Working from home offers several advantages, such as giving you complete freedom and flexibility to set up your own schedule, minimising your overheads, saving time and money by eliminating your daily commute, and more. Working at home, however, can also bring with it a lot of distractions. That being said, a bit of smart planning and effort can go a long way in reducing these distractions and maximising your efficiency and productivity. Here are a few simple tips and tricks to make sure you succeed in your home office endeavour.
Choosing Your Office Space
Your first step to setting up your home office is to understand the importance of keeping your personal life from spilling over into your business life and vice versa. It is vital to find a space that is quiet and allows you some privacy. This is especially true if you live in a house with children or pets. If your business involves meeting with clients, it may even be worth it to find a place that is independent of the house or close to the entrance. Take your equipment into account as well, especially if you require a dedicated studio to spread out designs or tech equipment.
Light it Up
Natural light is your best friend here. It been proven that having exposure to natural light will help boost your productivity and improve your vision. Moreover, there is a strong correlation between daylight exposure in the workplace and your quality of sleep, mental health, visual acuity, productivity, and physical health.
Try and set yourself up in such a way as to maximise the natural light in your workplace. If this isn’t possible, or the room you have selected is lacking windows or natural light, try and invest in full-spectrum bulbs. While they may be more expensive than regular bulbs, they do a fairly good job or replicating sunlight and are the next best thing to a large window. You can supplement these with floor or desk lamps when needed. In addition to good lighting, another proven way to improve productivity is keeping a plant or two in your workspace.
Your Desk and a Clear Workspace
Most home offices involve a personal desk. There are quite a few options out there and what you get just comes down to your personal preference or your line of work. There are traditional work desks, L-Shaped Desks for maximising space, desks with integrated bookshelves, dedicated computer desks, and even adjustable desks if you don’t want to sit all day.
Whatever you decide to go for, you need to make sure that your desk has a large enough empty area for you to work in comfort. Clutter on your desk can negatively affect both your productivity and motivation.
Your Chair
Sitting for long periods of time adds stress to your spine and can cause you to suffer from back problems in the long run. It is therefore critical to use a chair that adequately supports your body helps you maintain a proper posture. As with desks, there are several options available to you at various price points, materials, and options. What is important is to get one that is ergonomic and has a high-quality seat cushion. A great alternative to standard office chairs are high quality gaming chairs. Most top gaming chair brands design their chairs specifically for long gaming sessions and are therefore built to be comfortable and last for years to come. Brands such as DXRacer, Secretlab, Noblechairs, and Vertagear, are known for making extremely high-quality chairs at relatively reasonable prices.
Other Things to Consider
A Fast PC – an older or slower PC can drastically affect your productivity. It is well worth investing in a decently modern PC and keep it dedicated for your office work.
Invest in an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) – a UPS can be invaluable asset for your home office. It can ensure that your work is kept safe even if the power goes out by giving you ample time to save your work and shut down your devices safely.
Set Up an Independent Network – While working at home can reduce overheads, one area worth investing in is an independent phone and network. In doing so, you eliminate the risk of having a child or other family member answer the phone and can always keep your interactions with clients professional. Having an independent internet line will also help ensure you operate without interruptions of any kind. Most homes in Oman can run at least two network lines which allows you to run a completely independent network for your office with its own dedicated telephone number; make use of it.
A Clock – not just to keep yourself on a proper schedule but to also ensure you don’t overwork yourself.
Fire-Safe Box – Fires are always a risk no matter where you stay. A Fire-Safe Box will ensure your valuable documents are kept safe even in the event of an unexpected fire.
Storage – ensure you have example storage for all your official documents and paperwork. Use these to ensure everything is well organised and kept clean.