The amount of people working from their own home continues to rise, with smartphones and servers that are accessible from anywhere in the world. The benefits of working remotely are significant. From now on you are in charge of your own time, you have a more flexible schedule, you can build up a global network and much more. But working from home as an employee or intern also has its challenges. It is difficult to remain a healthy work-life balance and to distinguish between work time and spare time and distractions are everywhere. The temptation to watch a Netflix show or play with your pet means that you find yourself catching up on your work late at night or on the weekends. To work efficiently, concentrate, and be creative without too many distractions it is important to have a dedicated space. Here are some tips to create the perfect home office space:
The most common work-from-home tech issues are the ones that slow down our productivity: unstable internet connections, low-quality video calls and software programs that do not open. Create the perfect home office by first assessing your technology needs. You can choose a personalized workspace that suits both you and your flatmates Wi-Fi needs. A modern Wi-Fi system with support for the latest wireless standards that is located near your workstation would help.
It is always wise to have a backup option if the internet connection slows down. When your broadband is overwhelmed, you could use your smartphones hotspot.
With the amount of time you spend sitting at your home office, it is important you choose an office chair and desk that is well-designed, safe, and comfortable. In terms of your performance and productivity, having a good workspace can reduce the number of breaks you need to take due to being uncomfortable. There are some important criteria that you should keep in mind while you search for the right office furniture:
Working from the comfort of your own home sounds like a dream. But if you do not have the right equipment for your home office, it can have an effect on your productivity and workflow. Regardless of the size of your workspace, there are some elements that can help make it a more productive space like:
Lighting can be a great tool to create the perfect home office. The perfect lighting can affect your mood and improve your vision in the long run. Natural light from a window or glass door is a great thing if you know how to use it. Control the amount of natural light at your desk to ensure that it blends in with your monitor.
If your space is placed at a dark location, then artificial lights become twice as important, as you will be using them even during the day. The right option here would be a table lamp that allows you to dim the strength of the light.
If you want to create a restful environment where you can focus, use coloured lighting. Not only can coloured light have direct effects on your mood, but this also helps tell your brain that it is back in the office.
It is obvious that swimming through extra papers and pens delays your work progress, but what exactly should you have on your desk? Most documents can go digital. Digitize your receipts, bills, invoices, and other work-related sheets of paper. Once you have gotten rid of the things that are not essential, it is time to find homes for everything. This means you need to sort them into categories that make sense to you, like a filing system.
If you create the perfect home office, it is your opportunity to have a little space just for you. Make it a place you enjoy being by adding a few things that make you smile – a favourite picture, a catchy quote, or a pillow on your chair. These items should help you and inspires you to think clearer and work harder. But careful, do not over-accessorise – you do not want to get distracted.
If available, choose a separate room as dedicated workspace. If you don’t have space for a separate room, there are options that can work almost as well. Try to create the perfect home office by separating your room using changes in décor, or by physically sectioning that area off.
A pinup area could be a framed space for visual thinking and an amazing add-on to create the perfect home office. By locating this in your office space, you are visually categorizing the tasks as work-related. Using colourful post-its might also motivate you and positively impact your creativity.
A desk or floor plant is a great way to add a breath of fresh air to your home office space and gives your eyes a break from the screen. If you do not trust your green thumb to keep your plant alive, try low-maintenance indoor plants. You can easily grow these houseplants, and they require minimal care and attention:
If your workspace gets very little light, buy some indoor plants that grow without natural sunlight. These plants will add life to your home office – no matter how dark:
Treat your workspace the way it should be treated: as a place for you to do your job. Keeping everything clean is the first step to ensuring you hit all your goals for the day. After you finished your work for the way put everything back on its place, close your laptop and clean all the surfaces.
If you do not have a separate home office, it is even more important to clean up and ‘leave work’ after you finished your working day to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
With a quiet, beautiful workspace, even the 3 PM work slump will not know what hit it! To check out more tips about working remotely and remote internships, browse the blog on Partnership International.
