20 Essential Work From Home Supplies Everyone Needs

When COVID-19 hit, businesses worldwide struggled to survive because they were forced to put their business on hold or have their employees work remotely. Many businesses that couldn’t make revenue through online channels and lacked resources lost the battle against the pandemic and shut down. Those that survived embraced the remote-work culture that will most likely last until the end of this year. But even before COVID-19, remote workers were growing significantly. The concept only got my popular; many businesses are even pondering going remote completely as it’ll save the cost of office rent and encourage productivity.

Whether you had to work remotely due to the pandemic, worked virtually before, or are looking to work remotely – we can help you create the perfect home office with work from home supplies. We’ve put together a list of all the things you’ll need to build your home office, including obvious things like a laptop, desk, and chair, to less obvious things like a seat cushion, Bluetooth speaker, and coffee machine – because let’s face it, coffee is your new best friend to cope with this new lifestyle.

What are the advantages of working from home?

You get to set your schedule, working hours, and so you can work whenever suits you – day or night.
You get to work from the comfort of your home, say goodbye to wasted time in crowded buses, or being stuck in afternoon traffic!
Stanford conducted a study last year that shows that working from home increases productivity by 13%
You’ll be able to set a better work-life balance without the exhaustion of transportation or office drama if you plan your workday and stick to the plan.
Enjoy location independence to work from home, Starbucks, or a different country using the appropriate work from home supplies!

What are the disadvantages of working from home?

It’s harder to focus on getting work done when multiple interruptions like phone calls, chores, your kids, or even the mailman.
A lack of supervision can lead to slacking and procrastinating when you should be working.
Working from home can also worsen your work-life balance if you tend to overwork yourself because you’re always “at work,” or the opposite happens, and you don’t work at all.
Since you no longer work in a crowded office, surrounded by your colleagues, a sense of isolation is inevitable.
The loneliness and isolation can negatively impact your mentality, which is a result, can affect your work and slow down progress.
Not having the proper work from home supplies can make your life much harder and prolong your tasks.

Here’s a list of 20 work from home supplies you need:

1- Computer/ Laptop:

You cannot build your home office without having a fast and up-to-date laptop that can keep up with work pressure and be used daily for work. In addition, a laptop would make more sense than a stationary computer because it offers easy mobility, which is great when you want to work somewhere else for a change.

When choosing your laptop, be familiar with all of the specs like storage, graphics, RAM, laptop weight, etc., so you can choose something suitable for your work demands. For example, a gaming laptop has a high-quality graphics card, ideal for a designer. Simultaneously, a writer would be interested in having a backlit keyboard and a lightweight laptop to move around quickly.

Amazon’s Best Laptop Sellers:

2- Desk:

Even though it’s tempting to grab your laptop and work from the comfort of your bed or couch, it is a bad idea. Since your bed is associated with resting and sleep, it will decrease your energy levels, leading to less productivity and multiple health deprecations like wrist aches, lower back pain, bad posture, and more. Therefore, having a desk is a vital part of your home office; it can be a standup desk, a floating desk, or an L-shape desk that doesn’t consume much space (my personal favorite!). Standup desks are adjustable, allowing you to switch between standing and sitting, which is a great solution, so your legs don’t fall asleep!

Amazon’s Best Desk Sellers:

3- Ergonomic Chair:

One of the biggest mistakes was starting my remote-work journey without investing in a good chair; this led to months of Yoga and exercise to relieve my back pain. Unfortunately, many office chairs are uncomfortable, stiff, and don’t provide the necessary support to avoid back pain and keep your posture right.

Ergonomic chairs are designed to keep you comfortable for long hours so take your time finding the best chair for you and maybe even test it out before purchasing.

Amazon’s Best Chair Sellers:

4- Wireless Keyboard & Mouse:

Now that you have your setup, it’s time to get your work from home supplies. Out of your office experience, you probably know that hunching over the laptop’s keyboard to type and use the touchpad can cause back pain, neck pain, and strain on your wrists – this can lead to a severe injury if used for long hours. A wireless keyboard and mouse would give you the flexibility to sit back in your comfy chair while working without needing to hunch over to get things done.

Your keyboard should have easily-pressed keys to fast typing, and the mouse should be a comfortable fit in your hand and help enhance precision and speed.

Amazon’s Best Keyboard & Mouse Sellers:

5- Monitor:

You may think that getting a monitor doesn’t make sense if you already have a laptop, but an additional monitor can make all the difference if you work with many tabs. For example, a software developer spends long hours staring at the screen and uses multiple programs. Likewise, a writer always has a hundred tabs open for research while writing – imagine the wonders a second monitor could do?

There are multiple sizes of monitors, and they can be mounted on the wall, put up using a stand, or mounted onto your desk. Then, connect it to your laptop and enjoy the ease of it all.

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6- Noise-canceling Headphones:

Working from home comes with its set of distractions, whether the TV, noise outside, losing focus, or doing chores at home. But, with noise-cancellation headphones, you can listen to music or a podcast and get into work mode.

If you have conference calls (which you probably do with remote work), be sure to get headphones with a microphone so you can hear and be heard clearly in meetings. Again, Apple products come at the top of our list because of their ease of use, simple design, and comfort.

Amazon’s Best Headphones Sellers:

7- File Cabinet:

Stacking piles of paper on your desk will not only clutter your space, but it’ll also be a sore sight for your eyes that’ll impact your mentality when it gets too messy. So instead, opt for a clean and relaxed environment by placing mail, documents, invoices, and more in a file cabinet. This is perfect if you have important files that need storage and don’t want to get lost.

Staying organized is very important when working from home for your mindset and mentality; it’ll also eliminate messy distractions in your workspace.

Amazon’s Best File Cabinet Sellers:

8- Laptop Stand:

A laptop stand is a small and space-saving item that you can place at the corner of your desk and mount your laptop on. It is beneficial if you need the space on the desk to place your wireless keyboard & mouse, a notepad, or other stationery. It also provides ventilation and keeps your laptop from overheating, which is possible if it operates for 8 hours or more every day. This comes in handy if your desk is thin or small, and it’s not expensive!

Amazon’s Best Laptop Stand Sellers:

9- Lap Desk:

Spending hours at a desk can be tiring, and sometimes you need to lounge on the couch. A lap desk is an excellent way to lounge and still get work done. In addition, a lap desk offers ventilation, so your laptop doesn’t heat up and make your lap warm, and it has a hard surface so your laptop would be leveled and not just cradled on your lap. Some lap desks even come with cup holders and a mobile ledge, offering ultimate convenience!

Amazon’s Best Lap Desk Sellers:

10- Backup Drive or External Drive:

Since you would do all your work on your personal laptop, it is always best to have all your work and important files. Cloud storage is terrific, and you can upload and back up files quickly and efficiently, but getting an external hard drive is also a good idea if your computer fails or something goes wrong. It’ll also be helpful if you need to work from another place or go on vacation. Then, you’ll rest assured knowing that all of your work is safe.

Amazon’s Best Hard Drive Sellers:

11- Home Office Supplies:

This may seem like an insignificant point if most of your work is digital anyway, and you don’t think you need any office stationery, but you’ll be surprised by how useful some of these supplies can be. First, of course, it is essential to have at least a notepad and pen if you need to scribble down a note or a phone number. Other tools to consider are printer paper, highlighters, post-it notes, binders, staplers, mousepads, and scissors.

Amazon’s Best Office Supplies Sellers:

12- All-In-One Printer:

Since quarantine started, we’ve grown to appreciate one thing in a workplace: a printer and scanner. Even though most of the work tasks are digital, we all have to deal with paper documents at some point. So whether it is to print out a payroll sheet, invoice, or report, a printer can be very beneficial when working from home.

All-in-one printers also include other features like scanning and faxing. Just be sure to get a compact and lightweight printer that is easily portable.

Amazon’s Best All-In-One Printer Sellers:

13- Network Adapter:

Getting work done with low-speed internet can be very frustrating, especially if you’re a designer or developer and require high-speed internet to transfer files and use programs. A network adapter is a Bluetooth-connected device that’ll give you faster speed and offers a long-distance operating range. So don’t waste your time with slow internet and speed things up!

Amazon’s Best Network Adapter Sellers:

14- Surge Power Strip

With all of these devices being used, having a power strip in your home office is a must because you don’t want anything to run out of batteries or shutdown mid workday.

But when buying one, pick one that has surge protection to ensure reliability and protect your devices. In addition, there are power strips that include both sockets and USB ports so that you can charge all of your devices together.

Amazon’s Best Surge Power Strip Sellers:

15- The Right Apps:

Thanks to technology, there is an app for almost everything nowadays. Working from home can be challenging if you don’t utilize the right apps and track your work progress; applications are very for functions like time management, collaboration, project management, video conferencing, and more. We’ve rounded up the three most popular tools all businesses use.

Best Online Software Tools to use:

Slack, a communication tool great for team collaborations
Zoom, a call and video conferencing tool
Google Drive, a file editing & sharing tool, as well as cloud storage

16- Bluetooth Speaker:

Sometimes you need to unplug from work mode, relax, and get tasks done at your own pace – a Bluetooth speaker is made for this. It offers you the flexibility to move around, make coffee, or grab a snack from the kitchen. In addition, you can connect it to your phone or laptop and enjoy your favorite music or soothing noises to set a mood wherever you are.

Amazon’s Best Bluetooth Speaker Sellers:

17- Desk Lamp:

Have you ever worked late at night with no lighting but your laptop screen’s glare? If you have, you know how it strains your eyes and can even cause headaches. A desk lamp has adjustable angles, and you can control the amount of light you need so there won’t ever be too little light again.

Amazon’s Best Desk Lamp Sellers:

18- Seat Cushion:

Even if you’ve got the best chair in the world, sitting for an extended period can cause lower back pain and will stress your tailbone. A comfy U-shaped memory foam seat cushion will relieve pressure on your tailbone and support it, as well as encourage a healthy posture.

Amazon’s Best Seat Cushion Sellers:

19- Coffee Machine:

Taking a coffee break to walk down to the nearest café is fine if you need fresh air and want to stretch your legs, but what happens when you need coffee later on? Personally, a coffee machine was one of my most intelligent purchases! There are various types to choose from. Some only make hot or cold strongly-brewed coffee, and others, like a Nespresso Machine, make multiple drinks like a cappuccino, latte, Americano more.

Amazon’s Best Coffee Machine Sellers:

20- Create a Mindful & Zen Environment:

And finally, now that you’ve got all of your work from home supplies, it’s time to turn your home office into your Zen spot! Research has shown that having a plant in the workspace reduces stress and cleans the air, so getting a plant for your desk (or a few!) is a good start.

You can also help soothe your nerves and set a relaxing atmosphere is a scented candle or an aroma diffuser, which is used to diffuse essential oils into the air like lavender oil, lemongrass oil, jasmine oil, etc.

Amazon’s Best Brighten-Your-Mood Sellers:

And Finally, Your Home Office is Ready!

Working from home may be difficult at first, but the more you get accustomed to your new lifestyle, the easier it gets. Of course, eventually, you’ll want to permanently work from the comfort of your home office with your work from home supplies, but for now, buckle up and enjoy the ride!