Picture this. You hop out of bed in the wee hours and turn on your kettle or coffee machine. Turn to your desk to check your calendar, scheduled tasks, and respond to a few emails. Then you sit down to attend your first meeting as you sip on a steaming cup of coffee (or green tea if that’s your thing).

You’re still in pajamas (haven't even brushed your teeth), yet your workday is already in full throttle!

Such is the chaos and convenience of working from home. But, before we go on, you have to wonder whether your home office is optimized to facilitate maximum productivity.

Well, the truth is perfection is a journey with loads of learning curves along the way. It takes time to set up the perfect home office. Or at least a serene space that inspires you to keep working through the day or night.

Your tiny studio apartment has the potential to unlock boundless creativity and productivity. This article seeks to help you actualize this desire. We're dropping a few subtle hints that will undoubtedly help you maximize every square inch of your living space and help you get more out of your studio apartment.

Making the Most of an Existing Table

Do you work from your home over the weekends or on side projects? If so, you may not be willing to dedicate a permanent workspace to your remote work initiatives. After all, real estate is not at its prime in your already cramped-up apartment.

In that case, your dining or bedroom-vanity table ought to suffice as an occasional work surface. All it takes is to lay a few movable office tools and accessories in place. For example, you can place your laptop on the table, put on noise-canceling headphones and get cracking.

Why not throw in a mesh desktop organizer into the mix? This helps reduce desktop clutter. You could take it a step further by getting a sleek mobile file cabinet. These utilities won't take up too much space, and you can move them out of the way when you have company. Or when you need to use the table for its intended purpose.

Squeezing In a Slim Standing Desk

A height-adjustable table is highly recommended for permanent studio apartment workstations. For one, sitting all day isn't good for your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Standing while working at such a desk helps improve blood circulation. You can also embed office exercises equipment into the space to help you keep up with your fitness goals or burn a few calories.

Your desk doesn't have to be huge. In most cases, all you need is something that can hold your laptop 28 to 40 inches from the floor. From there, you can place it against a wall, and you suddenly have a neat dedicated work area that's distinguishable from the rest of your living space.

Play With Entryway Wall Space

The entryway is one of the least utilized pieces of real estate in your home. If you go to many homes, you'll find shoes, umbrellas, and a collection of things that are better off in the closet or beneath the bed.

So, this makes it the ideal spot for your standing desk. Grated, you'll need to embrace a few cultural changes. For starters, get used to the idea of cleaning your shoes as soon as you take them off. If you're a bit of a slob, you can leave them outside your door too.

Alternatively, you can place them on your balcony (if you have one). Whatever you decide, please don't let them pile up –clean and store them properly. A clean and tidy space is just as important for focus.

An Ergonomic Office Chair That Tucks Under Your Desk

Keeping track of workplace ergonomics starts with your seat. So your tacky dining table chair won't do! Finding an ergonomic office chair that allows you to lean back at 1000 to 1100 angles helps. Insist on getting a chair with plush armrests. This ensures your elbows maintain a constant 90-degree angle.

These minor considerations ensure you get proper spinal alignment so your back, neck, and shoulders won’t hurt when you work for long periods. Adding a laptop stand to your workstation helps to ensure your eyes line up to the screen. This effectively eliminates eye and neck strain.

The good news is our ergonomic office chair choice tucks neatly under your desk. But why would you want to hide such an aesthetically pleasing masterpiece?

Go Paperless!

Currently, environmental suitability and climate change are hot-button topics around the world. If you're passionate about it, then you're probably thinking of ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Going paperless is one way to help save the rain forests and trees in general.

Although, that's often easier said than done if your job calls for collating loads of hardcopy documents.

Use Floating Shelves to Enhance Vertical Storage

A home office not only takes up space while generates loads of clutter. But, it also competes for storage space that ought to go to other living room essentials. As a result, you find most open surfaces in such homes littered with gadgets or paperwork.

Sure, storage bins and cabinets can help reign in this chaos. The problem is they keep the things you need to use out of sight. We're not saying that's a bad thing, but at times you may need to access a document in a rush.

Floating shelves can help you avoid such a dilemma. They have elegant designs that are sure to elevate the aesthetic appeal of your living space. They eliminate the clutter and maximize the storage capability of your walls.

To top it off, they are affordable and easy to install!

Set the mood with a Desktop Lamp

Lighting plays a significant role in workplace productivity. It significantly reduces eye strain by saturating the glare of computer monitors. And you don't have to squint when reading books or hardcopy documents. You may not get enough lighting, especially if you set up your workstation by the entryway.

Fortunately, you can get adequate lighting in a tiny package. A modern table lamp with an LED bulb packs more than enough lumens for your needs. Plus, it cuts an attractive silhouette that maximizes your sense of style by classing things up a bit.

Our pick won't look out of place whether you're working or hosting guests. It's easy to store so that you won't have any issues using your kitchen or bedroom table. You can tuck this lamp into a neat bin or stash it in your closet when you're done with your tasks.

Tame Those Cords & Cables

An extension cord allows you to access an outlet that is far away from your designated workspace. However, you're still left with loads of cables to manage, which present a tripping hazard and an uninspiring tangled-up mess.

A cable spine offers a practical and elegant way to keep your cords out of the way. It features a robust ABS shell that protects your cables from the elements and your pet’s adventurous claws or teeth.

You can take your organization initiatives to the next level with a Cable Management Kit Organizer Set. This handy utility helps you color coordinate all those cords and cables. That way, you won't unplug anything you did not intend to.

Create a Minimalistic Vibe

A "busy-looking" workspace can clutter up your thought process. So, getting rid of anything that doesn't add to your creativity and productivity is a good idea.

Unfortunately, we can get attached to material things. But, hopefully, you can make use of all the storage space ideas shared here to help you keep a clean desk and surfaces around your home.

Here are a few suggestions to help you with this:

Use 1 Cup and Glass

You probably have loads of kitchen utensils and would like to use them all. But, it may be advisable to select one glass for your water and soft drinks and one mug for your hot beverages. Operating in such a fashion ensures you have fewer dishes to worry about at the end of your workday.

Avoid Going Overboard With the Artwork and Décor

Opt for simple shapes and colors when selecting artwork or photographs to decorate your workspace. Such a décor scheme ensures you don't have too many visual distractions that can hamper your thought process, and your wall still looks chic.

Eliminate Non-Work Related Clutter

Creating a hub of productivity creates a conflict between your living space and work area. So the best way around this is a little compromise. The first step is to set up an invisible boundary between your living room, kitchen, and other areas.

This can be challenging, but you can start by putting away your books, magazines, takeout menus, game controllers, and other things that usually litter your house. You may also need to control your social life.

Start by informing your visitors of your office hours and enforcing this by not hosting them when you need to work. These steps may take a while. And some "getting used to," so pace yourself and be as persistent as you can.

Conclusion

As you can see, it takes a lot of planning and attention to detail to convert your studio apartment into a hub of productivity. It's a labor of love! After all, nothing good in this world comes easy. You have to plan and work hard for it!

We hope this brief and thought-provoking article gives you a few actionable ideas towards that goal.

These ideas can also help if you live with a roommate, spouse, pet, or kids. So, set out boldly and carve out a space that you can call your home office. As always, feel free to drop a comment and share.

We wish you all the best and look forward to hitting you with more insightful workplace productivity tit-bits in the future.