Josh Goodbaum: Hi, Amanda.
Amanda DeMatteis: Hi, Josh. What are we talking about today?
Josh Goodbaum: Well, you are in a new space. You have switched home offices, you have decorated a new office, and that probably gave you some opportunity to think about what you wanted in your home office.
What are tips for employees who are working from home some or all of the time about how to put together their home office? What can you tell employees in Connecticut and around the country about what you were thinking?
Amanda DeMatteis: Well, it’s a great space, and welcome to it. I’m so happy to have you.
I focused on a few really key things to make this space the most conducive to me being able to do really good, efficient work when I am in this office. I thought I could share three tips with you that might help if you’re redoing or starting a new home office in your home.
The first is lighting. Two different kinds of lighting, right? We have daylight and we have artificial lighting. I’m huge on needing daylight in my physical workspace. I want to be able to look outside. I want to be able to see the sun shining, or if it’s raining, to see the rain.
So my desk is positioned perpendicular to a window so that I can see daylight out of my peripheral vision, but it’s not distracting me. When I look up from my computer screens, it’s not as if I see directly outside, which might distract me from work, but I’m still really saturated with daylight, which I find to be really useful.
The artificial lighting, we try to diffuse it a bit. You don’t want something harsh overhead that can be tough on your eyes. If you’re in front of a computer screen like I am all day, we’re doing enough damage to our eyes. We don’t want to make it any worse by having a really harsh light above us.
A dimmer is a great way to adjust the lighting in the room, especially if you have a window, so you can create the most comfortable environment regardless of what’s happening outside, whether or not there’s a lot of sun or maybe it’s a really gray day. So just some tips on your lighting, daylight and artificial.
The decor, you want to really try to avoid busy patterns that are directly in your sight line. You want to keep this space as visually sound as possible, right? You want to reduce visual noise. If I had something really bright right in front of me and in my direct sight line, that too could be distracting.
I want to support a calm environment with sustained attention span on the task that I’m trying to complete and not have it compete with something else that’s in my space. So find decor that meets your needs and has your style and is an expression of you, but also does not feel overwhelming in your space.
And number three, Josh, this might be the most important. It certainly is for me, who as a working mom is juggling a lot of things: keep your home office a workspace.
If you were in my space right now, you would not see toys on my desk. You would not see yesterday’s lunch on my desk. You want to make sure that those things are cleaned up, they’re away, and they are where they belong.
In your office, keep it clean. Keep it simple. Avoid clutter so that when you’re in this space, you know that what you’re supposed to be doing is working.
I know it’s a home office, so it’s an extension of your home. You are able to make it just that, but you also want it to be an environment where you really can get the deep thought in that you need to do whatever task you’re doing.
So, keep it simple. Keep it a workspace.
Josh Goodbaum: Great advice, Amanda. There are folks who don’t have the luxury of a separate room to do their work. They’re working from home from their bedroom or from their dining room table.
But if you have the luxury of a dedicated room in your house in which to be working from home, these are great tips for how to make that space as comfortable, productive, and efficient as possible.
So thank you all for watching.
Thank you, Amanda, for that wonderful advice, and we’ll see you all next time.