We loved seeing some of your home offices this week on our Facebook community group. The positivity our Aterans are channeling is incredible to see! If you’re still not sure how to get your home office working for you, here are some of the top tips from our community and our staff, too.
Get Organized with Multi-Monitor Madness!
Multi-monitor setups seem to be the norm in our Atera community, and we can see why! Being able to keep an eye on various tasks or setting up a dashboard that displays all open tickets and alerts can help you to boost your productivity. Did you spot Dave Long’s script for installing a custom Atera dashboard? Here are some great ways to make the most of multiple monitors:
- Utilize your TV: If you’re out of monitors and stuck in lockdown – think about using your TV as another monitor. First, check your graphics card. If it supports HDMI, simply use an HDMI cable, and you are ready for action. If not, you will need a DVI-HDMI cable, but these are pretty cheap and easy to get online. Remember, using a TV monitor is an excellent option for dashboards or static visuals, but you might experience input lag if you try to use your TV as an active second screen.
- Think Outside the Box: We love this Reddit thread where you can pick up some great ideas and inspiration for organizing your battle station. Why not try using one monitor vertically, which can help with scrolling through long documents, or wall mounting one or more of your monitors so that you maximize on desk space and get more surface area on the desk itself?
- Take a Shortcut: Do not forget to learn your Windows 10 shortcuts to make using multiple monitors a whole lot more efficient, especially if you only have a taskbar on one monitor. With Win+Left or Win+Right, you can move your active window to the left or right side, and adding Shift to these will move the window to the next monitor entirely. Win+Up or Win+Down will maximize or minimize the current window, and Shift+Win+Up maximized the window vertically. To get rid of all your procrastination opportunities and distractions, just use Win+Home, which will hide everything except what is currently open. You can use the same shortcut to take a sneak peek at Facebook when you need a break again.
Tweak your Settings
If something is annoying you about your monitors or your workstation, do not ignore it. This kind of stress can add up and make working from home a far worse experience. One of the most common issues is monitor misalignments, especially when you are using different kinds of monitors in tandem.
Right-click on Desktop and head to Display Settings. Now you can rearrange your displays so that when you use your monitors, they work well together, stopping the cursor from jumping up and down, for example, when you switch screens. Think about making adjustments to the resolution using the Scale and Layout section, or changing the brightness and color settings so that they match up more accurately, reducing the likelihood of you getting a headache or increased tiredness from mismatched screen contrast or brightness.
Another great tip to follow is the 20/20/20 rule. Every 20 minutes, stare at something 20 yards away for 20 seconds. This screen break will give you more energy, and more importantly, rest your eyes from the glare of the monitors.
Make your Office a Place You Want to Be!
It might feel like an indulgence to make your office or your monitor setup aesthetically pleasing. Still, especially when we’re all stuck in remote working realities, any motivation to spend time at work is a good thing in our book! Think about theming your office with your favorite fandoms or using specialized dual monitor dashboards or backgrounds to spice up your battle station. We love DualMonitorBackgrounds.com, where you can find some great downloads.
Invest in Extras
Do not forget the extras that are going to make your office more productive. This includes light exercise equipment that can encourage you to take a break and remain active, and ultimately more productive overall. Top choices include resistance bands, light weights, a mechanical rowing or cycling machine, or even something as simple as a skipping rope. Make sure you take at least two exercise breaks throughout the day.
Snacks and games might seem like a recipe for procrastination, but you cannot work all day, so it’s a great idea to keep these in your line of sight, to remind you to eat and relax. Remember, you are not going to get jolted out of your work coma by a co-worker heading to lunch anymore, so you need to be that person for yourself. Make set times for breaks and try to keep to them as best as you can. Consider having a ‘work podcast,’ an instrument, or a computer game that you use to incentivize breaks in the working day. Just make sure it does not work too well!
Any more great tips for your home office? Our CEO Gil has raised the gauntlet, and the best three battle stations will get a prize from Atera! Head to the community and search the home office to add your home office selfie to the thread!
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