Buying Guide: 16 Essentials to Smarten Up Your Home Office

You love the desk you already have. You and your desk have accomplished a lot together. But you sometimes wish you had a standing desk, too. The adjustable HumanScale QuickStand Lite ($600) attaches to your desk so you can raise your keyboard, mouse and display, letting you work while standing whenever you need a little extra pep.

Every home office needs a printer and a scanner. It's tough to do business without either. (Think of all those contracts you have to sign!) You need to get one that works, and one that isn’t so slow you start calling it worse names than the guy who cut you off on the freeway last week. Brother’s Wireless Compact Laser Printer and Scanner is a solid model, plus you can enable its Amazon Dash Replenishment feature that automatically ships new ink whenever you’re low.

The whiteboard in your home office is kind of worn out, no? Admit it—the only good thing about it is sniffing the markers. Mobile Glassboards by Clarus go! (price varies) look fantastic, can be wheeled around the room, and are color-customizable to match the rest of your decor, your brand, or your mood. And don’t worry, man... same markers.

The Fade Task Light ($250) is a desk lamp that doesn’t look anything like a desk lamp. More important, you can adjust the brightness and color temperature of its LED array with a simple slide of your finger on its base. And its unique double-hinged arm, and 120 degree swivel, provides a wide variety angles and desk coverage options.

The Artifox Shelf ($99) is an elegantly designed, wall-mounted shelf that also happens to be a magnet. “A magnet?” you ask. “What’s the point of that?” Well, you can stick your keys to the shelf’s backboard, and they won’t fall off. Where are your keys? Right there in front of your face. Or you can use magnetized book-ends to keep your books firmly and securely in place. Or, don’t use the magnets at all. The shelves will still look great on your wall.

You want to use recycled printer paper. You really do. But recycled paper is expensive, dull-looking, and flimsy. Mohawk’s recycled paper ($15 a ream) is crisp and heavy, which means it jams less frequently and feels good to the touch. It’s bright white, which is great for color printing. And it’s just a smidgen more expensive than a ream of non-recycled paper. Give it a shot. Treebeard and his friends will thank you.

Many professional writers still do their best work when writing by hand. Writing manually tends to slow you down, so you have time to think as your sentences unfold. The Archer Daily Planner ($32 a three-pack) is an old-school, written daily planner that’s been reconfigured to meet the needs of digital workers. And it’s not just for work—it aspires to be with you from breakfast to dinner, calming your brain, and reducing your reliance on technology.

Tracking hours is the worst. I once nearly quit a job at an agency because I didn’t want to log four months worth of hours I’d completely neglected. But many stay-at-home jobs require you to log your hours. Even if you don’t have to, it’s good to track your hours so you know how much time you’re putting on a project. Toggl (Free) makes tracking hours almost automatic, and can spit out a variety of simple reports to help you see where all your valuable time is really going.

If you’re like me, and you’re sitting at your desk, you’ll actually forget you’re sitting there and hours will go by and your legs will atrophy and blood clots will begin to form in your arteries and you’ll be losing years of your life like you’re smoking five packs of Kool Super Longs a day. Use the Lotus Bud Mindfulness Bell app (Free) to gently remind you to get up off your butt, or to simply take a minute to pause and breath before you jump back into the grind.

Music. It keeps you going, especially when there’s nobody to chat with or bounce ideas off of while you’re working from home. A Bluetooth speaker is definitely the way to go, but they all look bad, sound tinny, or are just feel cheap. Not B&W’s Zeppelin ($799) system. Zeppelin has set the standard for large Bluetooth speaker design, and it sounds even better than it looks.

The dream, of course, is to not have to deal with a hands-free headset in your office. It’s only you. Why can’t you just use your phone like a regular person? But you need to type to take notes. Your cell phone audio is awful. Jumping into the car while on a call is a mess. So yes, you need a hands-free set. The Plantronics Voyager Edge ($130) is loaded with the right features, won’t give you an earache, and can give you the hours you need for a day’s work with one full charge.

The temptation to snack while working from home is relentless. Carrots and apples are great, but sometimes you simply need to gorge on junk. Doritos and Cheetos will turn your fingers orange. Potato chips are a greasy mess. Cookies will give you a frantic sugar rush. Allow Simply7’s Sea Salt Lentil Chips ($29 a dozen) to save the day. They’re like potato chips, but slightly more healthy. They aren’t orange or greasy. And they taste good.

What is Amazon Prime ($99 a year), really? Fast free shipping? Absolutely, especially when you run out of printer paper two days before a deadline. A library of music? Check, you’re getting burned out on your iTunes library, anyway. A bunch of movies and TV shows? Sure, why not stream The Wire in the background to make it feel like you have some charming officemates after all. A library of books? OK, now you’re officially slacking.

Working from home can be lonely business. No water cooler chats. Nobody to grab lunch with. No real reason to get up and walk around. Aw, it sounds like you need a work buddy. So go adopt one. There’s nothing like a sympathetic ear when work gets stressful, or a companion for a quick walk through the neighborhood. (Just remember to keep them out of the room during conference calls.)