Clearcover's Home Office Tips

Written by Team Clearcover | May 18th, 2022

Over 60% of Clearcover's workforce is currently based outside of the Chicago area, with Clearcover-ers working out of their home offices in 30 states across the country.  To enhance the remote work experience, Clearcover's comprehensive package of perks and benefits includes spending wallets for a monthly delivery from SnackMagic, and a one-time stipend to set up our home offices.  

As we email, instant message, and meet over Zoom with our fellow Clearcover-ers across the country, we started to wonder… where, exactly, are we all working?  How have we put our stipends to use to create workspaces that promote productivity and where we comfortably spend several hours each day?  To answer these questions and more we turned to the location of many of our day-to-day conversations, Slack!  In a company-wide channel devoted to our "cribs," we joined the "April Remote Office Challenge" to decide whose home offices would stand out in the categories for "Best Vibe," "Comfiest," and "Best Office Gadget." 

Based on the entries for the "Remote Office Challenge," Clearcover offers our Top 5 Tips to create the optimal work-from-home space:

1) Set the Mood with Color

The hues of our home offices run the spectrum from a soft, serene dark gray to a vibrant, invigorating yellow.  Many of us chose jewel tones to surround us during working hours, and our art director even polled members of her team to help her determine the perfect shade.  No matter where our offices are located - in our libraries, bedrooms, or within reach of our fridges - Clearcover-ers use colors to provide a sense of calm, energize us, or simply surround ourselves with our personal favorite shades.  

2) Share Your Workspace with Four-Legged Colleagues

Providing a dedicated space for your favorite pets makes the work-from-home experience a little less solitary.  Our dogs make themselves comfortable on dog beds, couches and chairs where they take their supervisory roles seriously and occasionally contribute to Zoom calls.  Lap cats add a little coziness to workday and wildlife, like the fawn outside of one of Clearcover-er's window, allow us to face even the tightest deadline with a sense of serenity.

3) Enjoy Your View

After staring at multiple monitors throughout the day (some of us work on as many as four at once!), Clearcover-ers give their eyes some downtime by taking in a variety of views. From Chicago's skyline and Printer's Row neighborhood to the Northwoods of Wisconsin, and our own gardens and patios, the workday views offer a sense of stillness during our sometimes frantic days and remind us that our daily commute has never been shorter!

4) Liven Up Your Walls

When the view from our home office window is less than exciting, several Clearcover-ers let artwork provide them with non-work related visuals during the day.  Some of our walls feature paintings by family members that hold special meaning.  Others of us prefer serene sea views, abstract prints, and one of us even decorated with the blueprints for Jerry and Kramer's apartments on Seinfeld.  Whatever the decor, our unique art makes our home offices more appealing places to spend the day.

5) Add Personal Touches

While a quirky coffee mug and framed vacation photo were the extent of personalizing a cubicle, the home office begs to be made your own by bringing in elements that reflect your interests and personalities.  Scrolling through posts of Clearcover-ers' home offices reveals that some of us have extensive Funko collections while others surround ourselves with greenery including one self-described "plant jungle" and even a vegetable garden in-progress, complete with grow light.  Other team members displayed an impressive array of cameras, a keyboard, turntable, and an extensive vinyl collection. Bringing in your own, unique touches not only makes your home office feel like an extension of your own personality, but it makes for a unique Zoom background!
Sharing photos for the "Remote Office Challenge" provided an abundance of inspiration on how to put our home office stipends to use, and made the distance between all of our 30 states feel a little smaller.  If our tips have inspired you to revamp your home office space and you're looking to work for a company that strives to ensure your remote working experience is far from isolating, we invite you to apply for one of our open positions today!