How to Set up a Home Office that Will Work for You
Being able to work from home has many benefits, but the main flaw involves the inability to concentrate and be productive at what you do due to the cozy home environment. In order to make your home office truly productive and work-oriented, you can take up the task of designing and decorating it in a way that would prove to be most inspirational for you and your job performance.
Find a perfect area
It would be perfect if you had a separate room for your home office just so that you could separate yourself from all the distractions and noise at your home. But, most people don’t have that kind of space in their homes. In this case, it’s essential to determine the best possible area or even a corner of a particular room that can be transformed into a home office. Make sure that this area will also be noise-free and easily separated from the rest of the room’s décor and layout with proper design.
Introduce color
Even if it’s just a corner of a room with your desk and other job essentials, one way to separate this work space from the rest of your home is by painting the walls in a different color. There are some studies that involve color influence on productivity, and, in general, red, blue, green and yellow as well as their hues are said to be able to boost one’s productivity successfully. The choice of colors depends on your own personality as well as the kind of work that you do.
Functional organization
In order to feel like you’re in a real office and get productive with your work, you need to have all the functionality of a proper office. First of all, make sure that your desk is adequate for the job that you do. Apart from being of proper height, it also needs to have several drawers where you can store all your work essentials and organize them most effectively for you. If you deal with a lot of paper documents, you can easily install wall shelves, next to or above your desk. Once you organize everything, remember to keep it that way constantly. Neatness is essential when it comes to efficiency and productivity at work.
Stay comfortable
Being too cozy can hinder work productivity but this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t feel comfortable. Quite the contrary. In order to avoid back pain and bad body posture, Sydney’s renowned suppliers of office chairs claim that you should get a chair that would support your body perfectly. In other words, you should go for chairs that are sturdy, have high back, preferably arm holders and adjustable height.
Nature can help
Every work space needs a touch of nature. In that respect, try to position your home office area so that you can get a lot of natural light. If it’s not possible for you to get a nice window view, make sure to hang a picture on the wall in front of you depicting scenery that’s calming and inspiring for you. Also, don’t shy away from plants. Many studies confirmed the positive influence plants have in a working environment, especially on the worker’s productivity and inspiration. The same principle applies to a home office, too.
Careful with the décor
Plain and sterile office space was never known as a productivity booster. Still, too much clutter and personal bits and pieces can shift your attention from work. Therefore, try to decorate the home office with balance in mind. Be creative but don’t go overboard. For example, you can easily freshen up the look of your office with already mentioned bright colors but you can also add a frame with a photo of your family and/or friends as well as creative and unique pencil and paper holders, office supplies, etc. Basically, it’s all about translating your personal tastes to the appearance of the home office, not cluttering it with souvenirs, knick-knacks and similar.
As mentioned before, it’s essential that you do your best to keep your home office clean and neat so that you can know where everything is at all times and avoid mess interfering with your work. If you need an additional productivity booster, use the freedom that a home office provides you with and play some music said to encourage productivity and concentration.
Article written by Lillian Connors. If one thing is true about Lillian Connors, her mind is utterly curious. That’s why she can’t resist the urge to embark on a myriad of home improvement projects and spread the word about them. As the Co-Editor at SmoothDecorator, she cherishes the notion that sustainable housing and gardening will not only make us far less dependent on others regarding the dwellings we inhabit and what we eat, but also contribute to our planet being a better place to live on. You can check her out on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Great post. I will be working on my home office in a few months. Really, great tips.
Thank you so much!My home office is essential to my productivity. So I know just how important it is to make sure it works for you and your needs. Good luck with your office renovations.