Millions of workers are still working from a makeshift 'home office' on ironing boards, behind the sofa and on the bed.
A study of 2,000 adults working from home found 61% still consider the environment to be temporary despite being there for almost 12 months.
Some home workers (3%) said they were still working inside a walk-in wardrobe, while 9% set up their office in the middle of a room.
And three in 10 grumbled they had no natural light in their working area and 65% were convinced it affected their productivity.
The average worker is getting just 22 minutes daylight a day during two short snatched breaks from the ‘desk’.
And at least one day a week is spent indoors for 24 hours during Covid-19 restrictions which have lasted almost a year.
British workers are tired by 2pm in the afternoon and reported a slump in energy and focus.
Stephen Beresford, from window expert Rehau, which commissioned the research, said: “Many workers will still be waiting to see if they can return to the office, although life is looking like it might be more flexible moving forward.
“So it is probably time to consider turning these makeshift set-ups into something more permanent.
“As well as securing a calm and tidy working environment, being situated near a window, so that you can get natural light all day long and open it up for fresh air on a nice day, can really help productivity and enthusiasm.”
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The study found a lack of daylight makes 24% of adults feel less creative and 36% think it contributes to a lack of motivation.
Just under half of those quizzed feel more tired if they have not sat near a window or been outside, while 35% said they were grumpier.
Productivity and inspiration at home were not just affected by a lack of light and a terrible desk set-up.
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Three in 10 adults polled via OnePoll suffered body discomfort from sitting down for too long, while 25% were easily side-tracked by technical issues.
Boredom, household chores and outside sunshine were a distraction.
And partners, home-schooling and listening to noisy neighbours were also high on the list.
Among the other gripes which affected home workers' focus were not having the right equipment, experiencing headaches from too much screen time and zoom calls.
But around four in 10 adults, planned to find a solution to work productively at home by improving their work set-up.
A fifth of those polled will move next to a window, 34% want to redecorate their existing space, and 35% would simply like a work desk.
Mr Beresford added: “The difficulty has been that we’ve never really known how temporary or makeshift our set-ups would be, no one really expected to be in this situation 12 months on.”
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