Working from home is slowly becoming the new norm. As more and more people are leaving the office, they are running into issues that rarely anyone anticipated – how to set up a home office?
It is just becoming apparent how important office design and layout are for both productivity and comfort. Fortunately, you can recreate the effects of balanced office space in your own home, even if all you have is a tiny room!
Prioritize
Whenever space is an issue, you need to prioritize. Start with setting up the essentials. Anything that isn’t absolutely necessary for you to do your job should be on the bottom end of your list. Trying to recreate your office at work is a great way to end up with a home office that is simply crammed with all kinds of clutter.
Instead, realize that your home office is a whole different entity that needs its own character and atmosphere.
Make Yourself Comfortable
Being productive is all about finding a balance between comfort and the ability to focus on your work. The chair and table is important comfort but your computer and a printed whiteboard will help you be productive and plan out your day. Although everyone has a slightly different definition of comfort, it’s arguable that every office should have a comfortable chair. Investing in a chair is essentially investing in your health.
They say you should never cut corners with things that separate you from the ground. This includes your bed, your work chair, and the tires on your car among other things.
Aside from the chair, you should also look into a good desk. Height adjustable desks are proving to be one of the best things you can add to your home office. Not only do they allow you to find your perfect setting, but you can also choose to go from sitting to standing when you feel like it.
Create Privacy
Productivity is tightly related to one’s ability to focus, especially when working from home. The main issue with home offices, especially small ones, is the fact that it’s difficult to create a sense of privacy. You need to find a way to cut yourself off from the rest of the household. Creating a sense of privacy is twice as hard in households where you have kids running around and multiple family members doing their own thing.
There are numerous ways you can create privacy in small home offices. Most of them come down to negotiating with your family. You need to let them know that you won’t be available at certain times while you work.
The other part of creating privacy comes down to maintaining closed doors and physically separating yourself from the rest of the household. That’s why it’s not a bad idea to choose a distant, far away room as your home office.
Remodel as Necessary
The longer you stay in your new home office, the more you get used to it being an actual office and not a room. However, there are always ways to help expedite this process. One of the best things you can do is a quick remodel right away before you officially set in.
Remodeling your tiny home office usually doesn’t take much effort considering the size of the room. The act of painting the walls a different color is enough to tell your brain that you’re now entering a place of work, rather than your old guest room or closet.
Your choice of colors and furniture can also affect your ability to focus on your work. Try to stick with light colors that help keep everything illuminated. Sometimes it can be hard to keep eye fatigue under control in small, barely lit rooms that get no natural light at all.
Be Smart with Your Storage
Working from home might require you to file various paperwork or other physical materials locally. It’s no secret that both of these tend to stack up over time. However, you no longer have the capacities of your old office and are left to come up with innovative ways of storing things.
Fortunately for you, there are all kinds of space-saving storage options out there. There are hidden drawers you can get and mount anywhere. Then there are space-saving organizers and more. If you can’t stick a massive filing cabinet in your home office, find an alternative method of storage that works.
As awesome as working from home is, it definitely takes some getting used to. Make sure to give yourself enough time to adapt to the new working conditions. It will be a while before everything fits in its place. However, when it does, you’ll wonder why you haven’t worked from home from the very beginning of your career!