5 Ways To Leverage Your Smart Home Technology To WFH Effectively By Sharon Plain

Work is a basic need, relevant not only for maintenance but also for the quality of life. It enables us to meet other material needs, like the mere physical survival, as well as to satisfy some immaterial needs, like the more sophisticated identity, belonging and purpose. The evolution of technologies and the change of social contexts enabled the adoption of new organisational models, focused on the principle of self-organisation. Work from home is one of them: it optimises the way we work by emphasising proactivity, reducing non-value-added activities and ensuring greater agility in approaches and relationships. 

But we all know how hard it is to work from home efficiently and effectively, being able to satisfy our needs and to rely on some external support. That’s why Sharon Plain co-founded Smart Home Need, to encourage people to reconnect with their inner Needs (like work from home, sleep, security, healthy environment), and live a more meaningful life, starting from home.

Here are 5 ways to use your smart home technology to improve the healthiness of your home working environment by your guide to living a better life.

Avoid exposure to air pollutants

Track and eliminate indoor air pollutants like carbon monoxide, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ozone with the support of a smart air purifier. This will improve our breath and decrease the chances of experiencing health problems like headaches, dry throat, eye irritation or asthma attacks. It is also important to maintain a proper humidity level by keeping it between the 30% and 60% thanks to a smart humidifier. This will reduce the growth of harmful mould, decrease the risk of developing allergies, and provide the required moisture to experience proper breathing.

Set a proper illumination for your workspace

Locate your workspace where you have access to daylight or, if not possible, by using smart light bulbs for artificial light (for office work, it is recommended a lighting level of around 500 lux). Consider the location of light sources, both natural and artificial: they must be parallel to the line of sight, or in other words, the screen should be perpendicular to them to avoid reflections and glare.

Reduce exposure to noise

Isolate yourself from temporary noises creating your sound environment in the workspace can be sometimes beneficial, especially when you are distracted by external noise sources. Listening to music or background sounds provided by smart white noise apps is one of the actions that you can take to mask annoying noises and increase your focus and productivity.

Adapt the workspace temperature to your needs

Reaching individual thermal comfort has an impact on your health but also your productivity. It depends on several external factors like the air temperature and the humidity but also personal factors like the metabolic rate or the clothing insulation. However, in general terms, it is advised to keep the indoor temperature between 23ºC and 26ºC in summer and between 20ºC and 24ºC in winter leveraging on the support of a smart thermostat. 

Hydrate yourself properly

Drinking water frequently will help you to regulate the temperature of your body, to transport the nutrients and to support at the elimination of waste and toxins. Keep your drinking water safe controlling the quality level of your drinking water at home with a smart water purifier to not only support the identification of harmful substances but also save you from buying bottled water.