The popularity of home offices has increased in recent years, and there are many reasons for that. One of them is definitely the freedom to decorate your office in any way you want, which is especially important considering the fact that your environment can affect your productivity levels. It also allows you to add a touch of style to the office and personalize it in a way that would showcase your identity, which is something you cannot do in a public office space. With that in mind, here are a few tips that should help you make your home office more organized and effective.
Location, location, location
Considering that your office is a part of your home, some amount of distraction is inevitable. However, you should reduce this amount to a minimum. For starters, your office should be in a room that is far away from your living room, kitchen, and other more “active” rooms. Even if you can’t turn an entire room into an office, your work corner should be in the quietest and the least occupied room. In this case, you should also consider separating your office area from the rest of the room in some way – with a curtain, wider bookcase, or something similar.
Get rid of distractions
As mentioned, there shouldn’t be any major distractions in your workspace. This includes both physical and digital distractions. So, keep your TV and other entertaining gadgets out of sight, and use your phone only for business-related things. As for the digital distractions, there are many apps that can help you block distracting websites for a certain period of time. So, if you are having trouble ignoring Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms, you should consider blocking them completely. Moreover, you should have everything you need for an average workday within reach, so you don’t have to look around for things you need.
Light it up
Lighting is extremely important for every room, and your home office is not an exception. Of course, you should have a decent but not too bright overhead light for when you’re simply working on your computer. You should also have a good desk lamp, for writing and reading. Finally, if your office is an entire room, you should include some recessed lights or floor lamps so no corner is left in the dark. Just keep in mind that there are some new safety standards in Australia when it comes to electricity. So, if you are from the Land Down Under, make sure to hire a professional Sydney electrician to set up your lighting fixtures and wiring. By doing so, you’d have one less thing to worry about.
Find a good office chair
If your work requires you to sit on a chair for longer periods of time, you should get a chair that is ergonomically correct. After all, you won’t be able to focus on your work if your chair is in any way uncomfortable. Not to mention the health risks of not having a decent chair, from back pain to spine issues. Therefore, do some research on the right kind of office chair, and rest assured that buying a quality chair would be worth every penny.
Keep things simple
The key to efficiency and productivity is keeping things simple. If you try to be too organized, you risk wasting too much time on keeping your office neat, which will, eventually, lead back to clutter. Therefore, add various storage options so you can organize your files more easily in a way that would suit you. Also, have a desk specially reserved for clutter – you can leave your keys on it, your phone, and other things that you don’t have time to think about at the moment. This small amount of “mess” can be helpful because it would not affect your overall sense of organization. The same goes for your computer. Keep your desktop as clean as possible, and have separate folders for different things – including one folder that is just for “can’t think about this now” kind of documents. This way, you won’t feel constrained by the constant need for organization, but you’ll still maintain a decent level of it.
The way you decorate your home office will play a role in how you work in it. This is why it’s important to pay attention to your work environment. Therefore, consider the listed suggestions, apply them to your home office, and you can rest assured that the time you spend in it will be more enjoyable and productive than ever before.
