Work From Home The Smart Way 

It’s been well over a year now that we’ve been in some form of lockdown and the work from home order is still largely in place. While some larger companies are now starting to bring people back to the office, others have seen the benefits of remote working and plan to go ahead with it for the foreseeable future. This will result in a mix of full-time office workers, remote workers and a hybrid of the two in some cases.  

On March 18 2020, it became mandatory to work from home as the country began its fight with the COVID-19 pandemic. This happened without notice but many companies have thrived throughout this period both in the UK and abroad. In fact, a survey produced by the Boston Consulting Group revealed that 7 in 10 employees in the UK have been working remotely and their productivity has increased massively due to this change of circumstances. So, it looks like this way of remote working whether in full or hybrid form is here to stay, at least in less traditional companies. 

While many of us have made do with the tech we have at home with the thought that this is temporary, it may be time to create a new and more permanent home working set up. You may not have a dedicated room you can convert into a home office, but you can make your chosen working spot more comfortable and suited to your needs with some tech. Here is our handy list of essentials for working from home and some suggestions from our top picks. 

Your Work From Home Companion 

MacBook Air M1 (£999) 

There was a time when Apple’s cheapest laptop underperformed and couldn’t be used as your everyday work laptop. However, with M1 the MacBook Air has a new lease of life and has been outperforming 16in MacBook Pros that are worth almost three times as much. It has all the power you will ever need for the next few years and more. 

If you work on documents and send emails all day, the M1 MacBook Air will eat these tasks up and you’ll find yourself only needing to charge it ever couple of days. If you want to do something heavier like photo and video editing it will also do these tasks admirably and in most cases better than the higher specced MacBooks. 

The Perfect Desk For Your Home Set Up 

Alldrei Standing Desk (£469) 

If you are health conscious you’ll know that sitting at your desk all day isn’t good for your spine’s health. So, a standing desk is the perfect solution as it allows you to stand up and work for some portions of the day and relieve some of the tension that builds up in your spine when sitting. The Alldrei Standing Desk is the perfect solution for this. 

It has a contemporary design with a bamboo wood finish and easy access to the adjustment controls. The desk can be raised by up to 120cm which means that no matter what your height you can be comfortable while standing at your desk. It also makes for a more premium feeling working environment while adding to your homes elegance. 

An UltraWide Display For Productivity 

LG UltraWide 35in Curved Monitor (£479.99) 

For some people the 13in display on their laptop just isn’t big enough for the level of productivity they’d like to achieve but an ultra-wide monitor can help solve this issue. Ultra-wide monitors provide you with practically double the space of a traditional display allowing you to have several things open at once without sacrificing legibility or creating clutter. 

LG’s 35in curved ultra-wide monitor makes for the best option if you want to achieve productivity with a great 1440p panel and USB C connection so you don’t need to use a dongle. It will also charge your laptop which reduces the amount of cables going to your desk, as well as USB A hub to allow you to connect flash drives and other accessories easily to your laptop. 

For Extra Connectivity 

Sabrent Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station (219.99) 

Some people, like those working in creative fields, may require some extra ports for connectivity to their devices. Sabrent’s Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station multiple USB C ports, USB A ports, an audio jack, SD card reader and ethernet port to give you the ultimate port selection for your home working setup. 

This means you can do all of your work with minimal disruption that could be caused from plugging and unplugging devices from your laptop. Allowing you to stay focused and productive for longer while reducing the amount of clutter on your desk. This is truly the best docking solution for your laptop and especially useful for media creation. 

Extra Space For Your Data 

Samsung T7 Portable SSD 2 TB (£274.99) 

If you go for the base configuration of the MacBook Air you only get 256GB of storage and that will go quickly if you are editing content all day. So, it makes sense to get a portable SSD to store all those files. Samsung’s 2TB T7 portable SSD will provide you with all the space you’ll ever need to store file while having the advantage of USB C connectivity.  

This will allow you to access your files almost as quickly as if they were actually on your laptop while fitting with your docking station hidden away. Of course, there are lower storage capacity models but if you want to be equipped for the foreseeable future you really want to go for the massive 2TB option to fulfil your needs. 

Reduce Your Neck Strain 

NULAXY Laptop Stand (£65.99) 

If you’re working at a desk the chance are that you usually look down at your laptop screen, but this can have disastrous effects on your neck. This is especially true if you’re looking up and down between your laptop and monitor. A solution for this is a laptop stand that raises your laptop and allows you to keep it at the same height as your monitor. 

NULAXY’s laptop stand is the perfect solution for this as it has a clean grey aluminium finish that will match your MacBook Air perfectly. It means that you won’t be constantly looking up and down between your screens and provides a dual monitor-like set up for you home work environment. 

Final Accessories To Finish Your Set Up 

To finish off your set up, you’ll need a wireless keyboard and mouse, you could opt for Apple’s options from their store but Logitech MX collection would be the smarter option. You may also want to add a desk light and some potted plants to finish off the set up and create a relaxing space to complete your work.