You've had breakfast, clean the kitchen, goten dressed, and you're ready to head out for work, except that your city is in lockdown right now and heading out really means heading to the dining room table. So how do you make your home feel like a workspace when it's time to work? Well, Lucy Fagans from the Design Files can
help with that. I have followed the Design Files for many years and have received so much inspiration from Lucy's work, So I wanted to know what does Lucy's home office set up look like and what tips can she share about how we can all improve our home office given that we're probably going to be spending quite a bit of time in it for the foreseeable future. My name
is doctor Ramantha Imba. I'm an organizational psychologist and the founder of behavior science consultancy Inventium, and this is how I work a show about how to help you do your best work. So let's start by hearing about what
Lucy's home office setup looks like. I must say my home office setup is not ideal in that I don't have a spare room or a study so, like probably many people, I am unfortunately working from the dining table most of the time, which is certainly not what I recommend, but you know, these these are the we're all having to make do in this current time, particularly in Melbourne.
So my home office setup.
Is all my computer gear on my dining table, along with a notepad and some stationery and a lot of post it notes. But I do sort of like to set it up in quite a considered way every morning and pack it down every evening, so that I really do feel that, despite the fact that I'm working from the shared living space, that it's sort of it doesn't dominate the space.
That's interesting.
So what do you mean when you say set it up in a considered way in the morning.
Yeah, look, I have found I guess how long have we been doing this now in Melbourne? You know, I kin't even count, really, I think, you know, initially I just left my big computer screen plus my laptop at the end of the dining table every night, and you know, obviously there's some efficiency to not having to put it
all together every morning. But in fact, what I've found is that the ritual every morning of unpacking my workstation and putting it together just as I you know, as I like, in a sort of familiar way every morning is a really good ritual that helps get me in the mindset for work, and then of course packing it down also helps get me in the mindset for home life and dinner prep and family time. So I do find that that book ends the day if I do
a bit of a setup and a pack down. And the trick to that then is making the setup and pack down very easy by having a designated crate or box or draw nearby where where everything can go in a sort of quick five minute pack down.
So what are you storing all your stuff in?
I literally have a crate like a nice a nice one from Moodie, I think, but you know any great like you know storage place that has a nice looking crate, and I think it's just really important to have that one designated box or crate that is just for that purpose. And the only thing that doesn't fit in it is my big screen, So unfortunately that does sort of just get relegated to, you know, under the sideboard, sort of just tucked away.
But everything else, my keyboard, my mouth, all those.
Bits and bobs are all and my laptop all sit in the crate and they will just sleep there at night when I, you know, finish up and then in the morning I get them all out again.
Now I want to know what are some simple and ideally cost effective tricks that people can use to improve their physical environment where they're working from, whether it be a dedicated study or the kitchen table or the dining room table, to lift their mood and just the vibe of the place.
I think it is about trying to identify what little cues you can bring into the home space whilst you're working from home that help your mindset and help you get more easily into your work mode even though you are at home, and so those things are it sounds obvious, but setting up your desk just as you have it at work and not sort of compromising on things like you know, yes, you do need a big screen probably.
And a laptop.
If that's the way you work at work, that's also the way you should work at home. Yes, you need an ergonomic chair, very boring but important. You know, if you're sitting on a good chair all day at work, you should absolutely be sitting on the same quality.
Chair at home.
And beyond that, there is a lot to be said for esthetics that the place should feel nice if you've got things that you love in your space, definitely integrate them into what you're seeing as you're sitting at your desk. So whether that be orienting your desk to capture some of a view out of a window, ensuring you're getting a bit of natural light sunlight throughout the day, and sort of feeling the time passed throughout the day, so
feeling the difference in light between morning and afternoon. And you know, things that you love, a favorite plant or object, things that you bring you joy should certainly be part of what you're sort of seeing when you're sitting at your work space.
For most of the day.
I want to dig into a few of those things.
What are some I guess non essential work items that you have in your workspace that bring you joy.
You know, it's really funny, This sounds so silly, but I bought a beautiful painting sort of last year late last year, and it hangs on the wall behind me. So if you can imagine when you're in a zoom meeting, which we spend a lot of time you know, doing at the moment, or having meetings online.
I see this painting behind me.
It's basically the backdrop behind me every time I'm in a meeting, and it really does bring me so much joy. And you know how when you're in a meeting like that, you do, for whatever reason, you spend a lot of time looking at yourself.
I don't know why.
That's not just me, but you sort of just have this periphery of what you look like in the meeting or something. And so having that painting as my sort of backdrop for me that does. Actually, it has definitely elevated how I feel about being in my workspace.
And it was a blank wall and now it's.
This beautiful, big, colorful backdrop, and I feel like, not only does it bring me joy to sit in a space and look at that artwork, but when I'm having a meeting, I feel like it reflects me.
You know, it's a person. It's like when you put on a new jacket to where to work.
It's sort of like your environment at the moment is becoming an extension of the way you present to your workplace, to your clients when you have meetings.
And have you got anything in front of you sitting on the desk slash dining room table that is, you know, not essential for work, like you know, a keyboarder or mouse, But is there for you know, emotional reasons I do.
I have found myself through lockdown, especially in Melbourne, buying fresh flowers every week.
I know that's it's definitely.
A bit indulgent, but I guess we're all saving money on many of the other things that we're not allowed to do at the moment.
But yeah, I do tend to buy fresh flowers every week and have them right there.
It's pretty much right in front of my laptop screen on the table, and those little things certainly do bring a lot more joy. Now you mentioned an ergonomic chair, and I feel for most people that brings up images of quite hideous black things that you'd find in an office. What are some brands that we can investigate that do ergonomic chairs that don't look hideous?
It's hard, I agree with you.
The best, you know, really good quality chairs that you do tend to find in workplaces are pretty ugly and also really expensive many of them. So Ikea actually do some really good options. And in fact, I did a little call out on my Instagram last week in preparation for this chat, and a few people recommend to their Ikea ergonomic chair But the other thing that I really like is there are some really good vintage.
Desk chairs out there.
So I've got a vintage Eames desk chair new They're like two thousand dollars or something, but you can get them for i don't know, well under one thousand dollars if you look for vintage ones. So definitely worth looking for vintage chairs desk chairs as well. But yes, it's I do feel there's still we could do with some more options.
Definitely, definitely. I quite like Steelcase. They do some interesting Ergonovic chairs. I must say they're a bit on the xy side, but I'm a bit of a fan. Now you mentioned the importance of natural light. What can we do to bring light to our workstation at home if there are no windows nearby, or maybe if my window looks out onto the wall of an apartment block or something depressing like that.
Yeah, look, it really is challenging and natural light.
It's all very well to say, you know, have natural light in your space, but it's either there or it's not. You can't sort of invent it. I think, you know, hopefully your room has a window. Most rooms do. I think it's a legal requirement. So it's it's really just about maximizing what's there. So have a think about the window furnishings and you know whether or not you've got any obstructions to the light.
It can work if you have.
A mirror in the space to reflect a view, so if you can't position your table to you know, be exactly where it should be for the best sort of access to natural light.
It can work if you have a.
Full length mirror or something that actually reflects that view into where you're sitting, or that you enables you to see out of the window or to see a bit of greenery and sky even if you're not able to face the window.
Oh and where do.
You put the mirror? Do you put it opposite the window or by the side of it? How do you work that?
It's really a situation where if you study really only enables you to sit with your back to the window, then you would place the mirror in front of your desk or potentially to the side of the window, so that you're catching a glimpse of the window behind you even though you're not face the window.
If that makes sense.
Are there any lighting solutions that you've found a good for just bringing in more, I guess artificial natural light into the environment. Like I'm thinking, for example, I've got fairly good natural light in my study, and I'm really lucky that I've got a room that contains my study that is not where all the living happens in my house.
But I've been experimenting with the Phillips Hugh lights and automating goes, and I've kind of got this strip that sits along the window seil, which is quite good for bringing in light that feels quite natural. So what have you seen that are some good lighting solutions to bring in more natural feeling light.
Yeah, I haven't tried that.
I feel like you're so much better at really doing this, you know, like test driving things like that. I think in general, I would say overhead lights. So the sort of down lights or existing light that's in your house as it is, are likely to be the most harsh sort of most I guess least like natural light light in the house. So what is a good idea generally is to bring lamp light of any description into the room.
So whether that be a desk lamp and you know, a floor lamp or a table lamp on a sideboard or something if you have one or two additional light sources lamps in the room alongside the overhead lighting in the ceiling, it just gives you that much more control over you know, changing the light levels throughout the day as well, because it does change a lot, and I think we might I've certainly noticed being in my house morning, noon and night, rather than just it in you know,
before and after work, you start to notice things like, you know, it's really dark at certain times of day and really bright at other times of day, and even
things like temperature. So if you have multiple light sources in a room, then it really does enable you to play with the light throughout the day and just be nuanced, I guess, in how you light the space rather than have this one blanket of light that is just constant all day and sort of doesn't give you that sense of progressing from morning through the afternoon.
And where are some good retailers or good brands to check out that do some good lighting solutions.
Like I feel like I wouldn't even know where to start other than my Phillips, who which I do recommend, But.
Where can we go for things that are a little bit more beautiful than that?
Cult is a great stocks of all different furniture and lighting and good lamps lamp lighting, which is great as well if you're renting your home, you know you need things that can be moved around and can work in different spaces.
So cult has a great range.
And one of this brand, say stock is Hay which is a really quite good affordable one of the more affordable brands in Good Company is an excellent retailer here in Melbourne, but they have a really good online store as well that has a lot of different lamp lighting.
Some of their favorite lamps if there's are no Gucci lamps, which are a range of Japanese lamps that are paper you know, they look like sort of those paper sort of Chinese lantern sort of material over the lamp, but in more sort of beautiful considered shapes, and that is really lovely diffused light. You know, when you have a light source that has a paper or fabric cover, it
really is a nice soft diffused light. It doesn't look harsh and it's a very versatile sort of lamp that can be used in the living space, in the bedroom or in a workspace.
Amazing.
I'll link to those in the show notes and if there was just like one thing that you'd recommend people change about their home office set up to bring some more joy and spark into their life.
What would that be.
I find it so hard to think of just one thing.
I asked my followers this last week, and all the answers were very sensible and a bit boring, and they were all about ergonomics, so having that ergonomic chair and also the height of your screen, which I know is again very dry, but making sure that your laptop is on a stand and things are at a height that allows you to sit up right rather than slouch all day. So that's the boring but important answer to that question.
But the other thing I would say is it is worth investing in pieces that do spark joy and that personalize your space. So the example I gave before of having an artwork on the wall, you know, that's the sort of thing that really elevates the way you feel in your space. And I am a big proponent for getting your zoom backdrop right for your own sort of sense of joy, but also so that you feel really confident in the way you're presenting to people.
That you're having meetings with. For me, it's like don't just look about what's in front of you on your desk, but think about what's behind you and what people are seeing where they chat to you online as well, because you'll feel better if your space reflects you.
Amazing.
I love that, and Lucy, for people that want to connect with you and the Design Files, what is the best way for people to do that?
Thank you so much so.
Our website is the design files dot net and we're on all the socials at the Design Files.
Amazing. Lucy, it's been so good to chat.
I feel like we've probably both followed each other's work for quite a while but have never spoken, so this has been absolutely lovely.
It really has.
Thank you so much for having me and I love your podcast, so yeah, it's a thrill to join you.
I hope that you're feeling all inspired to maybe make one or two changes to your home office and bring
more joy into your space now. If you are looking for more tips to improve the way that you work, I actually write short fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things that I've discovered that helped me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I'm loving and software that I've just discovered, so if you're keen to receive that newsletter, sign up at Howiwork dot co.
That's how I Work dot co. How I Work is produced by Inventium with production support from Dead Set Studios.
And thank you to Martin Nimba who does the audio.
Mix for every episode and makes everything sound so much better than it would have otherwise.
See you next time.