The positive aspects of working from a home office are many:

• You can start and finish the day whenever you want.
• You can take a walk, break, or nap at any time, and don’t have to check in with anyone.
• Don’t feel like getting out of your sweatpants? Don’t bother.
• There are fewer interruptions—whether from the phone, well-meaning coworkers who want to talk about last night’s episode of The Walking Dead, or meetings.
• Yes, it’s (wonderfully) true: unless you’re planning to meet with clients, there’s no such thing as wasting an entire day in meetings that may or may not be relevant to you.
• There’s also no chance of your lunch being stolen by an unscrupulous coworker. 
• You’re blissfully free of office politics, unless your resident office mascot frequently tries to steal your chair. Not that I would know anything about this.

These benefits count double when you’re talking about introverts who spend most of their time in front of screens, namely writers. For us, the biggest drawbacks of working from home have little to do with lack of social stimulation (that’s what drinks with friends are for) and almost everything to do with having the right tools and office configuration.

While TV shows and movies would have you believe that writers are comfortable working from anywhere—whether that’s atop a hard metal stool in a noisy coffee shop or perched the corner of a cluttered sofa—nothing could be farther from the truth. Most writers are creatures of habit who need to have familiar surroundings and plenty of their favorite tools to feel content, focused, and productive. It’s also important that your home office feel like an actual place of business and not just an extension of the kitchen counter or sofa. Here are my home office must-haves for writers:

Although I have a desktop computer, and a pretty nice one at that, if I’m not doing a visually oriented project, like a newsletters or branded images for social media, I prefer the portability of a laptop, which allows me to go between desk, couch, kitchen counter, and porch with ease. For the past couple of years, I’ve been using a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Tablet, which kicks the pant off any other laptop I’ve tried in terms of weight (2.7 pounds!), footprint, and ease of transport. Although I like and have gotten a ton of use out of this machine, it doesn’t fully live up to Microsoft’s advertising. It just doesn’t run certain PC programs as well as it should (especially anything Adobe), and there’s a distinct lack of apps available when compared to iOS and Android. In a couple years, when I’m ready for a new computer, I’ll most likely forget about the hybrids and go back to a traditional laptop, though I’ll still want it to be ultralightweight.

Anyone who has used a computer for more than a few years has their own horror story of losing important files to hard-drive failure, OS updates, or some other only-in-Computerland issue. After four chapters of a book I was writing evaporated during a hard-drive implosion, a kindly engineer friend helped restore their corrupted souls . . . after which I spent countless hours stripping out all the strings of nonsense characters and reconstructing missing parts. Ever since, I’ve had a redundant backup system: my laptop backs up to the hard drive on my desktop, which backs up once a day to a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 500 GB Ultra-Portable External Hard Drive. When I’m feeling especially paranoid, I back up the whole shebang to a WD 4TB Black My Passport Portable External Hard Drive, and store it off-premises, like at my sister’s house.

I’ve had several wrist and shoulder injuries over the years, most not caused by spending several hours a day on a keyboard but certainly not helped by it. So when I know I’m going to be tapping away for long periods, I plug in the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. The swooping hills and valleys take a little getting used to, but they definitely keep the forearms in a more natural position than the pancake-flat one we’re used to with most keyboards.

About those shoulder injuries . . . I had rotator cuff surgery on my right side about six years ago, and although the shoulder healed well (but, oh, it took a long time), more recently I started to develop scapular winging on the left side, mainly from poor office ergonomics. It’s the sort of thing that goes away if I’m careful and pay attention to my working posture, but it does rear its ugly head when I’m less mindful. I thought a standing desk might help, but my orthopedist thinks they encourage people to hunch more than they should. So he suggested a mix of standing and sitting. Which means my next acquisition will be this The House of Trade adjustable desk riser which allows you to use it as a standing desk or a traditional sitting one.

I’ve got no love for winter, but this year, the never-ending, nor’easter-filled season left me in perennial crankypants mode. Since it will be another month before we can enjoy any significant outside time here in upstate New York, I picked up this Circadian Optics Lumos 2.0 Light Therapy Lamp. I admit that aesthetics and a small footprint had as much to do with my decision as therapeutic output, so I kept my expectations in check. I’ve only had this skinny little sucker for a week, and yet I’m already sleeping better at night and feeling more energetic during the day. If that’s just a placebo effect, I’m A-OK with it.

Lots of writers and other creative types are jazzed by music, feel it makes them happier and more productive, and love to work with it playing in the background. I’m not one of them. I like silence with a side of silence, and if I can’t have it because of noise from traffic, construction, or irritating neighbors, I rely on the Sound+Sleep MINI. I just turn on the sounds of my choice—usually waves, a babbling brook, or a rainstorm—then peace out and zone in.

This winter, I started recording instructional marketing videos, [link?] so I knew I needed a better mic than the built-in one that came with my computer. I tend to be wary of spending a lot of money on something when I’m not sure whether I’ll recoup the investment, so even though a video-pro friend recommended something higher-end, I went with the Blue Snowball iCE Condenser Microphone. It’s relatively cheap, it’s not an eyesore on the desktop, and it works just fine for my purposes, so I’m happy with it.

For phone conferences and interviews, which I usually conduct from my cell phone, nothing beats the Jabra Evolve 65 UC Stereo Wireless Bluetooth Headset for convenience and call quality. It’s expensive, and sticker shock prevented me from buying it at first. But I’m a small person and often find large headsets and earbuds uncomfortable to the point of inducing headaches, or else they slip out of place. These padded babies sit right on top of my noggin without squeezing or pulling, and don’t cause ear pain even when I need to wear them for an hour or more.

I used to work for a home décor company, and the owner insisted on designing the entire office in a gray-and-white color palette. One woman’s “sleek and chic” is another’s “institutional snorefest,” so I resolved to go colorful in my own space. My poison of choice: Poppin’s Desk Collection Set, file folders, and other office supplies, which are not only lively and fun, but are also durable enough stand up to my weekly roughhousing.

Even though smartphone reminders and calendar notifications ensure I hit my deadlines and show up for appointments (in real clothes) when I’m supposed to, I still get a disproportionate, some might say sick, sense of satisfaction from crossing off tasks on a to-do list. So in addition to my digital calendar, I keep a bullet journal, and for this I’m partial to the quirky designs of Compendium, especially ones illustrated by West Coast artist Lisa Congdon. I also received a Happy Planner as a free gift at a conference, and while it’s a little too big to truly be portable, it does have tons of space for task lists and notes. The quote-emblazoned dividers and folder pockets are a sweet touch, if you’re looking for some daily inspiration.

I’m a writer. I write. On paper, even. And when I do, I’m especially fussy about writing instruments. For everyday stuff—bullet journal, shopping lists, reminder notes—I use the Paper Mate Inkjoy Gel Ink Pens in blue (never black; weird, but true). It’s as low-tech as it gets, and I love it. When I’m taking notes during a Q&A or conference, I also like the Tombow Mono Drawing Pen. This might have been meant for visual artists, but it’s got a smooth glide and precise tip that allows me to decipher my own chicken scratch after the event, and doesn’t blur if you get a drop of water on it. Tombow also makes a Tombow 56500 Mono Twin Tip Permanent Marker that’s genius for writing on laminated or glossy surfaces, like business cards, postcards, and photos.

I often highlight in texts or papers I’m reading or even in my own bullet journal. My go-to here is another old-school, inexpensive option, the Foray Liquid Ink Highlighters. I usually buy packs of multicolors, just in case I need to impose some sort of hierarchy on my to-do list or create at-a-glance categories.

I hate to vacuum. Really hate it. In fact, of all household chores, vacuuming ranks well below cleaning the toilet and just above dusting. But since my home office is also populated with a woodstove and two cats, its gets dirty fast, especially in the winter. Enter the eufy RoboVac 11. This handy little fella, which I call Kevin, has multiple rotating brushes and a furniture/wall sensor, and does a reliably good job of cleaning my office twice a week, especially in the corners and around the perimeter. He’s not perfect: the first two versions of Kevin both had battery problems and had to be returned to the manufacturer. Also, he sometimes gets stuck on rugs or lamp bases, and he loves to chomp on electrical cords of all kinds. Still, he saves me from having to devote a bunch of time to a task I abhor. Now I just block problem areas, shut the doors to the room so Kevin can concentrate his cleaning efforts in one place, and let him go at it for a half hour while I focus on other tasks I don’t especially enjoy but haven’t yet found a way to automate, like invoicing and logging my receipts.