WFH is more of a thing than ever! How do you do it?
My “Solar Shed” is, by far, the best option I’ve found. Isolated space that I can completely customize, away from the house by enough that I’m not really “at home” during the day, even though I can walk up for lunch, bathroom runs, if I need to watch the kids, etc.
Having plywood on the walls has been insanely useful - it allows me to mount monitors wherever I want, stick random stuff up with screws, etc. If you’re modifying a room, I’d highly suggest plywood over drywall. Check your local fire codes, but thick enough plywood often meets fire ratings, and is far more useful.
Wall mount your monitors on good arms! Or desk mount them. Don’t waste valuable desk space on monitor stands when you can get them up and out of the way. This makes far, far better use of desk space, and you can slide stuff out of the way under monitors if needed.
And try to keep distractions down during work. Again, separate space is great here.
I’m working on a longer post about WFH/home offices, but… what do you use?
I have a room which I use for computer tasks (bills, reading, games) and paper tasks (bills, record keeping). Now that I work from home it is also my work space.
I try to have distinct working and non-working times. For example, I hug my wife and son before I “go to work” in the morning, I have a lunch as a distinct time in another room, and I “walk home” by taking a lap around the block most days when I’m done (often inviting them to come with me).
Making some separation between work and not-work is very important - I’ve learned that lesson in the past. I like the idea of taking a walk after work, though! I may try that out… maybe when it cools down a bit.
The “walk home” idea is a great one and my family has also benefited when we’ve put that into practice. It’s not yet a habit for us, but I really should put some effort into making it one.
One other thing I’ve enjoyed in my office: A good air filter. Allergy season is a pain, and having the ability to leave a good HEPA filter running (I probably should change the filter soon) most of the time really helps in terms of air quality - exchange a bit of air around, then filter what I’ve got.
Thankfully winter here is closer to ‘40s and wet and no sun’ than ‘20 and feet of snow’. Plus, any workspace of mine will likely be excess heat. That said, yes… climate matters as to what choice you make.
Ah, yeah. That’s an awful lot easier to deal with. You might even get some value from a heat pump!
A heat pump is on my list of “Good ideas that don’t actually work.” With how insulated my office is, I get a week or two of use a year out of it, because it quits at 40F. If it’s 40F in the morning, my office probably doesn’t need much heat. A travel trailer won’t be nearly so well insulated.