Many people dream about working from home to avoid the drudgery of the daily office commute. After all, isn’t the point of telecommunicating the ability to work from home without leaving the comfort of your own lounge? Your home is your fortress of solitude, the place where you go to relax, and everything is designed to evoke feelings of relaxation and comfort. This can unfortunately be a productivity killer. In order to get all the comforts of home without reducing productivity, you should design a home office. Here are several ideas to allow to allow you to do so effectively.
1. Find the Quietest Corner
The first thing you need to do is to focus on locating the quietest area within your home. If you can, choose a room overlooking the backyard rather than the street, as well as a room furthest from the common areas of the house. This is particularly important if you are living in a shared house with roommates or family members. For those that can afford the time and effort, consider sealing any holes in the walls and installing a solid core door to help with soundproofing.
2. Minimize Distractions
The next thing to do is to remove any potential distractions with your new office space. Start by cleaning up any mess and decluttering the area, not just of rubbish but also of any unnecessary items. We’re not suggesting that you should leave your desktop barren. A small indoor plant, a framed painting or photo of someone special or similar memento is a great idea to personalise the space. Just try to keep the area clean looking and simple.
3. Ergonomic Furniture
Ergonomic furniture is crucial for a productive workflow and maintaining your long-term health. The chair and desk height directly affect your posture. By ignoring this, you will not only condemn yourself to a life of lower back pain, your productivity will suffer too. The height at which your monitor is situated is also affected by the desk height, which also may have a long-termeffect on both your vision and cause undue neck strain. Invest in a good quality office chair that is both comfortable and promotes good posture. Your body and your wallet will thank you for it.
4. Extended Workplace
A traditional office is not just a work area, it also has a break room and a kitchen or cafeteria. You may wish to incorporate this concept within your own home. You already have a lounge room that can serve as a break room. As for your kitchen, it might be time for an enhancement. A quality coffee maker is always a wise choice, as coffee is the fuel of the business world. You could also invest in a small commercial ice maker, in order to provide some much-needed refreshment when working those long hot summer days.
Designing a home office might be far more complicated that first imagined. Still, it is a crucial issue that must be addressed as soon as possible. Considering your productivity and therefore your career is on the line, it is something that that is worth taking into serious consideration.
