For lots of people working from home has been an unexpected part of 2020. Love it or loathe it, it’s unlikely to go away! So while you’re considering compiling your Christmas wish list, why not think about a couple of things that may make your working from home days a little easier?
Here’s my breakdown of things that already do or could make my working from home more effective, beautiful or productive!
A coffee machine! We had a proper barista machine back in the UK but chose not to ship it to Australia. We now use a pod machine which is actually pretty decent. If you’ve already got a pod machine, may I introduce you to Tripod coffee. They have many different flavours of coffee and their PODS ARE COMPOSTABLE. Compostable I tell you. No more faffing taking them apart to recycle. (Or just sending to landfill as some do). You can opt for a bag to send them back for composting or they can go in some compost collections.
Succulents. Yes, they’re still bang on trend and a little bit of green not only gives you something to rest your eyes on (I know I’ve told you guys that green is a good colour for eyes to rest and offset some of that screen time many times, but here’s another reminder)! I got mine from IKEA, along with a sweet little pot, all for under $10 if I remember correctly.
Great stationery. Ok, I’ll be honest, I am a complete sucker for good stationery! Here in Australia, I have discovered the Swedish brand Kikki.k. I love their stuff, you can get it monogrammed and honestly, I my planner brings me so much joy.
I have also recently discovered London based store Martha Brook. All new clients on my Life on Track course get a personalised notebook from there. And I treated myself to their personalised advent calendar as well. Too much gorgeousness!
Something to help you focus! Enter the Foci, the latest in wearable tech. Now, I will be doing a really full blog post on this amazing bit of kit, once it has fully learned the way I work (it’s on about 80% right now). The folks at Foci sent me this to see if I like it and whether I’d recommend it to clients. Even from what I’ve seen so far, the answer is a big
HELL YES! It tracks your breathing whilst you are sitting down to work out if you’re are relaxed, tense, focussed, etc. You can work with it to access moments of deeper focus and I find the breakdown really useful. I often ask clients to get really deep in their own awareness and this gadget will definitely help with that as you can see when in the day you’re more likely to be focussed and where you could be distracted. Again, a much bigger blog post coming later, but if you’re interested in finding out more, get all the info here. You can get 15% off with the code ANGBOY15 (and I would earn a commission). I hand on heart NEVER rate something that I don’t like – even if I’ve been sent it for free – so you can be 100% certain that I love this gadget.
So far these are all things that I’ve tried and liked, but here are a few that could find their way onto my Christmas list!
I really love the orange watch strap (which is not my usual colour, but I think is pretty cool for a watch), the easy to read dial and the fact
that you can have a mantra (or your initials) engraved onto the back. You could choose a play on words with time or just something that you know helps keep you grounded and focused. I don’t know if it would fit, but I’ve just heard this quote from Marianne Williamson and it resonates deeply with me. ‘Your playing small does not serve the world.’ What do you think?
I do usually wear a Fitbit, but I think mixing it up occasionally with a traditional timepiece would be nice and do away with the need to touch the watch to find out the time (which is my biggest bugbear with my Fitbit)!
Wall art. A small confession here, I am about to big up one of my favourite business buddies. She doesn’t even know I’m writing this, but I’m in love with the Doodle Apothecary! This is totally my sense of humour and energy. I’d like the Sea of Possibilities framed in my study to remind me of all the possibilities out there!
A wall planner from JollyBonne on Etsy. Well, less something on my wish list and more something I’ve actually already ordered. But look how cool this is!
I can’t wait for it come. I genuinely couldn’t do without a wall planner. I use mine with various stickers all the time. Even in a year where life has NOT gone to plan!
What do you think? What can’t you live without in your work from home office? (On that – entirely tangential – note, also let me know your best Spotify work from home playlists! I’m currently on Christmas Crackers but am always up for being shown a new one!)
Disclaimer: I do not receive a commission from any of these products except for the Foci.