet requirements can often mean we need to tuck ourselves away into a nook or quiet part of the house to try and listen in to that crucial video conference. Depending on your home set up, these quiet zones can often come at the expense of wifi performance leaving you unable to stream your colleagues/clients seamlessly and glitch free. The solution? A half decent wifi extender. This is a must-have for ensuring your network connection reaches every corner of your home and, in some instances, even outside if weather permits (roll on summer!). Simply plug the device into a wall somewhere between yourself and the router/modem, push the WPS button and you'll be Zooming at speed in no time at all.

The Dry erase door hanger

Indeed, sharing a bubble with flatmates and/or family members can be tricky especially when we need to knuckle down, concentrate and bash out some work ahead of an approaching deadline. This is easier said than done when our co-inhabitants intrude or even (on occasion) storm into our work 'zone'. The solution might appear a passive aggressive one, but it's actually pretty simple. A wipe away marker and a door hanger can allow us to mark our territory and let the people around us know that now is not a good time to pop in for that chat, wrestle or otherwise.

The Lapdesk

If I'm honest, I had never heard of the 'lapdesk' prior to discovering, during lockdown #372, that I needed a way to prevent my thighs from being roasted by the underside of my laptop. But the rabbit hole is deep on this one and the choices are many when it comes to solutions to this issue. Yes, we could work from a desk, but there's only so much comfort a dining room chair can yield. So if the couch or dare I say it, the bed, is your adopted work location of choice, the lapdesk is a highly recommended solution for improving your posture and saving your upper thighs the torture of an overheating laptop.

A Portable dual monitor

The benefits of having a second screen are one of the many aspects about working in the office many of us will be missing. The ability to drag applications from one screen to another, or referencing multiple documents concurrently (for example) is an effective way to work smarter, increase productively and ultimately save time. If you are fortunate enough to have an office space in your home with ample desk space to accommodate a large monitor from your workplace office - lucky you, but that is not my situation. I've therefore invested in a portable monitor - a second screen that attaches directly to my laptop. Lightweight, super easy to set up and powered by a USB cable from your laptop, they clip directly onto your computer and are easy to take wherever you go around the house.

A pair of Wireless bluetooth headphones

If you're like me, and spending most of your days in Zoom meetings, you'll know that those tactical opportunities you take to flag that 'your camera isn't working' in cherry picked conference calls are crucial to getting other things done around the house whilst listening in. This might be a chance to stretch your legs with a couple laps around the living room, make a couple sandwiches in the kitchen, do the dishes, fold the laundry, play with your dog or even practice your golf swing. A decent pair of Bluetooth headphones (with a reasonable operational range) can literally unshackle you from your laptop but still allow you to be a part of every meeting. They also of course serve as a super useful method of keeping outside distractions away from your earholes, so that's an added bonus.

Plus a few useful apps

I'll wrap this one up with a few handy apps that have made working from home, work for me over the last year or so.

Onedrive - Share files with colleagues and Clients and collaborate on Word Docs, Powerpoints and Excel sheets ensuring there is only ever one source of truth in every instance.

Teams - web chat, video conferencing, and integration with Onedrive, this tool is, in my opinion far superior to Zoom in almost every way.

Miro - virtual whiteboard and online collaboration tool. A post-it wall and online war room in one, it's free (for a limited number of users) and very user friendly.

Photoscan - turns your phone into a photocopier and scanner in one.

Lastpass - one stop shop for the generation, storage and tracking of all your assorted passwords (essential when IT forces you to update them every 90 days!)

Todoist - the best 'to do list' app in my opinion. Simple interface that will allow you to manage your day in and outside of work and seamless integrate with email, calendar, and your files.

Daywise - Notifications can be distracting when they keep popping up. This app allows you to choose when you receive notifications and when you don't leaving you less stressed, calmer and more productive.

A few notable omissions from the above list that are worthy of mention: a shiatsu massage pillow, Ugg boot slippers, Snuggie (in the worst of winter!), white noise/ambient sound apps, smart speaker, gel seat cushion and the Breville sandwich press have, in my experience, all contributed towards my making working from home experience the best it can be.

Of course none of these things will ever replace what we're all missing most - each other. But they can make the daily grind a little more comfortable, productive and even enjoyable in some cases. Let me know if there's anything you've grabbed to make your working from home experience work for you. I'd love to hear from you.