Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people working from home in the UK doubled in 2020. For many employees, this new way of working stuck as they continued to work from their homes as national lockdowns were lifted. 

Garden office sales rocketed as remote workers, fed up with trying to work from the kitchen table, sought to set up comfortable working spaces for themselves. 

But whether you’re still working from the kitchen table or you have the luxury of a room to yourself or the even greater luxury of a garden office, here are 5 items the homeworker needs at their desk. 

A comfortable chair

Okay, so a chair isn’t technically *on* the desk but a suitable chair is the number one essential item a homeworker needs other than a desk upon which to work. 

Ideally, for the benefit of your posture and your back, you’ll have a height adjustable/sit-stand desk, that you can either sit down or stand up at. But for the occasions when you’re sitting down, an ergonomic office chair is the way to go. If you’re not ready to splurge on that yet, you can also use an orthopedic seat cushion that promotes proper posture and alignment of your back. It also helps relieve pressure on your tailbone, so you can stay comfortable while seated for a long time.

Don’t fret about the words ‘ergonomic office chair’ – even office chairs come in funky colours these days, so you’re bound to find something you like. Be warned though – you’ll have to splash a bit of cash to get the best chair for your back, but think of it as an investment. After all, you spend a lot of time at your desk when you work at home. 

An indoor plant

Is an indoor plant essential for your desk? I think so! Plants release oxygen and are natural air purifiers. They also come in all shapes, sizes and budgets so there’s something for everybody and every season, such as poinsettias for Christmas. 

And not only are the plants beautiful, you’ll be spoilt for choice when it comes to the pots to put them in. Are unicorns your thing? You’ll have no trouble finding a unicorn-shaped plant pot. Likewise any other mythical or non-mythical creature you can think of. What do you mean, unicorns are real and not mythical? 

A ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign

Do Not Disturb signs aren’t just for hotel room doors when you’re having a nap or, um, otherwise engaged. Oh no. Buy or make a Do Not Disturb sign to hang on your door for those times when you really need to get your head down and concentrate or you’re about to go into an important Zoom meeting and don’t want to be disturbed by your six year old who needs to show you what they just found up their nose or your partner coming in to ask what’s for dinner. 

Of course, there’s a good chance your DND sign will be totally ignored and household members come barging in anyway but if that happens, you can bash them over the head with the sign instead! Kidding!

A website blocker 

Are you prone to procrastination and have a tendency to ‘have a quick peek at Facebook’ that turns into a hour-long scrolling session? If you have no self-control and keep getting lured in by social media, there are extensions and apps you can use to block websites for however long you tell them to block you for. 

Check out StayFocusd for Chrome, or Freedom for Mac. 

Cats 

Anyone who has a cat will know that they don’t actually get a say in whether or not they have a cat on the desk. They wouldn’t have it any other way though (apart from when the participants in a Zoom meeting get a view of your cat’s bum as it walks over the keyboard). 

These are just a few essential items the homeworker needs on their desk. They might not all be the most ‘officey’ of office stuff but that doesn’t make them any less essential.