The most important gadgets you’ll need for your home office when working from home 

working from home

You might be able to brag about having things at home that you could never have at the office, such as a nearby fridge stacked with goodies or unlimited access to a “break room” with TV and a couch.

However, there are also things from your office that you can’t afford to not have at home if you’re planning on running a business or working from the comfort of your domicile. Most of the items featured here are tech gadgets, but if you want to work efficiently, you’re going to need them. You don’t miss these office perks until you go without them and something just feels weird. If you’re just starting out working from home, you probably want the transition to feel as less weird as possible.

A computer

This is obvious but what we meant was “a real computer.” If you’re relying on a dusty old piece of junk to keep your business floating, you’re going to have a bad time. It’s important to have a decent enough machine that you won’t be hindered from working efficiently by internet lag (which is also enhanced by poor quality hardware) or just a slow machine overall that can’t handle the modern software.

A tablet or smartphone

You will be surprised of how much you need one of these in an office environment these days. If you happen to have both at home, that’s fantastic. These mobile devices are amazing for multitasking and taking care of smaller tasks, especially if you don’t have a multi-monitor setup. For instance, they can be used for quick and efficient access and management of your email and instant messaging. You can save a lot of time by having these channels open at all times and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Other utilities provided by mobile devices are the fact that you can leave your desk or workstation and keep working. If you have also to put a pot on the stove for dinner, you can keep working on your tablet while you stir or prepare supper.

Good headphones

Get the good sound and avoid distractions at home with good headphones. The cheap, small ones you get by default with a smartphone won’t cut it. Especially if you intend on using services like Skype a lot, you need to be able to make tough calls and to hear what the other person is saying. High-end noise cancellation can be pretty important, but also it depends on your line of work and whether or not you use headphones for anything else aside from music. If you work in a call center from home, however, a good pair is mandatory.

Charging solutions

Nothing is more frustrating than having to pause what you’re doing to look for a charger or to find a new set of batteries. It gets even worse when you realize that there’s not enough room at your desk and you have to plug the charger somewhere else, thus making that device unavailable for work while it’s charging. Here are some of the things you have to take care of before you can deem your workstation “ready for work” :

  • Get an extension cord and make sure there’s enough space for all your chargers, charging docks, power supplies, etc.
  • Get a big pack of extra batteries and keep it somewhere close, like a drawer in your desk so that you can instantly replace old batteries
  • Make room on your desk for charging docks or whatever charging tools you have at your disposal