While working from home has slowly been gaining in popularity thanks to the rise of personal computers and remote access workspaces over the past two decades, these past two years have seen a massive acceleration in the rate of people switching to home office. For many, home office began as a temporary solution to maintain the need for social distancing. However, what began as temporary measures have become a genuine lifestyle for many - and the era of the home office is truly here to stay.
One of the main reasons many people avoided home office at first was due to the fear of being unable to separate work and home life, and not having an adequate working space to choose from at home. So with so many people settling into their new home-based work life, it’s important to cultivate a space that is as conducive as possible to focus and productive work. Here we’ve put together a list of the top 8 tips for putting together a top-tier home office guaranteed to have a positive impact on both your personal wellbeing, and the quality of your workflow.
1. Let there be light!
One of the worst aspects of old fashioned offices filled with cubicles was the lack of access to natural sunlight that many people suffered from as a result of packing so many people into one large space. However, with the more private setting of a home office, there’s no excuse not to have your setup directly in the path of some natural lighting. Finding a space with access to the outside helps to keep your energy levels up as you work, and improves your mind and body’s synchronicity with the day.
2. Protect your posture
Traditional offices were designed specifically to accommodate long hours spent sitting. While employers may have invested in ergonomic furniture, the average house does not come equipped with the same specially designed chairs and desks. If home office is something you plan on doing for the long run, it’s well worth investing in some ergonomic pieces of furniture to protect your posture from causing all manner of aches and pains. Ergonomic office chairs and adjustable standing desks help to maintain posture and dynamic movement throughout the working day, meaning you comfortably can work from home without feeling it in your back the next morning!
3. Choose colours wisely
One of the best parts of creating a home office is getting to be in charge of the design elements. Creating a bright work environment with a splash of colour helps to improve mood and keep the mind active as you work. The colours you choose to decorate your office with can have a big impact on how you feel while working in your space. Colours like light blue and soft green are shown to encourage relaxation and a calm mental state, whereas bright colours like yellow, purple, and orange are associated with creativity.
4. Streamline your setup
Maintaining a streamlined setup can greatly improve your sense of focus and productivity while you work from home. Do away with any messes of tangled wires and cables you might have lurking under your desk, and invest in a single extension cable or USB port into which you can plug all of your devices. Many desks on the market now even come with built-in USB ports that get rid of the need for a messy and cluttered workspace covered in wires and cables!
5. Find an isolated space
While working from home has a lot of benefits to it, there is still always the possibility of getting distracted by goings-on around the house. The best way to combat the potential distractions of working from home is to find an isolated space within your home, in which you can shut yourself off from the rest of the house and focus your mind on the work at hand. This is also a benefit for the end of the working day, as keeping a clear boundary between your working space and your living space helps you to detach your mind from the working day and settle back into home life.
6. Introduce some nature
The addition of plants and nature into any space is shown to have a positive impact on mood and focus. Adding a bit of greenery into the office brings in a much needed sense of life to any space, and can bring with it added health benefits through the purification of air that plants perform. Adding some nature to your home office is a great way of bridging the gap between the outdoors and your office, and helps to create an atmosphere that is both calming and creative.
7. Focus on organisation
The key to staying focused while working from a home office is to maintain great organisation, and keep your space free of clutter. A cluttered workspace only serves to create a cluttered mind! Invest in some decent filing cabinets and organisers and make sure you know where everything you need is at all times, to cut down on the amount of time spent faffing around rooting through drawers.
The ability to work from home is one of the greatest gifts afforded to us by modern technology, and using these 7 tips you can do yourself justice and create a workspace to be proud of!
