Working from home – set-up looking tired? Here's how to liven things up

It's no exaggeration to say that when millions of people were required to work from home at the start of the Government's COVID-containment measures, some realised that their makeshift domestic workplaces turned out to be less temporary than they imagined. Even with offices and workplaces re-opening, many companies and organisations are keeping home working arrangements in place. So, if your home workstation is looking a bit tired, here are a few ideas to spruce it up.

FoldEat

Many people are tempted to snack while they work at home, but the accompanying problem is that food doesn't always end up entirely in the mouth. FoldEat's lunchbox-picnic blanket is an intelligent solution to prevent keyboards being clogged with crumbs. It's a modular lunch box that you can open out into a desktop blanket, replete with microwaveable containers holding movable plastic food dividers inside. It even comes with separate areas for condiment containers, a drinks option and cutlery. And there's a smartphone stand.

Making the most out of small workspaces

Even the cupboard under the stairs can be converted into a workspace. There are plenty of compact workstation desks and chairs to choose from, but you'll need to do a little preparatory work (an electrician will come in handy here). If you're using a previously unused space, you may need to get some cables and mains power wall plates installed in the walls. Additional mains power outlets are a good deal safer than overloading a single outlet with multiple devices from a single extension lead.

Invest in safety-tested extension leads

If you do need to multiply the number of power sockets available in your home workspace quickly, go for high-quality, properly safety-tested options such as those supplied by Euronetwork. As a rule of thumb, don't overuse extension leads offering more than four gangways of sockets (just because you can doesn't mean you should). At Euronetwork, we supply a range extension leads from one to up to six gangways or sockets. To avoid overloading a single mains power outlet, we think it's wise as a general rule not to use more than four of them at any one time. Overloading can result in the socket or devices overheating, with the risk of an electrical fire.

Equally, never be tempted to "daisy chain" extension leads by plugging one into another to obtain greater reach. Better and safer by far to move the device closer to the wall socket and use only a single extension lead if necessary.

Keep your workspace tidy and organised with smart cable labelling

There's no getting away from the fact that some cables are essential for an efficient workspace: ethernet cables are still the best data transfer channel for internet work, and ultra-fast HDMI cables are a vast improvement on the older "three-headed" cables (black for Left audio, red for Right, yellow for composite video). But cables can be messy unless you organise them methodically – and we have the ideal solution at Euronetwork.

Our durable cable labels allow you to identify at a glance what cable runs to which device, simply by adding one of our wrap-around markers just before the jack. Provided you first bundle your various cables together neatly using a few judiciously spaced zip ties, you will never have to live with the eyesore and confusion of "cable spaghetti" again.