7 Home Office Hacks You'll Love

Whether you're headed to a party, seeking to win a game, or even just getting dressed in the morning, the internet is filled with tons of helpful tricks to get you there faster and smarter. In the office, there's plenty of places where hacks can come in handy - and in the home office without a boss looking over your shoulder, you have complete creative freedom! So get ready, and enjoy these awesome hacks and make the most of your home office!

Plants and Animals

This first one may not seem like much of a hack, but in the home office, plants and animals can make some of the most productive coworkers around. Poor air quality is something that unconsciously plagues many office workers, both in and out of the home, and especially around cities. Toxins in the air can negatively affect workers' breathing, general health, focus, and energy throughout the day. Adding a VOC-reducing plant to the mix cleans the air, keeping you in top notch health. Some of the best low-maintenance house plants include air plants, peppermint, english ivy, and lemon balm.

In addition, pets like dogs, cats, and even fish have been known to reduce stress. Letting your pet sleep under your desk while you work not only keeps your feet warm, but reaching down to scratch a furry head can be a saving grace when tensions are high. Taking Fido for bathroom breaks and short walks on your lunch hour keeps you fitter and energized. Best of all, these necessary lapses in the tedium of office duties are major brain boosters! Don't believe us? Scientists say pets like dogs have been known to lower resting heart rate levels, reduce blood pressure, and even lower the risk for depression and heart disease! Just ask a doctor.

Declutter

Taking the time to declutter your workspace offers a host of benefits for the devoted office worker. Not only are things easier to find in a clean office, but the look and feel alone can do wonders for psychology and health. Adding a few simple products for office organization can keep the office clear of clutter, increasing efficiency, reducing stress, and offering a much needed sense of accomplishment. But don't stop there! Taking an extra minute to defragment, scan, and sort the items in your computer can also increase work speed and improve computer health!

Bonus Tip: Got a dirty keyboard tray? Nothing a little strand of tape between the keys can't fix!

Lighting and Color

One thing many office hack websites take for granted is the importance of physical surroundings. If you're unhappy with your home office, perhaps it's time for an upgrade! Color plays a major role in the productivity and psychological health of office workers according to color theory. The color blue is even backed by scientific evidence as the best color for office environments as it reduces stress and slows the metabolism, reducing hunger to produce a calming effect - it also makes the room appear bigger!

Feng-Shui Furniture 

Rearranging furniture is another way to improve the psychological effect of your home office. Set your desk facing the window; a view into the outside world offers greater health benefits. Choosing furniture that combines functionality with user health is ideal in a home office. Even things as simple as ergonomic executive chairs, height adjustable office desks, or dual purpose lighting fixtures can help make a home office more like a personal haven. After all, you're at home. Why not take full advantage of it?

Wallflowers

If storage is a problem in your home office, one of the best solutions is thinking outside the box - or, off the floors! Few amateur designers know how to make full use of a room's walls as a place for storage and organization. Adding useful presentation boards helps users keep track of papers and daily tasks without making a mess of the desk. At the same time, cabinets and stylish wood bookcases offer shelving for easy, clutter-free storage. You may even decide to DIY a few crates or boxes for clever, attractive office storage!

Discomfort

Hacking workplace discomfort is perhaps the most important thing you can do as an office user. Too many Americans suffer from unhealthy working habits, which can result in terrible bodily pain. Some of the most common office-related conditions include pain in the neck, back, or legs, stiff joints, aggravated arthritis, and even carpal tunnel syndrome. Thankfully, ergonomic furniture and tools can save the day. Outfitting your workplace with monitor arms, retractable keyboard platforms, and high tech desk chairs to enforce proper posture do wonders for health. The benefits include maximized efficiency, improved workplace productivity, and a better outlook on life!

Clip Ons

One organizational hack that's been sweeping offices all over the nation are the clip ons! Ever since someone figured out that a few binder clips hooked to the edge of a desk makes perfect cord organizers, the trend has exploded to do all sorts of amazing things! Clip on wire organizers, cup holder, baskets, and even high tech tools like the Symmetry JUICE-POW-JUC-CC clamp on power module are all available for sale. Of course, DIYing your own is an option too. Just super glue some binder clips to a stylish desk organizer and voila! Not only have you maximized usable desk space, but you've also cleaned and organized.

7 Affordable Things Your Office Needs To Succeed

Even if the bigger part of success is defined by hard work, we think we can safely say that people will never top inventing ways to help them achieve their goals. The modern age is rejuvenated everyday with new products designed to help us stay smart, collected, connected, and organized. But if, like most, you can't always afford the high tech stuff, there are plenty of affordable low-tech gadgets that have stood the test of time and remain ever-useful to this day. Here are a few of our favorites!

Binder Clips

It sounds simple, but never underestimate the power of these bad boys! Even in the contemporary era, where the world is all but digital, binder clips have still found a niche for themselves at the office. These dollar-store trinkets have made the transition from paper to paperless with much more grace than the rest of the world, and today, they often find more use as cheap wire organizers than anything else. Rather than spending ten bucks on a piece of molded plastic, smart employees simply clip a few binder clips to their desk, then wrap or thread wires around the metal parts to create convenient office organization. It works for headphone cords, computer cables, and multi-media devices like smartphones often for less than the cost of a soda. Talk about convenient!

An Efficient Layout

For those looking to save a buck, a total office makeover doesn't have to cost anything at all. Work efficiency has a lot to do with layout, and often, greater productivity is as simple as rearranging the furniture. Fortunately, most contemporary modular workstations have smart "modular" designs so that the desk, cabinets, and drawers are all within arm's reach of the user. However, if your office setup is a little outdated, mobile office utility and file carts are great ways to acquire this ergonomic efficiency for an affordable price.
* (Don't forget that your desk space by itself is also reliant on clever organization and also holds great sway over one's productiveness in the office. Make your layout work for you.)

Plants

For this one, we definitely advise users to go with the older model rather than the new. While lastic plants typically add an air of liveliness to an otherwise boring office space, they don't add any of the health benefits of living greenery. Studies done by universities and agencies like NASA have discovered that certain plants (like spider plants, gardenias, lemon balms, and peace lilies) are highly adept at removing indoor air toxins and VOCs. They're basically like affordable air filters for office environments. Many low maintenance indoor plants have been proven to increase focus and improve brain function by removing toxins that affect these things from the air. We'd say they're a definitely must have (especially for those working in the city).

Proper Lighting

Eye strain is a common problem for computer users. But did you know that it's usually due to too much ambient light rather than the light of the screen? Human eyes are only made to comfortably take in so much light at once, so a bright computer screen in combination with bright work lights overloads them. In contrast, too little light can also put a huge degree of stress on the eyes. To combat this, experts have developed all sorts of expensive solutions, but we'd say the cheapest way (if you have no control over your work lighting) is to go into your computer's settings and dim the brightness. Contrarily, for those that rely on too little office lighting, we recommend quality overhead task lights for office and desk use. Identify your needs and adjust the lights accordingly.

A Comfy Chair

In the modern age, workplace productivity is virtually defined by ergonomic products. Ergonomic desk lamps, monitor arms, cool retractable keyboard trays, foot rests, height variable desks - all of them go towards showcasing how far ergonomic studies have come. However, it all began with chairs. While most ergonomic products remain relatively new (and expensive), adjustable ergonomic desk chairs have been around a while and come down in price so that the average joe can easily afford one. Mesh ergonomic chairs are typically the cheapest models, but users can also get amazing discount chairs from Flash Furniture and other manufacturers in leather and fabric if they like. Most are clinically proven to reduce back pain, making them a definite must-have for the workplace.

Writing Room

Even if the ideal contemporary office is relatively paperless, there's no denying that you can find some paper in just about every office. Handwritten notes are still the preferred way of remembering things, and most office workers have a stack of post-its somewhere. That's why every modern office needs plenty of writing room. Be sure to outfit your office with sticky notes and dry erase boards for organization and convenience. A few companies are even developing dry-erase desks and paint so office workers can make handwritten notes just about anywhere without having to worry about the trees. Go green!

Cubicle Sightseeing

If your office doesn't have a view, give yourself one. Stimulating the mind with art and scenic photography helps to boost focus and creativity in the workplace, so don't be afraid to outfit your cubicle with pics of loved ones, pets, and places you want to go. Pick a scenic vista for your computer background. Open your window, or get permission from the boss to see if you can print out a large size copy of a photo or some art you like, then paste it to your cubicle wall for inspiration. A view into the outside world helps make an office space much more personal. Don't be afraid to break the tedium and broaden your horizons!