According to a study conducted by Switzerland-based serviced office provider IWG, 70 percent of professionals work remotely at least one day a week, with 53 percent working remotely at least half of the week. What’s more, Gallup found that the number of American employees working remotely increased 43 percent in 2016 from 39 percent in 2012.
How technology is making remote working possible.
Considering that new technology is making this increasingly possible, along with more and more companies warming-up to the idea of having remote workers, expect these figures to continue to rise.
Setting up your home office.
Now is the time for you to setup your home office — regardless if you work remotely once a week or full-time. You can use this handy guide to make sure that your home office is designed to make you as productive as possible.
Choose a Dedicated Area for Your Home Office
The first step you need to take when setting up your home home is to actually find an area in your area for you to work. Ideally, this should be a seperate room located in a quiet section of your home. Having a room with a door is suggested since it can provide you with privacy.
Spring for a good door.
This is especially true if you live with your family or roommates. For example, a spare bedroom would be a great option for your home office.
If you don’t have a spare bedroom, is there a basement or garage that can be converted into an office? If space is extremely limited, then you may have to settle for somewhere like the kitchen or dining room.
Ever hide in the closet? Still works today.
You may even want to get creative and convert an unused closet or corner of your living room into a small office thanks to space-saving floating shelves.
If you have the land, you could also purchase a tiny home and use that as your office so that you’’re not working inside your home. You could also do this if you have a shed in your backyard.
Quick entry for clients.
One final note, if you plan on meeting with clients in your home office, then try to have your office as close to the entrance as possible. This not only prevents people from walking through your room, it makes you seem a little more professional.
Invest in the Right Tools and Equipment
After you’ve found a place to work in your home, you next want to create a list of all the office tools and equipment. This will vary from job to job. For example, if you’re a graphic artist then you’re going to need a computer desk and a larger desk or table for your artwork. In this case, you’ll need to invest in specialized equipment, tools, or software.
However, here’s the basic tools and equipment every home office should have:
- High-speed internet access to eliminate frustration and keep you productive.
- Network router that can handle all of you Wi-Fi demand.
- Computer that has enough power and memory to suit your needs.
- Telephone or VoIP so that you have reliable communication.
- Printer/scanner/fax — even though we live in a paperless world, there may be times you need to print out important documents like contracts.
- Surge protector to protect your electronic devices during power surges.
- Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) so that you can keep working if the power goes out.
What does your desk space look like?
- Desk that has a large enough area for you to work.
- Ergonomics — such as a chair, mouse instruments, foot rests, to keep you comfortable.
- Headphones, with a microphone — this blocks out noise and encourages hand free communication.
- Software, such as Google Drive, Skype, Slack, or Calendar to communicate and collaborate.
- Filing cabinet for you to store and organize important documents.
Though useful — allow your items to create comfort.
- Whiteboard for your to-do-lists, goals, and ideas. It’s also a great way to stand-up occasionally.
- Mini fridge filled with healthy snacks, as well as water and coffee so that you don’t have to visit the kitchen as much.
- Plants have found to boost productivity. However, stick with plants that can survive in low-light and in an office environment. These include bonsai plants, the Neon Pothos, Snake Plant, and the Red-Edged Dracaena.
Brighten Your Office With Lighting and Color
If possible, your home office should have a window. Natural light improves your productivity by maintaining circadian rhythm. Daylight also makes people feel more energized and cheerful.
If your office doesn’t have access to direct sunlight, then you’ll want to purchase overhead lights that fill most of the work area, as well as desk lamps, floors lamps, or task lightning for concentrated lighting. There’s even daylight-replicating light sources that are energy-efficient, while still providing you with full-spectrum lightning.
Keep aesthetics in mind — as well as the lighting.
Just keep in mind that regardless of the type of lightning in your home office, make are sure your computer screen is positioned in a way that prevents glare. This prevents eye strain from occurring.
On top of lighting, paint your office in a color that matches your job. For example:
- Blue is an intellectual color, making it perfect for jobs that require focus.
- Red is a vibrant and physical color. Use this color if you job demands physical exertion.
- Yellow is an emotional color. It’s ideal for stimulating positivity and creativity.
- Green provides balance and is easy on the eyes. If you spend a lot of time in your home office, then this is your go-to-color.
- Purple is often associated with with spirituality or luxury, but should be used sparingly and carefully.
- Orange can create a sense of comfort, but is often used in kitchens or casual lounges.
- Grey represents neutrality and is used in modern office. It can stimulate a depressing mood when used inappropriately. As such, it should be used in certain places.
Personalize Your Home Office
It’s your office, so go ahead and add some personalization. Incorporating personal items like photos, your own coffee mug or knick-knacks.
Inspiring, uplifting quotes.
List of your favorite quotes can make you feel happier and more inspired. It can also make you work more efficient since it gives you a sense of ownership.
Absolutely anything done in excess — is too much.
Just make sure that you don’t overdo it. Remember, it’s still your office and not your den.
Create Work Zones in Your Home
This is actually an idea that people use when planning their kitchens. As described in an article for Divine Design + Build, is where you “you group things together based on their specific function. For example, your kitchen will have a “cooking zone” where all of your appliances and equipment to cook are in the same spot of the kitchen together. This way everything you need to cook is within arm’s reach for specific tasks.
The same idea can be applied to your home office. For instance, you could create one zone called the “work center.” This is where your desk, computer, or whatever else you use daily are located.
Your working zone could be the “supply” zone where you store all of your paper, pens, or business cards or a reference library where industry books and publications can can be found.
Keep Your Office Clean and Organized
If you’ve created zones, then organizing your home office shouldn’t be an issue. After all, this helps you follow the rule “a place for everything and everything in its place.”
But, this doesn’t work when the items that you’ve used aren’t returned to their homes. As a general rule, whenever you’re finished using an item, put it back where it belongs — so that you know it’s there the next time you need it.
You also don’t want your home office to become too cluttered that it becomes difficult to focus. When there’s a mess, our minds tend to focus on that instead of the task at hand. At the end of the day do a quick clean, like putting files in the proper folder in the cabinet. If you do a small clean daily, you aren’t only keeping your home office organized, you also won’t spend too much time cleaning it.
Separate the Professional from the Personal
These may not seem like a big deal, but to avoid any confusion, it’s essential that you keep your personal and professional lives separate. This includes having seperate phone lines, computer, and bank accounts, as well as segmenting tax documents. For example, all of your tax deductions for your business should be stored in your home office.
Establish Work Hours
The beauty of working from home is that you can set a more flexible schedule that’s based around when you’re most productive or lifestyle. For example, your work hours could be between 8am and 3pm while you’re kids are in school.
Please do not disturb.
When you do set your office hours, be strict about them. Let’s say the kids got home early because they had a half-day. Make it known to them that you’re still working until three pm. Sharing a family calendar, keeping your door closed, or placing a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign prevent others from disrupting you.
Furthermore, when setting your schedule, make sure that you arrive on time, take frequent breaks, and quit at a reasonable hour. It’s an effective way to keep you motivated and productive when working from home.
Be Aware of Distractions at Home
Working from home comes with a variety of unique distractions, such as your kids and family members, emails, phone, background noises, and household chores.
You need to not only be aware of these distractions, you also have to find ways to avoid them by:
- Get your family on-board. Explain to them that just because you work from home doesn’t mean that you can take your career lightly. Also, once again, establish boundaries so that they can give you the space you need to work.
- Don’t check your email or phone every time you receive a notification. Check them at specific times throughout the day. You should go ahead and turn-off these notifications while working. You could also keep your phone in another part of the house.
- Set and stick to your schedule, as mentioned above.
Is your work space quiet enough? Too quiet?
- When there’s too much noise, either listen to music or sounds found on an app like Nosli. You could also just put-on noise cancelling headphones.
- Only work in your home office so that you’re not tempted to watch TV if in the living room.
- Set aside once a week for major household chores. If too overwhelmed, delegate certain chores to your family or hire someone to come-in and clean for you.
Learn to Manage Your Time from your Home Office
Everyone struggles with time management. But, this can be particularly difficult for the person who has just started working from home since there aren’t exact start and stop times or managers and colleagues to keep you on-track.
Sticking to a schedule that is based on your natural workflow and your life, eliminating distractions, and working in your home office are all great places to start.
Additionally, give the following time management tricks a try:
- Spend your mornings working on your most important and challenging tasks. This is when you have the most focus, but it also will give you momentum for the rest of the day.
- Follow the rule of 52 and 17. This means working straight for 52 minutes and taking a 17-minute break to give your brain a chance to rest and recharge. Spend your break going for a walk, reading, or meditating.
- Use a timer. For example, when it’s time to check your emails, set a timer for 15-minutes. Regardless if your inbox is at zero, once the time goes off, you move on to another task.
- Don’t waste time. Let’s say you have a dentist appointment, Instead of wasting time in the waiting room, spend that time productively by checking your email, updating your to-do-list, or synching your files so that you can keep-on working.
- Batch similar tasks together. This way you’re not shifting focus from task-to-task. Also, this prevents you from constantly pulling things out and putting them back. For example, you could do all of your meal prep on Sundays so that you don’t have to cook or clean during the week.
- Create theme days. Schedule all of your meetings on the same day so that you aren’t interrupting your work flow. You should also specific days for brainstorming or handling household chores like laundry and cleaning.
- Find inspiration when you’re not motivated. Working from home can get lonely. There are also days when you need some inspiration. When you’re feeling this way, watch a Ted Talk, read an inspiring biography, find a mentor, or connect with other remote workers online or at local networking events. You may even want to get of the home office occasionally. Consider working at a coffee shop or co-working space.
Originally published at https://www.calendar.com on June 14, 2019.
