Today, more and more people are working on their own, from home. This also means many of them had to organize a little corner for themselves, where they could work in silence and maximum concentration.
Organizing an office at home requires smart solutions, rigor and discipline. To work in peace but remain efficient, you need to establish a few simple rules in your daily life. Here are some useful tips for organizing your workspace.
Delimit your workspace
It does not always seem easy to mix professional and family life, all in a few square inches or meters. Whether you live in a house or in an apartment, you have to thoroughly think about creating a setting totally dedicated to your work, which will allow you to display your work stuff without de-harmonising the decoration of the whole house.
There are two solutions available to you in such a situation: either you opt for a room exclusively dedicated to your working activity, or you opt for a section of wall or a corner of the room, if you do not have sufficient space.
If you are in the position of working with a collaborator, prefer a distinct layout of your offices, rather than a side-by-side layout. This will allow everyone to have their own space.
The delimitation of professional and personal space is essential, this will promote your efficiency, but above all, will allow you to clearly define your working time. Another less obvious, but still important detail – if you do it on your sofa, where you can be distracted in multiple ways and by multiple people, you will not be able to preserve that office perspective.
Delimit your working time
In the same way that it is necessary to delimit your space, arranging your schedules is also very important. For this, the best solution is to start around 9 am. Like most companies’ employees, this requires you to have a strict rhythm and to prepare yourself in time to always start working at the same time.
This allows a real discipline that will structure your working hours and will allow you to delimit your professional life from the personal one.
It is quite desirable to also free yourself a lunch hour, as if you were in a company. Such little time-outs allow the brain to take a break, in order to be efficient in the afternoon and be able to gain height on your current projects.
Create a friendly workspace
In addition to being well ventilated, your office must have at least one window (an outside light source is preferable for a good mood). You will also need to equip your professional space with furniture, which you can find at Nationwide Furniture Outlet, and basic tools, namely – a good chair, a high enough desk, a computer, a printer and a good internet connection. Try to find compact equipment which are space-saving for smaller offices and also cost-effective. For instance, you can use a multifunctional printer that will replace the scanner, copier, and fax machine. For even smaller places you can use desktop printers which increase productivity and cut back on additional expenses. The main thing is to feel comfortable in your workspace.
Regarding your computer, it should be for purely professional and non-family use. The lighting in your office is also a key thing that should not be overlooked. Poor lighting can be detrimental to your health by causing fatigue, headaches and eye irritation.
Set up a document filing system
The administrative side of your job will generate paperwork. If you don’t tidy it up, you may quickly get overwhelmed. Poor management of administrative documents often leads to a waste of time and money (for example, it would be a shame to be penalized for late payment of an invoice). It is, therefore, important to set up a system of classification of your documents.
Invest in office supplies
To have a truly professional space, no seemingly unimportant detail should be neglected. Buy whatever would be useful for your business activity – everything you’d need for your invoices, quotes and letters. Invest also in some basic supplies – stapler, pen, pencil, notepad and professional USB devices.
Install a phone line for your business
Imagine your child picking up a call from a customer – this could be a quite unpleasant situation. That is why it is recommended to install a telephone line dedicated solely to your work activity. For example, you can opt for a subscription that allows you to use an answering machine and caller name display, to better screen calls.
Have meeting space for your clients (optional)
In case you’ve opted for a room specifically dedicated to your business, consider including a few armchairs and a coffee table to serve as meeting space, in case you bring your clients on a meeting to your home. Prefer a room a bit set back from the rest of your home, so that your customers do not get to walk through your private space.
Organize your work
When working alone from home, one tends to be overwhelmed by multiple distractions. You might, therefore, adopt a working method that will allow you to overcome idleness and that will help you not spend too much energy on rigor and organization.
Make a schedule of all the tasks you need to complete during the week. Thus, you will not have difficulty meeting the demands of your job. This will make you feel like you’re moving forward and not being a worthless employee in telecommuting activities.
Do not postpone your professional tasks
As mentioned above, the home employee can get distracted in various ways. There might be many reasons – fatigue, desire to do a more attractive activity and so on. Still, above all, one must try to never postpone activities until the next day. Things that can be done during the same day should be done, because you never know what will happen tomorrow, or on the day after the next. You can easily go from single to double working. Better to anticipate!
Leave your home during the day
In order not to live like a lone old wolf, it is essential to sometimes take a walk, better at lunchtime, to cut your day in two and give yourself a break. You can take the opportunity to see the world and clear your mind a little. This will allow you to calm down from the stressful working environment and start an afternoon in full productivity.
What about your home office? Is it already all set up, or you are just delving into the process of making your own productive corner?
