AD| Are you going to be working from home? Homeworking is alive and well, especially seeing as the pandemic isn’t over yet. While some people have been returning to work, a lot of others are still staying at home, with a few just now moving into home working. If you are the latter in this equation, then the first thing that you need to do is make sure that you have a great working space. If you don’t know how to create this, then it’s a good thing that you have come across this article because down below we’re going to be giving you the advice that you need to do just that. Keep reading if you would like to find out more about this topic.
Invest In Furniture
The first thing that we recommend is that you invest in furniture for your working space. Injuries that are caused by repetitiveness are a real thing no matter what anyone says, and they are certainly not fun to experience. For example, repetitive strain injury or RSI is a common problem for people who spend a lot of their time typing or doing the same thing with their wrists/hands. There are ways to help this once you develop it, but it will never be a permanent solution, and that’s what you need to remember. There is no fixing it, and that’s why you need to avoid it at all costs.
As such, we suggest that even though it might be a little more expensive, you think about investing in ergonomic furniture. If you think about it, something like an ergonomic desk is going to be best for someone who is going to be typing on their computer for a lot of the day. The human wrists are not designed for this much pressure, but ergonomic furniture helps with the pain that can be caused by these injuries and can even help you to avoid developing them if you invest straight away. It’s certainly something to consider if you haven’t already thought about it.
Make It Off Limits
We highly recommend that seeing as you are going to be working in your home with your family, that you make your working space off-limits. We know that it isn’t going to feel great to tell people who live with you that they can’t come into a certain room in the house without an emergency or really good reason, but it’s for the best for you. You need to be able to concentrate, not have a million interruptions throughout the day because people have decided they want you to do something that they can do themselves. They wouldn’t be able to get you if you were out at the office for the day, and it really needs to be treated as if you are, simply so that you have a better chance of getting the work done.
Of course, if there is something legitimate that they need then of course they can come and get you. But, you need to be strict with what does and doesn’t warrant them coming to your place of work to distract you from what you are doing.
Correct Technology
Have you ever thought about the technology that your home office is going to need? You need to be able to work effectively at home, and while it might not directly come under technology, it certainly does aid it. As such, the first thing that we are going to mention here is that you should be working to get the best possible internet connection. It will help you to keep up with the demand that is being thrown at you and will ensure that you can get through as much as possible at your own speed, not the internet speed.
But, then you need the actual technology. If you think about it, what are you going to need to do your job effectively? A laptop is likely, a tablet maybe, certainly a phone for communication, but is there anything specific to your industry that you are going to need? It might be the case that all of the specific things that you need are pieces of software or other things that can be downloaded onto the tech. Make sure that everything is being kept up to date for maximum working capacity.
Paper File Storage If Needed
If you are going to be keeping paper files, then you need to ensure that you have somewhere to store them. The absolute last thing that you need is to have papers thrown about your office everywhere, not knowing where things are, and not knowing what is what. Take a trip to an office supply store and get what you are going to need. This means things like folders to put your papers in, a filing cabinet to put all of these files in, different colours for different topics and so much more.
Think about when you were at school and you loved to have all those fresh new things to organize your books and notes. Now do the same with your office to keep yourself in the best possible headspace, as messy areas create messy minds. While we don’t really recommend paper storage where it can be avoided, we know that some people need to do it this way, and of course, you just need to make it work for you.
A Professional Feel
Your working space should have a professional feel if you can manage this. The reason for this is that you need to feel as though you are in a business office when you step in there. You shouldn’t feel as though you are in your home and you are working from there, as you might get into bad patterns such as getting too relaxed and not working at your maximum capability. As such, think about how the previous offices you have worked in have been like and think about which worked best for you. Once you have an idea, you can start working out how you are going to make your space feel professional.
It shouldn’t be too difficult, but if you are that worried about it, talk to an interior designer who will likely have some fantastic tips.
Nothing Distracting
There should be nothing in your business office that will distract you often. You need to remain as productive as possible even though you are working from home now. Just because you are not in the business office, doesn’t mean that you should not give the work your absolute best. If you are constantly being distracted by things, then this isn’t going to happen. We’re not saying that your business office needs to be boring per se, but free from distractions for sure.
When you are planning out what is going in your business office, think about this carefully. Don’t forget, you are in your house, so all of your personal items are there, meaning that you don’t need to have any in your home office. Just try to keep it as plain as possible, while not being too boring or this will also distract you. It’s a fine balance, but you can get there.
Paint It
The final thing that we are going to be looking at is the fact that you should be painting your workspace a more productive colour. If you have never heard of colour association, we suggest that you familiarise yourself with it as soon as possible. The reason for this being that it’s important when it comes to designing spaces for specific purposes. For example, if your room is currently painted yellow, then while it’s the colour of happiness, it’s not necessarily promoting productivity. Of course, happiness is important so having some yellow is not a bad thing, but the entire room should not be bright yellow.
Instead, you want to think about something like blue or dark green. These are often signified as portraying intelligence and productivity. Take your time choosing a colour, and don’t choose anything bland like brown, beige or grey as this is not going to work in your favour when you are sitting in your office wondering why you chose such a boring colour.
We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you are going to need to do to create a working space in your home. The last thing that you need is to have your working space not feel like a work area, and then to not get much done for this reason. Hopefully, if you put the effort into creating the working space in your home, this should be enough to encourage you to work well when you are in there. If not, then it might be the case that home working simply isn’t for you. We wish you the very best of luck and hope that this turns out the way that you want it to, with a fantastic home working space that you love and find productive.