It seems that everyone is working from home these days, either part-time or full-time. Working from home might seem appealing with the idea of rolling out of bed and working from the couch. But the reality is that spending more time at home can also come with blurred work and personal life boundaries, uncomfortable desk set-ups, and distractions. To maximize your productivity and your ability to get work done, you need a dedicated home office, whether it’s in an extra bedroom, or a work nook in a bedroom, kitchen, or living room. By adding a home office you can also make your home more appealing to potential buyers.
Find your space
In the beginning of your working from home days, it may be easy to sit at the kitchen table, on the couch, or even on your patio — depending on the weather. But you may soon find that this kind of haphazard set-up isn’t conducive to long stretches of getting work done. That’s why the first step to getting serious about working from home is to decide where you will work and stick to that space. If you have an extra bedroom, that can be an obvious choice for your home office, but not everyone has the luxury of an empty room. In smaller homes, a desk that folds into a wall, a corner desk, or even a closet desk can help maximize the space that you have to work with. Showing potential buyers where a home office could be can help them visualize living and working in your home, and make your home stand out when it’s time to sell.
Making it comfortable
Sitting and working on a computer all day is not an ideal position for the body. If you are sitting in an uncomfortable chair, are hunched over a laptop, or are working in low light, it can make it even more difficult to get work done. Once you have your workspace established, it’s important to make it ergonomic so you can spend several hours comfortably in your space. What you need will depend on the type of work that you are doing, but in general, a monitor, keyboard, mouse, comfortable chair, and adequate lighting are a must for anyone who spends most of their working time on a computer.
Adjust your lighting
Light can make a major difference for productivity levels and the ideal home office space allows for adequate daytime light. If you don’t have the benefit of natural light, then adding floor lamps or a desk lamp is a must. At home you also have the benefit of adjusting light as you wish, rather than working with powerful overhead lighting. In the winter months when you may be working a few hours in darkness, paying attention to your lighting is even more important.
Get creative
Another pro-tip of working successfully at home is to make the space your own. If you are working in a dedicated room for your office, hanging up artwork and getting a plant for your desk can help bring the energy you need to get work done. If your desk folds or rolls away at the end of the day, you can decorate that area of your home so that it also works as an inspiration for your office.
The number one rule of working at home is to find a way to separate your work space from your living space. By getting creative you can make it work for you.
3
Leave a Reply