Your home is your castle and is the place where you go to get away from it all. However, it may also double up as your workplace and, now that many more of us are working from home thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, creating an office space within our homes is something that more and more of us are finding ourselves doing.
The space where you work at home has a direct link to your motivation and focus, so creating the perfect home office is important to ensure you stay focused on your work, rather than binge-watching tv in between taking a few calls or answering an email here and there. With that in mind, here are 3 top tips for creating the perfect home office.
Choose your Space Carefully
The location of your home office setup will decide how productive you are. When choosing the space, consider the noise and traffic factor. If your office space is close to the street, then you may notice more noise, or if the rest of your family are at home, then placing your set up near to the kitchen or family room will mean you get more distractions from people coming in and disturbing you. If you can, make use of a sole room which is away from distractions, such as a spare bedroom or quiet corner of a dining room.
Make it Comfortable
Remember, you’re going to spending 8 hours or so in this room, so it needs to be as comfortable as possible. Working in the comfort of your home is better than commuting and working in a busy office, but you’re still indoors and on your own, so it should be as comfortable as it can be. Invest in a proper desk, rather than just plonking onto the sofa and get a desk chair – you don’t know how long you’re going to be working from home for, so you need to be working in a proper position to avoid back and neck pain.
You might choose to redecorate the room, or add some homely touches to make it more comfortable, such as a desk lamp or photos. If you’ve set up your home office in a room which gets a lot of natural light, then this is great for your mental wellbeing, but you might want to get some bespoke blinds fitted if you find it is causing an issue during the day.
Avoid Clutter
Clutter is not only hugely distracting, but actually impacts on your motivation and willingness to work. Paper clutter is a huge issue in many offices, so you should try and avoid this being an issue in your home office. Instead of having calendars, diaries and planners cluttering your desk area, look at using digital versions instead. This way, your network is literally at your fingertips whilst you work. You might want to invest in a folder or small filing system so that any paperwork you generate or work on whilst working from home can easily be transported to your office when needed.
