Professional Workplace Tips for Your Home

I walked in my front door after a morning clear-the-brain, detach-from-Zoom, center myself walk and found my living room furniture totally all over the place. My wife and two kids (ages 12 and 14) arguing about how to turn it from a living room into a school room/work room/exercise room/video game room/living room. Something was hurled in my direction – I ducked. My family, maybe like yours, is under pressure. It’s time to get even more serious about how we’re going to live and work together because school – in its online version – has already begun for many of us.

My son wants to do whatever he wants anywhere. My daughter wants just one place to work. My wife doesn’t want to lose her living spaces but also wants to monitor how many hours the kids are spending on video games and social media. It brings new meaning to the architectural Prospect-Refuge Theory. Our animal instincts want us to have areas of prospect with light and views so we can spot prey and predators. In refuge spots we feel protected. The theory suggests humans want both in the same place – safety (refuge) with the ability to see what’s happening (prospect). In a family, children may seek refuge in their room, away from parents who are positioned in a prospect spot to monitor the child’s Zoom school classes. 

You would think a professional architect with the title of Global Head of Design and Build at LinkedIn Workplace would not be walking into a living room of chaos. But I’m also a dad and husband and it’s time I apply my design skills to home harmony – STAT.

Here are some principles of architecture and design that we use in corporate office spaces that I’m optimistically implementing at home - I hope they will help you on your journey, too.

Think of your Home as a Dynamic – Not Fixed - Space

• Just because your dining room chairs have been in the same place since you moved in 10 years ago, doesn’t mean they’re glued there. The sooner you remove the concept of “it belongs there”, the more options you’ll have.
• Take an inventory of your house. Look at every chair and table/counter. Make a list of the items or move them into one area if possible. The idea is to untether them from where you think they belong.
• Figure out what purpose you are solving for. How many work points do you want? What activities will your family be doing? What is the duration of those activities?
• Match your inventory list with your activity list - On Paper

• Test It. Before you rip out a closet and turn it into a workspace – give the concept a test run. Lots of people build home office spaces and then, once they're built, figure out they don’t really like working in them. Try out some walls of cardboard and folding tables for a few days before you bring out the sledge hammer. (Photo credit Chairigami)
• Look for new spaces. The yard. The garage. The roof.

Engineer Your Environment for Comfort

• Look for natural light: This study found natural daylight in an office significantly improved health and wellness among workers – “the research reported a 51% drop in the incidence of eyestrain, a 63% drop in the incidence of headaches and a 56% reduction in drowsiness.”
• Temperature: It’s nice to feel cozy, but too much warmth may make you feel more tired... probably not where you want to be if you need to be productive after lunch.

• Fresh Air: Crack a window open. When you breathe, you emit CO2, and if you’ve got too much of it around, it can make you feel sleepy. To improve airflow, invest in a box fan or oscillating fan. Or take a quick 5-minute walk outside -it can make all of the difference in the world (you may come back to see the living room destroyed – but you’ll handle the situation with more patience??) For techies, consider an Indoor Air Quality sensor. I’ve been piloting this sensor  at my house and now when I see CO2 is above 600 ppm, I open a window to fend off drowsiness.
• Activate Biophilia: House plants help clean the air. Research indicates people can be healthier, happier and as much as 15% more productive if exposed to nature.
• Sound: One really simple rule - use headphones. If you’re on a long call, try using just one ear at a time. This will keep you from talking too loudly and will allow you to swap back and forth to extend battery life if you’re using wireless headphones. For focus, go back to both ears.

The best place to work is… VARIETY

At LinkedIn’s corporate campus we have always made a point of offering people choices of where to work to best suit the task at hand – same goes at home.

A few thoughts:

• Your bed is for sleep... not for work.
• Couches aren’t the best solution either, but as long as you vary your posture and move regularly, they can work well. Sitting up straight, using pillows behind your lower back, using a TV table for your laptop is better than having it on your lap the entire time
• Dining Table/Kitchen Table is a great place for working for about an hour or two at a time. Consider moving to the kitchen counter so that you can work in a standing position.

• Alternate between relaxed postures and more vertical/engaged postures. For example, chair and desk for the morning – countertop after lunch.

By now you’ve been home long enough, that you may be itching for a remodel. This is your chance to pull creativity out of constraints and remove the concept that your home layout is permanent. Become a pro at describing your favorite work ambiance. Build spaces that are bespoke to your family needs. (No more “my office building is too cold comments.") Get your family on board with the changes and the mindset. Think “team-building” exercise. Remember, you can always change it again. And take a moment to embrace the dynamism in all this.

Having options for workspaces at home will give your family a chance to move around - bringing energy vs. stagnation to a situation that keeps trying to pin us down.

Thanks Francesca Segrè for editorial support.