Working from Home: Physical Setup

Many people are shifting to working from home. As they do, I see lots of people are shifting from working from their couches to setting up make-shift work spaces. Here are some tips that could help:

1. Consider designing your space so you can stand at your desk periodically. It's a nice change of pace for your back. I have a pretty cheap Ikea desk with a motor that raises and lowers it, but you can also get a Varidesk or use milk crates or something similar.
2. Get up and walk every hour or so. Do a quick chore or check the mail or something.
3. Keep hydrated. If you use normal-sized drinking glasses, this can dovetail nicely with #2.
4. If you start to get pain in your arms or fingers, invest in a wireless curved keyboard. I use a Microsoft Sculpt and love it.
5. Setup your chair, desk, monitor, etc. so they are ergonomically sound. Mayo Clinic has some advice on office ergonomics. 
6. Not everyone can locate their home office in a separate room like I can. Still, you need a space, and you should find a way to physically check in and out of "the office." When I started working from home, my space was in the family room attached to our kitchen. Not ideal, but it's all I could do at the time. To check in and out of the office, I would turn the monitor off. Though I could still check and reply to emails on my phone, having the computer/monitor off helped me set a boundary.

Pay attention to your physical work space. If you don't take care of your body, it will punish you.