Working from home can be great! Here are some tips to make the most of your office space.
Choose the best spot
Make sure that the space in which you will spend your working day is the most convenient for this use; it needs to be quiet, with adequate natural lighting, if possible and spacious enough to accommodate all your tasks without making you feel restricted.
Keep work and personal life separate
Since your office is located in your home, these two are in a way bound together. Ideally you would have a whole room for an office but even if this is not the case, there are ways to tackle this issue. Make sure your home office is away from distractions such as TV and gaming consoles and try to keep the space as separated as it can be from the rest of the room; you could potentially use a divider of some sort to mark a border between work space and living space. Keeping work and home life separate can have a significant and positive psychological impact on you, helping you avoid transferring work problems to your personal life and vice versa. It also has the potential to result in increased productivity, as you will have fewer distractions.
Make it fun and cozy!
Working from home, especially if you have a full-time job, will mean spending a large portion of your day inside your home office, so it has to be an attractive space where you enjoy spending time. Keep it simple and organised but don’t forget to include your personal aesthetic too; after all it is your space! You can decorate it with posters, pictures or plants and add some fun and useful stationery.
Invest in proper seating and lighting
Good posture is tremendously important for people with office based jobs. Make sure to follow ergonomic rules, taking into consideration any special needs that you may have. Buy a good chair and adjust it to the right height in relation to your desk space.
Lighting is equally important even though it is often overlooked. Place your desk close to a window if possible for natural light and always have a desk lamp for the darker hours of the day.
Be organised
Invest in a good storage system that will help you keep your space organised. It doesn’t have to be pricy or big, just right for what you require; you can add shelves, hanging boxes and a notice board. You can also utilise the space under your desk by using it to house some drawers and the big peripherals, like printers and scanners.
Keep it nice and tidy
For the majority of people an untidy space creates frustration and distraction even though we don’t always realise it straight away. Working in a tidy space will help you concentrate and be calm and comfortable; essential components of your work well-being.
