6 Solutions to a More Efficient Workstation
6 Solutions to a More Efficient Workstation
Need a more efficient workspace?
Consider some of these tips to up your game.
- Move your monitor to the wall. Hanging a monitor will give you more workspace.
- Get rid of the CPU or any other electronic devices that you are not using. Recycle them to make more space.
- Add storage up high. Shelves or cabinets within reach can store often-used items.
- Add lighting. It’s essential to have task lighting focused on your desktop and overhead lighting from the ceiling.
- Bulletin and magnetic boards for the little extras will also get items out of the workspace.
- Everyone needs a charging station. Whether it is a stand-alone or plugs into a USB port.
What are your solutions for a more efficient workstation?
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
These are really great, Janet. The men in my life have embraced the monitor up off the desk in spades. They also all seem to love having lots of monitors. My husband has them on “arms” that are clamped to the back of the desk. From the back, I think it is pretty ugly, but when you sit there and can look up and see the monitors, AND when they pivot and move around so you can switch up the one directly in front of your face, it is pretty cool.
YES to getting rid of the old cpus AND laptops. People get stuck on this one, but they take up a lot of space, so worth the effort!!
Seana, are your men gamers? Mine are and they all have their monitors (at least two each) off their desks. Having your monitor at eye level is more ergonomic, so I think it’s a good thing. I was at IKEA this last weekend and saw a monitor clamp you described for a reasonable price.
I think the best thing people can do to create a more efficient workspace is to get rid of any clutter on their work surfaces.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a monitor hung on a wall. Something to think about as I ponder swapping my giant old executive desk for something more streamlined. Thanks for the inspiration!
You’re welcome. You can hang a monitor on a wall in the same fashion as you hang a TV on the wall, but with much smaller hardware.
You gain a lot of desk space that way.
These are excellent solutions for increasing work space. My husband has two monitors in his home office, which are mounted on the wall. He prefers that layout because he has maximum room to spread his papers as he works.
I like having my monitor closer. Because of the depth of my desk, it would be challenging to see the monitor if it were mounted on the wall. Plus, I can move it backward when I need more surface space since it isn’t mounted.
Linda, you can mount your monitor on the wall with an articulating arm. That way you can move it around whenever you want.
I love the idea of lifting the monitor up. I’m still using a laptop (I know…) My husband (like the others’) uses 2 and sometimes 3 monitors. He does all sorts of computing I don’t try to understand as well as gaming. Back to me, I would love to have 2 monitors – I just need to put the time toward figuring out what would work in my space. A project for another day!
I have two monitors and I love it!
Great suggestion. It’s hard often to not go to sit down and get stopped and sidetracked because of not having an organized work station or missing things like a charger etc! Having the things you need within reach is also important so you’re not getting distracted running through the house looking for things..
I agree. Clutter is a great distraction.
These are nifty suggestions, but I am particularly enamored with #4, as I think it’s the idea people most often fail to consider. Good lighting is EVERYTHING. Without it, you not only strain your eyes, but you will find your energy zapped. For me, I prefer bright overhead lighting to desk lighting or (generally) task lighting. (When I hand-wrote often, such as when I was in college, I used the ugly fluorescent gooseneck my father had taken to college in the 1940s, and the light was perfect. I never once changed the bulbs, and I’m not sure they’d been changed since 1946!) My office is on the opposite side of my home from the wall where all the windows are, so I get no natural light, making adequate artificial light all the more indispensable.
As for a monitor on the wall, that wouldn’t work for me for two reasons. First, for 40 years, I’ve been using Macs, always desktops, and they’re all-in-one machines. Beyond that, my vision is such that I need to be within 18 inches of my monitor, but the nearest wall is about 5 or 6 feet away, as my desk is in the center of my office; even if it were flush with the wall, my desk’s depth would have to be 1/3 to 1/2 half as deep. I imagine monitors on the wall are great for gaming, but for tiny numbers on a spreadsheet or for word processing, the fonts would have to be set at 72 pt to make it out from my seat!
You’re so right about the benefits of a good charging station. I have a “Spacebar,” a low-riser upon which my main Mac sits. (I have two; not two monitors, but two Macs, and that’s a whole other story.) There are four USB ports on the Spacebar’s front (two for fast charging on the left, two for just peripherals like thumb drives on the right) and two more on the rear (for more peripherals). Rather than having one small charging station with cables emanating in all directions, this keeps the front half of my desk almost entirely clear of cables. I love it!
And yes, shelves, bulletin boards, and magnetic boards — anything that makes use of vertical space, is great for making everything feel more spacious!
Lightly! I learned the hard way. When I was setting up my office I chose a fancy overhead light. The problem is that it doesn’t give off much light. I’ve tried stronger bulbs, but still not enough. Fortunately, I have a window right next to my desk, so on a nice sunny day I have more than enough light, but I struggle at night and don’t like to work in my office when I can’t see what I’m doing.