Working from home is a rare but fantastic opportunity. Whether you are working as a freelancer or you have started your own business that you are running from home, you should set aside part of your home to function as a home office. Having a dedicated work area will make the world of difference to your organisation and efficiency.
Designing a home office doesn’t have to be a difficult process; you just need to follow a few simple principles. Even if you don’t think that you have space in your home to set aside for an office, we can all but guarantee that you do.
Dedicate a Whole Room to it
If possible, you should aim to give over an entire room as a home office. You don’t need a huge amount of space; you just need to fit in the essentials, a table or desk, a chair, a power outlet and the like. If you have a spare room that would be perfect but is currently too cluttered, try a service like Safestore who offer self storage in Newcastle. You can take advantage of short-term and long-term storage for all your unwanted possessions and furniture.
If You Don’t Have a Whole Room, Improvise
If you don’t have a whole room in your home to give over to being a home office, you can get away with a desk tucked into one corner of the room. If you have a large living room, break it up with shelves or other small dividers and dedicate an area for use as an office.
Some people find that they need to do their work in an environment without any distractions. Other people have much better self-control and are able to handle being in the same room as their TV or Netflix. Only you know what kind of work environment you work best in, so choose the room that is going to allow you to maximise your efficiency from companies such as suchandsuch.co/collections/homeware
Lighting
You will need to have adequate lighting in your home office. Even if you use a laptop for your job, especially if you use your laptop for your job, you need to ensure that you have adequate ambient lighting. If you have to put your home office somewhere where natural light isn’t available, make sure you get some good quality indoor lights to use with indoor water features. Ideally, lights that can replicate natural light.
If your work requires you to use a screen all day, having good quality light will ensure that your eyes don’t become overly strained. You like working in the evening, it’s a good idea to get some low-level lighting that won’t make it too difficult for you to go to sleep once you’ve finished.
Comfortable Seating
Whatever you’re doing, if you’re going to be spending extended periods of time working, you need to make sure you are comfortable. Having comfortable seating is about more than just comfort though, it’s also an important health and safety measure. Sitting for extended periods in an uncomfortable position can lead to all sorts of back problems, and back injuries are among the most common office injuries.
You’re going to be sat at a desk, make sure that you have a decent office chair that will be comfortable to sit in for most of the day. If you have a laptop, then you have a little bit more freedom and can move around throughout the day.
Setting up a home office is much easier than it might seem. If you can set aside a whole room for it, you should do so. However, even if you can only set aside part of one room for it, having a dedicated office space in the home will make your life much easier.