The Makeshift Home Office

by Iain Smith, Women in Transport Board Member and Founder and Principal Consultant of Network for Skills

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As with all parts of the home working experience, we all have our own circumstances and context. Our situations will vary widely as:

  • Some of us have offices tucked away in a quiet corner of the house or garden where we can work free from interruption.

  • Some of us are fighting others for use of the only table in the house and hiding in the car to make calls without constant interruption from children, dogs and other people.

  • Most of us will, perhaps, be somewhere in the middle of these extremes or experiencing other issues.

Wherever you are on this spectrum, there are some things you can do to enhance or improve your working environment.

Designate a workspace

Pick an area of your house and set this up as your “workzone”. Only use this space when you are working and stay away from it when you are not. In this way, over a short time, you will train your brain that when you are in your workzone it is time to work.

Once you have finished for the day, put your laptop away and out of sight, so that you are not tempted to come back to it during the evening.

If you are used to working in all sorts of different places and, if your home allows for it, you can replicate this by having a number of designated spaces where you can set up your pop-up desk.

The set up and the workarounds

The Health and Safety Executive have a checklist which gives the ideal home set up situation, which you can get by clicking on: HSE checklist. However, many of us have had home working forced upon us and so have to make do a bit.

The Interim Flexible Working Guidance published on the 19th March says that, “as far as possible, all employees should ensure that they have a suitable environment in which they can focus on work.”

It offers the following helpful / creative suggestions:

  • Make sure your work equipment is on a steady flat surface, so that you can use it comfortably

  • If you haven’t got an office type chair, use a dining chair or something similar.

  • If your chair is too low for your work surface, use pillows to gain extra height and also make your seat more comfy.

  • If you have a higher surface, such as a kitchen worktop, you can use that as a standing desk. Vary between sitting and standing if you have this option.

  • If you have a mouse and keyboard connected to a personal computer which is not being used during the day, connect it to your laptop to make it more ergonomic.

  • If you are finding the laptop screen is too low and causing you discomfort, connect a separate keyboard and mouse and raise your laptop on books so the screen is at a better height.

  • Take regular breaks

Manage laptop and device aches and strains

If you have ever experienced pain as a result of poor working habits, you will know how debilitating it can be. The most commonly occurring injuries are:

  • Upper back ache

  • Sharp, severe upper back muscle spasms

  • Shoulder pain

  • Cervical nerve pinching pain

  • Neurological symptoms radiating down arms and into hands

As so often, prevention is better than cure, and adopting a brief exercise routine into your day can help considerably.

The following four exercises are examples suggested by posturite.co.uk. They have a full range on their website.

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We hope this has been helpful but, as ever, please share your experiences or any helpful practices you have adopted which might help others.


Women in Transport is a non-profit network with a mission of advancing women working in transport. Annual membership of Women in Transport is £60 per year providing access to professional development and networking opportunities. We very much welcome guest blogs from our members - a great way to share the incredible diversity of opportunity in transport, raise your profile and connect with our community.

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