1. Plants
I feel happy when I look at plants. Green is objectively a good colour, so why not get some low-maintenance plants from your local grocery shop or botanist and place them behind your monitor/next to your window? I haven’t had a plant in ages, but I do remember how calm I felt when I had one: it felt as though I was sharing my living space, somehow, and I felt proud whenever I looked at it and saw that it was thriving.
2. A better chair
Please take care of your back and invest in a good office chair. None of those gamer-y chairs that light up when you sit on them, no. A good, proper office chair will feel a thousand times more comfortable and will take care of your body more than those fancy racing chairs ever could. Just picture this: you’re slumped over on your desk, staring at a screen for around eight hours (or however long your study sessions are). Do you really want to be hunched over and in bad posture for that long? Get an ergonomic office chair. If nothing else, studies show that ergonomic chairs increase productivity by around 17%.
3. A good study desk
Study desks are important, so if you don’t have one yet, please reevaluate the choices you’re making with your room. I get that some rooms are small and don’t have room for a desk, but if you have any space anywhere else in your living accommodation, then please invest in a desk. You need to have a little space in your accommodation where you can focus and do work, and the first step to achieving that is by having a desk. It doesn’t have to be one of those fancy ones where you can change the level height (though those are really nice) – just something you can use to sit down, put your notebook on it, and do work. You’re going to be spending most of your time on it anyways if you’re at home, so get one that you know you won’t hate.
4. A second monitor
If you’re a student, chances are you already have a laptop. Well, have you ever felt as though your screen was too small and that you wished you could multitask better? I introduce to you the second monitor: a perfect solution to have your report on one screen and your research/graphs/code on the other. Honestly, I don’t even know how I’ve been living the majority of my life without an extra screen – it’s just so much more convenient, especially when you’re programming something. I’ve found it especially useful for 3D modelling tasks, where you have your drawing or concept on your laptop and your CAD software on your monitor. It doesn’t have to be those fancy, 165 Hz gaming monitors. A simple monitor for under €70 works just as well for studying.
5. A keyboard
If you’re getting a monitor, you’ll probably hate yourself if you don’t get a keyboard to accompany it. Usually, my setup consists of putting my laptop to the side and having my monitor as my main screen, so it’s inconvenient to have to stretch out to the side and type on my laptop keyboard, so I fixed my inconveniences by getting a nice keyboard. While you’re at it, get a mouse as well, since you want to go all out on your home setup. Speaking of going all out…
6. A laptop stand
I like having my laptop screen on the same level as my monitor (exactly at eye-height), so getting a laptop stand seemed like a no-brainer to me. I got mine at Action, and that does the job just fine, and they’re really not all that expensive for the comfort and convenience that it gives you. If you like to game, then getting a laptop stand is also good since it frees up the air flow under your laptop and lowers the temperature by a bit, which makes your device last longer.
7. USB-hub/dock
This is definitely me being over the top, but I hate having to come home and replug all of my USB outlets back into my laptop after using it at uni. That’s where a USB dock comes in: if you have a bunch of devices, you can just leave them plugged into your dock, and once you come home, you need only plug in the dock (a single connector!) to your laptop. Definitely a minor problem, but it saves about five seconds of time so maybe it’s worth looking into.
8. Diffuser/dehumidifier
Whatever your needs are, having something that’s idle in the background and just does something is really comforting to me for some reason. I like having my room smell nice, so I have a diffuser for scents and to watch the fluids swirl around. I also like not having silverfish in my room, and since they thrive in highly humid environments, I get a dehumidifier to combat them (and also to get rid of the humid atmosphere in summer). These two things just add a lot of personality to any room, in my opinion, and shows that you care about the state of it. Plus, who doesn’t like a nice-smelling room?
9. More extension cords
You want your home office to be as convenient as possible, and that includes being able to charge and access power from any corner of your room. If you’re buying a bunch of things (such as a monitor or diffuser/dehumidifier) then you need sockets to plug them into. I usually have one or two (depending on how many plugs I have) dedicated to my desk, and I’ve never had to worry about not having enough sockets ever since.
10. Desk lamps
This really depends on where you live and if the sun hits your room, but I’ve found that having a good, dedicated lamp (mine’s a cheap one from IKEA) to shine on your work space is a godsend. My room has a really dim orange light and I like to study at night, so that’s mainly why I have a desk lamp. Switching it on also switches my brain on for studying – maybe I’ve pavloved myself, but if it works, it works.
You can get most of these things from IKEA or your local hardware store, so you won’t have to look far. Upgrading your home office can be expensive, so maybe don’t go too overboard (especially as a student); if you don’t need it, then don’t buy it. However, having the comfort of a good home office is an extremely freeing feeling, and I sometimes look forward to studying with some good music and good vibes for a couple of hours. Call me cliché, but I invested time and money into making my study space comfortable, so I want to enjoy spending time there as well.
