Squarespace Design Business: Work From Home Essentials
Sign up for a free Squarespace trial here! #afflink
Though my focus is on those starting a Squarespace Design Business, as a work-from-home solopreneur of several years, I like to offer advice to anyone working from home. And these days that’s a lot more people than it used to be!
This trend is only set to rise, so if you needed permission to take your online office space setup seriously, here it is! Permission granted. You have a job to do, after all, and I’m a firm believer that your surrounding atmosphere plays a big role in how well you do that job.
So from the essentials to the not-so-essential-but-certainly-nice-to-have, here is my list of items I think must be included in a productive and healthy home office arrangement.
Disclosure: This blog post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
My 2020 Work From Home Essentials List:
Desk
The way you work all day can contribute to, or take away from, your overall health. I know this because I spent far too long sitting on the couch and on comfy chairs with my lapdesk, my neck bent to look down as hours rolled by. This resulted in lots of discomfort and eventual visits to the chiropractor. Now I take my posture, my chair, and my desk much more seriously!
I recommend investing in an adjustable height desk so that you can sit or stand comfortably at it. I also recommend alternating between sitting and standing throughout the day, and getting frequent movement. You’re working from home after all so there’s no reason not to take a few minutes each hour to dance, stretch, or exercise!
Chair
Chairs are a fun topic mainly because the marketplace is so diverse right now. Because more and more people are working from home and also wanting to optimize their health, you can find a wide range of interesting “chairs” for your own home office.
My favorite choices, all of which I’ve used and continue to alternate between:
Dependable laptop
I am not the trendiest person. I’m aware of trends, but hardly ever fond of them. In fact, my contrarian nature usually nudges me to go the opposite direction of the crowd. But my laptop choice is not me trying to go against the crowd, it’s purely practical.
I have never made the switch to Apple products. I don’t have an iPhone and I don’t have a MacBook. In fact, I’m kind of blown away that so many people have fancy MacBooks. Very young people, too. Almost like they come with a social security number now or something. But I digress. I’ve been using my trusty Hewlett-Packard machine for well over a decade now. It costs under $900 and boasts a lovely and GIGANTIC 17-inch screen, which I really adore.
This device allows me to do everything I need to (and more). No problems. Ever.
No matter what you choose, get yourself a trusty laptop (and remember to write it off on your taxes!).
Headphones
I usually work from home, which is a very quiet seaside neighborhood. I don’t hear anything other than ravens and seagulls and the occasional bald eagle. But, every now and again, especially back when the world was more normal, I would venture out to cafes to work. During those times, I loved wearing my noise-cancelling headphones. Yes, you can also wear ear buds, but I love the ambience that noise-cancelling headphones create. It’s almost like a peaceful dream state. Whether you live in an apartment building, a bus suburb, or commute to a public location to get online, you might not have much control over your environment. To stay focused and do good work, it’s important be able to cancel the world out for a while, and for this: you need a good set of headphones!
Phone
Sometimes clients want to talk in that old-fashioned actual voice kind of way. So you’re going to need a phone if you want to run your own online business.
Weekly Planner
Maybe this is me being contrarian again, but I don’t use any online calendar software. Instead, I have a handy dandy analog planner right here on my desk that I use religiously. Inside it, I keep track of daily tasks, deadlines, who I need to email, who I need to call, when projects begin, when they need to be completed, and of course— personal life things, too. If we’re being honest, I would be lost without my planner. And if you’re going to be working from home, I recommend you get yourself one. In fact, I just bought a new one for 2021 and it was An Event, let me tell ya. But I think I made a good choice.
Reliable high-speed internet
Obviously, right? But I really just wanted to include this in case any of you are travelers, or plan to be.
You can connect to WiFi in the middle of nowhere with a hot spot and a WeBoost tower, didja know? I didn’t until recently!
So if you plan to go live in your RV—since you’re now working online and aren’t location-dependent! Woohoo!—you might want to look into these WeBoost towers.
MY NEW COURSE: HOW TO START A SQUARESPACE DESIGN BUSINESS
For a thorough explanation on every single aspect of running your own Squarespace design business, from how to get clients, to communication etiquette, to contracts and invoicing, project workflow, offboarding, taxes, business registration, and SO much more, I offer this wonderful new course:
And now for the fun not-quite-essentials:
To work from home for an extended period, you will enjoy having the following:
fresh roasted coffee
an espresso machine (here is my bad boy!)
lots of tea
cacao (check out my morning beverage recipe here)
a desktop essential oil diffuser
your desk positioned at a window
a quiet predictable atmosphere
a yoga mat so you can get off your behind regularly and stretch or exercise
Want to contest or add to anything on this list? Feel free to leave a comment below. Hopefully this was helpful or enjoyable in some way and I’ll talk to you again soon!
x
Tiffany
Welcome!
Hey there! I’m Tiffany ~ a Squarespace Web Designer & SEO Expert. I design beautiful & professional websites that rank well on Google, and I teach one of the most top-ranked Squarespace SEO courses here!
Feel free to contact me at: tiffany@tiffany-davidson.com
Sign up for a free Squarespace trial here! #afflink
Was this information helpful? Donations help ensure that useful public content like this can keep getting published. Thank you for your kindness.