What’s the one smart home tweak that actually helps your work from home workflow?

[Templar_Angelo]

Curious what small automations people are using that actually make a difference day to day. I’ve been working from home through the Minnesota fall chill, and honestly, the best setup I’ve added is a smart plug that turns on my space heater 15 minutes before my morning coffee maker kicks in. Nothing fancy, but it makes the start of the day a lot less miserable. What about you guys? What’s the one simple automation that saves time or keeps you sane during work hours?

 

[Gadragora_Malroth]

The best one I’ve added is a motion sensor that pauses music when I leave my desk. Sounds small, but it keeps meetings from being a mess and saves me from blasting tunes across the house when I forget to turn it off.

 

[JadeArtist]

Love that idea. Mine’s more about focus just smart lights that shift from warm to cool tones during the day so I don’t feel half asleep at 3 PM. It’s simple, but the mental cue to “work mode” really helps.

 

[Alan]

It’s funny how the smallest automations end up being the most useful. Smart plugs and timed heaters are perfect for cold mornings. I’ve heard of folks using motion sensors to pause music when they step away from the desk or resume it when they return. Do you run everything through one hub, or just separate apps for now?

 

[Bruce Greenberg]

There isn't an actual device here, so maybe this doesn't fit, but... I have my computer set up to turn on a 1/2 hour before I get up in the morning. This allows time to load all of the programs I like to have running when I get started. It also saves a lot of bandwidth because I used to have it stay on all night and lots of temp files would end up being backed up to the cloud. Also, the P2P system I'm hooked up to doesn't get access to me overnight. And finally, it saves a bit of electricity since everything is turned off overnight.