What work from home has allowed us to do now is to work from anywhere we want. While we can’t be at the beach all the time, we can surely take a piece of that beach and vacation vibe home with us. This desktop setup is definitely doing that right and bringing the beach vibes while working from home. The color palette brings the beach into your room.
Like a Hawaii vacation, the birch IKEA desk (NORRAKER) hints of sand, and the touch of turquoise gives us a flashback of the blue waters. Accent lights are also a perfect replacement for a candle and the decluttered minimalistic setup is good for low distractions and flow.
There is just something about the ocean that makes you feel relaxed and at peace. The following are some tips additional tips on how to achieve beach vibes in your home office:
Choose a warm color palette, such as pastels or neutrals.
Bring in natural elements, such as plants and stones from the beach.
Add some photos of your favorite beaches or places you’ve been to.
A desktop setup with warm colors is a great way to get in the mood for creative work. It’s also a great way to make your workspace more inviting and cozy. Colors are a powerful tool that can manipulate the mood of a person. Warm colors are associated with feelings of warmth and comfort. They are often used to make people feel safe and happy.
The LIFX light setup induces images of a cozy fireplace with a warm rectangular glow. The Ikea SKADIS pegboards help keep things nice and organized and off your desktop. Be careful of the direct glare of the LED lights while you’re working for long periods of time. Otherwise, this is a desktop setup that we’ll gladly call our home office!
This is the perfect home office setup for working from home in the morning and gaming in the evening. Get the arcade level of playing with an Arcade pad. (Real Arcade Pro 4). The dark blue/green accent wall provides a calming low glare background. For a more professional environment, the soundproofing cork panels help with softening echoes.
This cozy and warm environment just invites you to come and do some work. The warm glow sets a calm tone, and the environment, bundled with the plants gives a natural feel. Perfect during those stressful work-from-home days. The best part about a home office is that you can set up your space in any way you want. You might like to have an entire wall dedicated to shelving for all your books and binders, or you might prefer to have a large desk with plenty of room for all your writing materials.
The workspace is also expansive for you to sprawl out for maximum productivity. Plenty of organization options with the Ikea Skadis pegboard and Lack shelves. There’s something soothing about things being organized in the right place.
We love the greyscale feel of this environment. The greyscale color palette in this desktop setup helps to limit distractions which is perfect for Flow and focus. This is also a strategy that’s suggested to curb phone addiction. By creating a less distracting and “boring” environment around you, one will be focused more on work (or that’s the goal). The use of Dramatic lighting focused on the workspace in front of you keeps distractions to a minimum. It’s like a spotlight to just you and your work.
This has been one of the most creative setups we’ve seen. Making your real wallpaper as your computer wallpaper too? With this ingenious desktop setup, the monitor looks like it’s a part of the wall. We had to do a double-take to figure what’s going on in this picture. You’ll need to have the monitor wall mounted to pull this off as successfully as this poster.
Small spaces do not necessarily mean a cramped and unproductive environment. Tiny spaces are actually pretty cozy and help to block off distractions to achieve Flow. This clean white minimal setup proves the point.
Perfect aesthetically pleasing yet functional and practical. The usage of a wireless mouse, keyboard, and headphones helps reduce the clutter. The color palette flows well even down to the peripherals. Having an accent wall gives a nice splash of color without the need to decorate with photos, again minimizing distractions.
We love clean Desktop setups and this is one of the best ones we’ve seen for maximum productivity. Inviting earthy tones and pine tree wallpaper with this setup brings a sense of forest bathing and calm. Add a hint of Star Wars with the posters and you have yourself a setup that can’t beat that!
Ambient light sets the mood! With Phillips. Hue LED Light strips you can dial it up or down. Blue light has been researched to promote wakefulness while yellows and reds are good towards the evening. The BenQ Led Lightbar also has an adjustable temperature. As pictured this is the perfect wind-down lighting to set the calm mood for a long day working from home.
Desktop Setups can be conducive to achieving the Flow State while working from home. Flow is a mental state where you are so engulfed in an activity; you lose the sense of time and self. It’s what athletes sometimes define as being “in the zone.” We’ve all encountered it at some point in our life where we go on and on working on something, and your mind automatically blocks off all distractions. Nothing else seems to matter other than the task you’re focused on.
“Flow” has been researched extensively by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi . We won’t go into what Flow is in this article but will go over how optimal desktop setups can help you achieve Flow while working from home (WFH).
Why Is Flow Important while Working From Home (WFH)
Studies have shown while executives are in Flow, they are five times more efficient and productive. Wouldn’t you like to finish your work in 25%th the time? Being in Flow helps you tune out distractions as well.
While Mihály has outlined conditions to trigger Flow, including setting goals and challenges, we’ll focus on setting up a work environment that eliminates distractions. These external factors can contribute to and trigger Flow.
Flow While Work From Home
One of the things that ruin your Focus, as HBR identified, is a cluttered and messy desk. Setting up a dedicated office and having a clutter-free desk is imperative to Focus. An excellent guideline to de-clutter would be Marie Kondo’s Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
Flow is key to enhancing concentration, creativity, and success while working from home. Whether you are coding, a writer, designer, or performing any job really, Flow can help you achieve it more efficiently and creatively.
Limit Distractions & Complete Concentration
Distractions are the greatest barrier to obtaining Focus and flow at work. A comfortable work environment will limit external distractions. We don’t want to limit distractions, but we want to set up an environment that gives you joy. The perfect Desk Setup will make you want to do work. Sounds ridiculous, right? A Cluttered desktop can cause distraction. There are quite a few researched triggers that induce Flow and are collectively known as “Flow Trigger”.
According to a UC Irvine study, it takes 25 min to regain Focus on your original task once you’ve been distracted. Science. Compound that with regular distractions, and you’re going to have an unproductive day.
Our Work from Home Desk setup goal is to replicate your work environment as close as possible at home. All this while eliminating any distractions that lead us away from work.
Desk Setup For Flow:
Great lighting
A desktop setup with great lighting helps prevent “Computer Vision Syndrome” that leads to Headaches and eyestrain. All factors impact your ability to concentrate and achieve Flow.
Set up close to Natural Light if possible
Minimize light reflections and glare from overhead or behind the monitor
Good Cable Management. Cables are like hairs; once tangled it’s hard to untangle. With all our connected devices, cables can become unsightly. Hide your cables and it can provide a soothing and clean environment.
Proper Ergonomics for less strain
Standing Desk to provide the right and adjustable height
Properly adjusted monitor and keyboard
Have the right tools for the job
Not having the proper tools and setup for work from home can cause frustrations and distractions. Many companies provide stipends for desk setups while working from home. Get the proper tools you need to reduce distractions and maximize Flow and overall success while working from home.
Comfortable and ergonomic keyboard
Proper mouse and mousepad (prevent carpal tunnel)
WiFi speeds to support Zoom and video calls – Place router in close proximity to your computer.
Limit Interruptions and automate everything
Automate everything you can to limit interruptions. Set up a docking station to make starting up work easy. Fewer hassles mean fewer barriers to getting going.
Noise-canceling headphones Helps remove distracting noise. Playing white noise can also help to filter out signals that might distract you.
Smart home assistants – Adjust lights and environment with minimal input from you.
Plants and greenery for Flow
Plants have been researched to improve your concentration and focus. What better way to enhance your desk aesthetics while improving work from home flow and concentration?
Music to maintain Focus
Music has also been researched and shown to have positive effects on study and concentration. The right kind of music can help us concentrate. Music helps to block out noise and distraction. Lo-Fi music has been all the rage for study and concentration. Music without lyrics help to keep distraction to a minimum.
Additional tips to Optimize Flow in your Work From Home Desk Setup
Distraction Journal – A popular productivity method that helps identify and track what causes distractions. This self-reflection exercise to jot down different distractions during your workday will help determine what causes those distractions. Once you have identified different distractions, you can modify your desk setup to eliminate the distraction.
Creating the perfect desk set up for Flow at home is an iterative and constantly changing process. What might work this month would not work the next. Some research has also shown that switching up your environment helps with motivation and learning. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4138787/
