Inside: Do you work from home and struggle with staying productive? Check out this guest post for five simple steps to set up a home office for maximum productivity and comfort.
Do you have a work from home job or just need a place at home to pay the bills or have a bit of quiet time? Ever since I started working from home I had to force myself to be extra diligent and focused due to the extra distractions that come from being at home.
Even if you don’t have a job per se, you still need somewhere that you can pay the bills or read a book or have a little peace and quiet from your family, amiright???
That is why I am so excited to share this guest post with you today! In this post, Samantha shares her best tips to set up a home office to ensure you are most productive and comfortable. After you read the article, head to the comments and let us know one thing you can improve in your own home office setup.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom, Samantha!
Your Perfect Workspace: How to set up a home office for maximum productivity
One of the biggest challenges anyone faces when working from home is maintaining productivity. Our homes are full of distractions. Everywhere you look, there are people and things demanding your attention. Even without any external distractions, it is hard to keep yourself focused on your work and stay consistently motivated.
So it hardly comes as a surprise that productivity is the first and foremost concern of remote workers. While a major part of the motivation has to be drawn intrinsically, certain environmental factors can help accelerate your workflow. By environmental factors, I mean the external attributes of your functioning, including the furniture and appliances. Where is your home office located? Does it have all the things in one place? Is it cramped? It is too cluttered? In your home office set-up, the positioning of each tool and piece of furniture counts.
Let us have a look at the steps that can be taken to maximise your productivity in the set-up.
Photo by Manny Pantoja on Unsplash
Step 1 – Choose a location wisely
Telecommuting can be fun, but if your kids are going to be hovering around you or if you are going to have to keep getting the door every time the bell rings, it can be extremely counter-productive. Choose an area or a room of your house that is the least affected by all the distractions. The very first filter is this: make sure your workspace is not intersecting or coinciding with someone else’s play space or guest area. The key is to make it feel like an office – formal but not too bland, spacious but not crowded.
For years I kept my set up in the living room before I realised that almost half my day ends up wasted in banter with my flatmates or the people visiting. It doesn’t pinch at first, but soon enough the work piles up and you realise you haven’t been working optimally. To be efficient, claim a nook and stick to it.
Step 2 – Keep it organised
In any office, stationery, paperwork and electronic devices are inclined to get cluttered. Sometimes two projects overlap – one hasn’t yet wrapped up but the other has already begun. In such situations, it is not just my mind that gets numb with a flood of information. Often my desk also gets inundated with files and prototypes and documents of all sorts. I keep telling myself that I will get to it eventually, until one day I urgently need a file and am unable to locate it under all the piles.
One lesson I have learned over the years is that you have to be ruthless in your decluttering exercise – and this exercise has to be constant daily action. And the best part is that it is possible to set up your home office in a way that you can make a habit of purging empty coffee-cups and paper piles and knickknacks. The first step is to get suitable storage cabinets. Mark each drawer down for what is to be stored in it. Then carry all the unnecessary material to the trash. Do not keep a junk drawer – you think you will sort it soon, but you will never get the time.
Step 3 – Strike a balance between comfort and efficiency
In order to maximise your productivity, you have to strike that fragile balance between being comfortable enough to feel motivated to work, but not too comfortable that you feel like taking a nap every hour. The furniture and appliances, including the lighting of the room, should be optimal. The height of your chair should be adjusted so that it doesn’t strain your back. The computer and other screens should be placed such that the light glare does not interrupt your work or strain your eyes. Investing in an ergonomic chair and desk will be the best investment you will make for your home office. Lighting is key too – wrong set-up can tire your eyes or increase stress.
If you are keen on keeping your blood flowing through the day, I would suggest getting an additional standing desk in one corner. It will help you get on your feet without disturbing the flow of your work. Engineer your room in a way that you feel comfortable as well as motivated to work for hours at a stretch.
Step 4 – Make provision for short breaks
We all know the classic 20-20-20 rule. The rule says that if you work extensively on the desk/computer, every twenty minutes you should take a 20-second break and look at something at a distance of 20 yards.
Apart from that, you also need to take breaks where you can get off your desk and do something other than stare at a screen. This should ideally also involve some physical activity. Some people go all the way and install some workout equipment in their home office. To start off, you can get in the habit of going for a stroll or doing some light yoga. Some people even take up illustrating or music as a means of relaxing when they want to catch a breath away from work.
But it is important that your home office is conducive to such engagements. This means that your musical instrument, paintbrushes or treadmill should serve as supplements to your day and not a distraction. The best set-up would include these in a room or cabin or closet adjacent to your home office – such that you are still detached from the rest of the home but away from the actual work ground.
A strong word of caution: make sure you are not heading over to the endless abyss of social media to take this break. It will be counterproductive and you will drain yourself of whatever energy you had left instead of recharging, so make sure these seemingly harmless distractions are placed away from your reach during the breaks.
Photo by Matt Ragland on Unsplash
Step 5 – Get productivity tools ready
Whether post-it notes help you remember things or if to-do lists do the trick – get a pinboard and a whiteboard up. Use them in conjunction with your projects and work and get going. Several studies have shown that you do things more efficiently when you write down your goals and action items. Making a plan is very important when you are working in a home office set-up. Have you heard of the Zeigarnik effect? According to this theory, any tasks that you have unfinished or incomplete will mentally nag you more than the tasks that have already been finished. It explains the sense of relief that washes over you when you check off one item from your list. Use these tools and get rid of that nagging anxiety.
When you’re deciding on the bits and pieces of your home office, make sure you keep these tips in mind to optimise your work and maximise your productivity. Then see as you tick off those things from your to-do list each day!
About the Author
Samantha Johnson is a project manager who has helped build Eco Office into the company it is today. She is detail-oriented, enthusiastic and enjoys helping her clients. Her co-workers describe her as proactive and a pleasure to work with. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming, watching TV Shows and spending time with her two dogs, Benny and Felix.
Keep Reading for More Tips
- How To Declutter When You Are Overwhelmed
- How to Simplify Goal Setting
- 10 Ways To Use Trello For Home Management
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