One of the challenges with many of us working from home these days is our furry/feathered friends. Having us home all the time must be wonderful for them, but can be problematic for us. Setting up a home office space with our pets in mind is essential for both their safety and your own productivity. So, here are 5 tips for creating a pet friendly setup space.
1. Cable Manage
Depending on your pet, you might find cables becoming their latest favourite chew toy. Chewing on cables can lead to a bunch of issues, least of all ugly looking cables. The solution is to cable manage as best as you can. Keep cables tied together, or tucked tightly behind desks so they are out of easy access. You can also try covering cables with mats or tucking them against walls with cable holders if you have to run them through your house, like annoying Ethernet cables. You can also even look at creating your old cable routing tray if you are a bit handy, or buy a desk that has one like our very own Battlestation desks.
2. Make sure you have and clean your dust filters
This is more for your PC’s safety than your pets, but still quite important. If your furry friend has a long coat or sheds easily, its very easy for those bits of fur to wind up in your precious PC. Its more important than ever if you have a pet to ensure you are giving your PC a good clean often. If your PC didn’t come with any dust filters, I entirely recommend you try and buy some if you can, because they are a big help when it comes to stopping pet fur and dust getting into your system.
3. Give your pet a space
If your pet is all over you in your office, then perhaps it’s time to give them a spot too. Many pet owners have dealt with the dreaded ‘cat that won’t get off the keyboard’ or ‘dog who keeps laying at my feet and won’t move’ situation. The best solution is to give them a spot in the room that’s theirs. That might mean a fancy cat tree, or a big comfy pet bed. Encourage them to be in that space when you are working with lots of treats, pets and toys. Hopefully, in no time your pet will understand that when you’re at the desk, it means they go to their spot and you can both chill out harmoniously in that space together, instead of having to kick them out of the room all the time.
4. Raise your PC if you can
This goes quite well with the 2nd point. If your PC is currently on the floor beside your desk, a great idea is to see if you can possibly raise it. This will help with getting less pet fur all over it, as well as keeping your precious PC a bit safer. Some pets might find it all too tempting to scratch or chew on that magical RGB machine, and for the safety of your PC and pet it’s best to remove that from the equation by keeping it out of easy reach.
5. Keep tabs on potentially toxic office supplies or decorations
One thing you might forget about when setting up your setup space, is how toxic a lot of our every day items are. Certain glues, elastic bands and figurines can all be really dangerous for animals to ingest, not to mention many indoor plants that you would unknowingly just pop onto your desk for decoration. Try to keep as many supplies as you can enclosed in either drawers, containers or cases to ensure a curious pet doesn’t try to taste any of your things, and be sure to check if any desk plants or decorations are toxic.
So, there were 5 tips for creating a pet friendly setup space!
Do you have any other tips for pet owners working from home? Comment them down below!
And while you’re still here, check out our other post about working from home. Or, jump over to your YouTube channel to check out our at home ergonomics video.
